It would be incorrect to say that “Rape Culture” directly creates “Rapists” in a cause-and-effect manner. However, such cultures when they exist e.g., such as on certain university campuses etc., can foster an environment where sexual violence is normalized and goes unchallenged.
This means that those who have rape/dark fantasies are more likely to act on them than if they were in an environment where sexual violence was looked on as unacceptable, was challenged, and directly punishable.
A potential sexual assailant who has urges to commit such offenses may also believe that those they victimize are less likely to report an assault, because they have also accepted the values of their culture/environment e.g., that being raped is simply an expected hazard etc. Rape culture(s) may also create confusion around what consent actually means, for both men and to a lesser extent the women who are victimized e.g., there may be some women who have been raped/sexually assaulted that believe in certain rape myths that rape culture has created and continues to foster; if they didn’t scream and/or fight back they must have in some way consented.
Their attacker may also believe in this myth, with both parties coming away from the assault/encounter believing that the assault didn’t properly qualify as a rape in the eyes of society, even though both might, from a personal perspective, understand exactly what happened etc. Myths around consent supported by such cultures/environment include things like “no means yes” and silence indicating consent etc.
Messages in media and society may convey that men are entitled to sexual access, particularly if they've invested time, money, or attention in someone.
This entitlement can blur boundaries and encourage coercive behavior. Harvey Weinstein and other Hollywood moguls may have believed that sexual favors were a norm and something they could expect in return for casting a female actor in a starring role, or giving them a break etc.
They may have seen their industry as one where favors are exchanged/returned, and the only currency that they believed female actors had that was worth anything to them – because the power differential was so great – was sex.
There may be other industries and organizations where those in power view the way the world works as being the same. Both men and women can reinforce this idea, when they make comments about female managers/executives sleeping their way to the top, or only getting a promotion because they gave sexual favors to those above them etc.
Whilst such comments and gossip may seem to be a criticism/judgement of those individuals participating in such power exchanges, they may also encourage others to participate in them as such actions and behaviors are shown/seem to be rewarded in that culture and environment. It may also encourage predatory managers to sexually harass, pressurize employees into engaging is sexual acts, and assault them as they believe no one will say anything because such acts are tolerated within the culture.
At the heart of Rape Culture is the objectification and dehumanization of women. Constantly portraying women as objects for male pleasure in advertising, entertainment, and pornography can erode empathy and respect for their autonomy, bringing out the worst in male behaviors and attitudes.
It would be misleading to say that the construction worker who “wolf whistles”, from the scaffolding, at a woman below is taking the first steps to becoming a rapist etc., however they are engaging in an act of sexual objectification, which helps promote the idea that a woman’s role is to provide entertainment and pleasure to men; something that can help fuel Rape Culture.
Often such acts are excused away as “boys being boys”, downplaying them, and treating them as natural and inevitable, rather than as things which need to be addressed and corrected. The same goes for excusing misogynistic language and conversations as “locker room talk”.
Often such language expresses a male desire to dominate and be in control of women. Rape culture intersects with toxic masculinity by equating manhood with power, aggression, and dominance, which may also include sexual contexts, and lead to some men feeing vulnerable about their masculinity. This may result in them feeling a need to prove/assert their masculinity or reassure themselves concerning it, which may manifest itself in sexual violence.
In the next section we will look at some of the psychological aspects/motivations concerning rape, and how sociological factors, such as Rape Culture may interact with and influence them.