Rape Culture in Media

    I have always been fascinated with rape culture. By always being fascinated, I mean I was exposed to the greatness of Law & Order Special Victims Unit. I was around 6 when I was exposed to it because my cousin, who was 4 years older than me, would watch it when we got home from school. I can never say I have experienced anything close to anything depicted in the show, so I feel most of my exposure has been to what's in the media, whether it is media, shows, or even books. I have written multiple papers on various rape-based subjects. I just find it fascinating, which is strange. I like to think Law & Order SVU does a

good job of tackling some of the myths mentioned, such as "boys cannot be victims" or that most rape is committed by strangers. I will say there's still some more work they could do to show the range of rape occurrences, but the majority of the male-based stories are with kids rather than adults. They are even good at gender representation and the things that the public will say about these victims (most of these victim myths). I think more shows need to follow the lead of Law & Order SVU because they tastefully show certain things from the traumatic parts rather than show the rape actually occurring, like many shows do that glorify rape. To help shut down these myths about rape, something that could be done is to incorporate accurate depictions of rape into the school systems. We do not have to teach young kids the brutal realities of rape, but kids are smart enough to know what is inappropriate and just need resources to be able to speak up about it. By accurately depicting rape in the media, we can change the stigma around it.