Kairos of Rape Culture

In class today we discussed the kairos of rape and the kairos against rape.

Kairos for rape can be defined as the perfect storm that takes place in most rape scenarios. More often than not alcohol, peer pressure, and a certain stereotype of location (i.e. bar, frat, etc.) are involved. Hyper-masculinity is probably the leading cause of rape, which corresponds with peer-pressure. Many hyper-masculine men want to prove their masculinity to other men, and in end fall into the peer pressure of raping a woman. Attitude by both parties also takes a huge toll on a rape case. Women (or any gendered target for that matter) are often times naïve with no sense of what might happen. For example, a woman may be at a bar with her friends, flirting and drinking with a man, and letting her guard down is a kairos of rape. It shouldn't have to be that women need to walk around paranoid, but they shouldn't walk around completely unaware of the situation either. Society has done the big job of creating a kairos FOR rape so how do create a kairos AGAINST rape?

Education is vitally important in preventing rape. Oftentimes people learn about it one time when they're a teenager, and then never take the time to become educated again. In order to have a successful education system to stop, or at least minimize, rape there needs to be classes over time, across all genders, and not just on college campuses. People tend to shut off when talking about rape, violence, or even just sex. In order for people to have a willingness to become educated, everyone most be willing to be open about it.

Another thing that needs to change in order to create a kairos against rape is the knowledge of language. Society needs to be absolutely explicit about what rape is. A lot of offenders will say, "oh I didn't rape her..." but when asked explicitly what they did it is the definition of rape. It's important to educate everyone of the EXACT difference between consensual sex, and rape or sexual assault. It's about education on the entire spectrum of rape. The lack of education definitely plays a huge role in rape culture.