My Reaction To- “My teen Boys Are Blind to Rape Culture The Washington post”

What is rape culture? It’s defined as victim blaming and encouragement of male sexual violence and accepting rape as “just how life is.”  I recently read an editorial letter from a rape victim survivor, and a mother of two boys.  The mother writes that she lectures them about consent, sexisim and rape, but they don’t seem to take her seriously.  They roll their eyes at her when she mentions it.  She writes that they know all about consent, but do not stand up against rape culture amongst their friends.  She believes this is because they are too afraid to go against the herd.  But if someone does not stand up to what they believe is wrong does that mean they are just as bad? Sometimes. If you are being threatened to keep your mouth shut, sure, but if you a teenager in America you don’t have to worry about that. Does that mean they would much rather turn a blind eye to it? I’m sure it might be easy for a guy to forget about rape culture because they were not taught as kids to worry about it. As a girl, it’s burned into the back of our mind by our parents; this constant feeling of being in danger when you're alone. Her boys seem to believe rape culture is just a figment of a feminist’s imagination. But it’s not true, if you listen on the news or look online you can see the statistics yourself. Acording to RAINN 9 out of ten rape victims of women, and about one in six women is a rape suvivor. According to a different statistic from the Sexual Assault Hotline 15% of rapists are 17 and younger. Of course you would like to believe that your friends will make good decisions but if no one speaks out then nothing will change. So the next time someone says they had to talk someone into doing something, even if it’s just a kiss, understand that person did not want to, so it’s non-consensual.  A girl can speak against gender violence all she can  but it’s up to everyone to take control of their own actions and pick a side.  As Desmond Tutu said “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”