Rape Culture in View
Rape Culture is when sexual assault and rape are regularized by the media and society. It often has its roots in misogynistic and sexist tendencies. It usually expresses its existence when talking about rape and sexual assault. This is the society we live in; where sexual assault and rape are the victim’s fault instead of the assaulter or rapist.
From songs like “Blame it on the Alcohol” and “Blurred Lines” to advertisements, entertainment, and news sources that perpetuate the commodification and objectification of women’s bodies, everywhere we turn we are exposed to this culture of rape that encourages men to rape and women to stay silent when they are attacked.
I wanted to focus and reflect on these topics to remind ourselves that there are people around us who have experienced this or one day may go through a traumatic experience. As a society we do not do enough to educate or change the way we do or say things. This led me into the direction of black and white photography with red type in the poster series to stand out and leave a lasting impact.
Poster 1: The poster was inspired by a blog from an anonymous woman who had been raped over 20 years ago. She is now married and has a beautiful family but is still haunted by the memories of that day. I chose the phrase “I should be over it, but I’m not. It still haunts me.” because I think it is something that a lot of people could relate to when looking at it right away. It gives you a feeling of mystery as to what the meaning of the poster actually is. As you look deeper you start to read the account of what happened that night. I chose to do type and image for this poster because I wanted the blurred type to also resemble the blurred text. I distorted the image to play along with the anonymous article because in a lot of cases you don’t know who the victim is. The memory of the rapist is engrained forever but the victim just becomes a blurred memory in the grand scheme of things.
Poster 2: Victim shaming happens across the globe every day—survivors of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence face ridicule and judgment for stepping forward and speaking out about abuse. Sometimes, this shaming comes from more than just anonymous commenters on the Internet, but also their own family and friends as well. The goal was for the viewer to almost feel ashamed for the victim while looking through the poster. That is why I chose the saying “Society Shames Rape Survivors into Silence.” By looking and interacting with the poster we start to think and can get caught up in our own bias. We begin to silently judge and think about the subject of the poster while looking and objectifying.
