‘Post-feminist’ or ‘pro-rape’ culture?

Who could forget the “Werribee DVD” in 2006, and several other cases reported since, in which groups of young men have indecently or sexually assaulted girls and young women, only to record and distribute images of the assault for others’ viewing and apparent “entertainment”. In each of these examples, a woman’s consent has, in the minds of these men, been a “non-issue”. Consent isn’t even on their radar.

The voice of the “anti-consent”/“pro-rape” group also comes to light in less than a fortnight after this year’s annual, Australia-wide Reclaim the Night rally and march, which is held on the last Friday of October and is part of an international campaign to raise awareness of and stop violence against women.

However, despite campaigns such as Reclaim the Night (which has been held every year in Australia since the late 1970’s), and if these incidents are anything to go by, it appears we are far from a post-feminist culture. These two contradictory discourses and practices (“post-feminism” and “pro-rape”) appear to exist simultaneously today.

Indeed, in 2009, nearing a decade after the turn of the new century, gender equality and justice, and women’s liberation seem further out of reach than ever before. Even with new discourses espousing and celebrating so-called “choice”, “equality”, and “empowerment” that came from the second wave of feminism and advances in technology, gender equality has not been achieved. We are far from it. Those who claim we live in a gender equal society have their heads buried in the sand, or in their ivory towers. The weight of evidence speaks.

These incidents and the public discussion to date about dealing with this, reflect many things about us. Such as the gender struggle that continues to exist between women and men - and the effects takes many forms, which persist in the face of legislation and community campaigns. Not least of all is the sorry state of the current situation of gender inequality and sexual violence in Australia today. These issues need to be unpacked for starters.

They raise important questions about what lies beneath: How can both women and men challenge the oppression that comes from inequitable power and gender relations, which are sustained and reproduced through interactions in “physical spaces”, and now in “cyber space”? We might also ask: what has changed? What remains the same? What can we do about our reality?

Perhaps a key question today should be about what goals are useful to create a gender equal world, where there is less marginalisation and disadvantage to all women, children, teenagers and men? If this is worth striving for then we need a call for more community action.

We need to advocate for a zero tolerance to all forms of gender violence and inequality. We need to identify and acknowledge that a culture of gender inequality not only exists, but is perpetuated everyday - by way of not changing, challenging or deconstructing our perspectives about what we expect of “men” and “women” in terms of how we should “think” and “act”.

We need to draw attention to the values, ideologies and larger social forces, which will need to be better understood and addressed (for example, by legislation and policies) if any significant changes are to take place. We also need those men who oppose rape, and who actively negotiate their relationships with women on the basis of equality, respect and mutuality, to speak up and enter into these debates.

Perhaps then, we can imagine and create a more robust reality that is not skewed towards distorted expectations of women and men - as being mere sexual creatures in this debate - and which exist within a rigid “dominant”/“subordinate” dichotomy. More than ever, women and men need to work together to ensure a culture that is “anti-rape” and pro-equality in our real, everyday lives.