Rape Culture In The Scarlet Letter

Roxane Gay once proclaimed, “Rape culture is a culture where we are inundated, in different ways, by the idea that male aggression and violence towards women is acceptable and often inevitable.” Imagine being attacked, stripped of your identity, and being forced into and blamed for actions you did not give consent to. This is considered normal for many women who experience the appalling act of sexual assault and its effects brought upon through the media’s depiction of rape culture. In The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the protagonist named Hester Prynne is objectified for her act of adultery and forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her bosom for all of eternity. The letter “A” serves as a symbol which outcasts Hester

Rape and sexual assault does not only occur in the ancient times of The Scarlet Letter but is extremely prevalent in today’s society and is normalized through the depiction of rape culture presented in the media. In today’s society, it is imperative to address the rape culture that is being cultivated by the objectification of women, normalization of violence against them, and the recurring victimization of the victim because it leaves men confused in their relationships with women and women feeling disempowered and violated.

One of the initial causes of rape culture is the way in which women are being objectified by men and the media as it creates a society that disregards women’s rights and safety. From a very young age, men are encouraged to believe that all women are property because of the media. In magazine advertisements, it has been tested that sexual objectification occurs more frequently for women than for men and that women are 3 times more likely to be dressed in a sexually provocative manner. (Psychology Today) Men objectifying women leads to their misunderstanding of consensual sex. A judge in 2016 referring to the woman who was raped once stated, “They made their intentions