Masculinity and Rape Culture

Question 1

Good boy vs. real man

Answer 1

Oftentimes boys and men betray their own ethics and values of what it means to be a good man in order to prove that they encompass what it means to be a real man

Question 2

Boy Code

Answer 2

• Suppress feelings associated with the maternal
• Certain emotions acceptable, and encouraged
• “Boys should be boys”
• Policing each other’s behaviour

Question 3

Guy Code

Answer 3

• “Oh, definitely, my dad…he was always riding my ass, telling me I had to be tough and strong to make it in this world.”
• “My older brothers were always on my case…They were like, always ragging on me, calling me a pussy, if I didn’t want to play football or wrestle. If I just wanted to hang out and play my Xbox they were constantly in my face.”
• “It was the male teachers saying stuff about how explorers or scientists were so courageous and braving the elements and all that.”
• “My coach…any fatigue, and weakness, any sign that being hit actually hurt and he was like ‘Waaah! Widdle Danny got a boo boo. Should we kiss it guys?’ He’d completely humiliate us for showing anything but complete toughness…it wore me out trying to pretend all the time.” Importance of Taught Behaviour - Shifts onus of responsibility
• And of course, each other – peers

Question 4

Fag Discourse

Answer 4

Discourse with which boys discipline themselves and each other
“To call someone gay or fag is like the lowest thing you can call someone. Because that’s like saying that you’re nothing.” (Pascoe 2005)
• In Pascoe’s study, becoming a ‘fag’ has to do with:
1) failing at masculine task of competence
2) failing at heterosexual prowess Important considerations:
• Homosexuality

Question 5

How does the Guy Code play out in the lives of men when considering sexual assualt

Answer 5

1) culture of entitlement
2) culture of silence
3) culture of protection

Question 6

Campus Rape Culture and Sexual Assault

Answer 6

• Guy code insists men get as much sex as they can, and alcohol used to create a grey area
• Drinking as a form of foreplay within hookup culture means consent is impossible
• Girls internalize the belief that they have inherited the task of managing male desire because ‘boys will be boys’ – can lead to underreporting of assault cases
• Women commonly misperceive what would legally qualify as assault and instead, describe it as a “date gone bad” – if they are unwilling to define it as assault, it’s not assault
• Victim confirmation is not ‘required’ outside of sex crimes
• When dealing with assault claims and universities, it often becomes about protecting the brand of the university

Question 7

Title 9

Answer 7

says no individual shall experience discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational setting receiving federal funding. This means students should be able to access education free from sexual assault and have accommodations to help them achieve that. This right is protected by law.

Question 8

Protecting the Athletes

Answer 8

• “Jockocracy” – a quasi-aristocratic culture in which privilege and prestige and other rewards accrue indefinitely to athletes, and in which, they come to feel entitled to special treatment
• Survey of 20 universities with Division I athletic programs found that male athletes make up 3.7% of student population, but also comprised 19% of sexual assaults reported
• Jameis Winston, Florida State University