The Modern Historical Roots of the War on Women

 There has, of late, been a great deal of discussion about the so-called "war on women" There seems to be widespread agreement that it exists but what are its origins? It did not emerge ex nihilo. On the contrary, the modern roots of the war on women go back to the early 20th century.

The date of August 26, 1920  signaled the beginning of great changes for American women and thus for the country as a whole. The passage of the Nineteenth Amendment meant that women could vote for the first time. No one could perceive what the future would hold (1) but the power of the vote meant that women had a direct voice at the table, perhaps for the first time in history. 

In the 1940's, during World War II. many women in the United States went to work outside the home.  With so many men being enlisted and drafted for the war effort women were asked to step in and fill the void.  Indeed, they were crucial as war production had to be stepped up and maintained. Women were heralded as very important to the war effort. The most visible symbol was Rosie the Riveter, the iconic figure who graced ubiquitous posters. What wasn't clear then was what would happen to those jobs when the men came home ( 2).

As it turned out, women were expected to return to the home and go back to being dutiful wives and mothers. And so they did - to some extent- but only after an extensive propaganda campaign by the government.   The Baby Boom emerged from this phenomenon as men came home from overseas and women from the workplace. The reunited families made up for lost time.  Television shows as "Father Knows Best," "I Love Lucy" and "December Bride" to name just a few all depicted women as housewives, deferentially following the lead of the husband. The message was that this was as it should be. Women, however, were now aware of what it was like to have a sense of independence and it would be impossible to turn the clock back. Many women started taking jobs outside the home as soon as their children were in school for full days. Many remained working for their entire lives. (3)

In 1960, the first birth control pill went on the market. It had substantial funding by Margaret Sanger, who had opened the first birth control clinic in the United States in 1916 (4 ). The "Pill" changed almost everything about home life, human sexuality and women. For the first time, women could enter the workforce for prolonged periods and actually establish careers of their own without needing to take a long break to raise their children.. The Women's Movement followed right on the heels of the advent of birth control pills and the IUD. So did the Sexual Revolution. The birth control pill meant that sexuality was not restricted to procreation. Recreational sex was on the rise and women were free on yet another level (5).

Both the Women's Movement and the Sexual Revolution opened doors for women in the United States, allowing for the exploration of self. Women were free to think and act for themselves in ways not true ever before. Women went to work, went to college, had careers and could put off having children until a time in the future when they were both planned and desired. It wasn't until the late 1970's, however, that women decided that they no longer had to choose between motherhood and having a career (6). The mantra became,  "We can have it all." 

This led to the demand for full equality with men. The Equal Rights Amendment, originally written by Alice Paul in 1923 was reintroduced in Congress and passed both Houses in 1972. It failed, however, to be ratified by the required number of states in the requisite amount of time. This was thanks, in part, to the conservative organizing effort of Phyllis Schlafly (7).  Nevertheless, as it is impossible to kill an idea, the ERA lived on in spirit and in the continued struggle of women for full inclusion and equality.

In 1973, there was a blockbuster Supreme Court decision that moved that ideal forward. Roe v. Wade codified the right of women to control their own bodies and reproductive processes. Abortions were made legal and because they were now legal they were made safe, taken out of the back alleys where countless women had suffered and died. (8).  In conjunction with effective birth control, legalized abortion meant that women were able to decide when and how they became mothers.

All these monumental leaps forward for women also affected men. With women in the workforce men had to compete for jobs. With women pursuing higher education, men had to compete for places in colleges and universities. Women were increasingly away from home and therefore started seeking help for running the household from their husbands. In short, women had greater freedom and choices and men noticed.

The decade of the 1970's also saw the first discussion of what is now referred to as the "rape culture." Feminists began a consciousness raising discussion of rape. Up until then rape was rarely talked about. During this period, rape was shown to be far more prevalent than previously believed and the underlying causes like misogyny, sexism and the objectification of women were brought out into the open. "In rape culture, sexualized violence towards women is regarded as a continuum in a society that regards women's bodies as sexually available by default" (9). Rape culture  is thus "...a culture in which rape and sexual violence are common and in which prevalent attitudes, norms, practices, and media normalize, excuse, tolerate, or even condone rape" (10)

Behaviors that correlate with rape culture include: victim blaming ("she must be at fault because she wore..."), slut shaming, objectification of women and the trivialization of rape. Other behaviors that show up frequently include:  "...racism, homophobia, ageism, classism, religious intolerance and other forms of discrimination (11)

Feminists also point to the distribution and use of pornography as a way in which rape culture is expressed since pornography objectifies women and reduces their bodies to commodities (12). At bottom, rape culture devalues women and makes them objects and things to be used. In this environment women are not self-actualized, intelligent, independent human beings. Rape culture seeks to put women down, to oppress them. "Sociologists posit that rape culture links non consensual sex to the cultural fabric of a society, where patriarchal world views, laced with misogyny and gender inequality, are passed from generation to generation, leading to widespread social and institutional acceptance of rape" (13).  Rape culture is one factor in the war on women.

The 1980's marked the germination of a backlash against the feminist movement. The Right-To Life movement merged with the Moral Majority and with the opposition to the ERA by conservatives. The Right To Life movement was a direct reaction to Roe v. Wade, supported by conservative, evangelical Christians, the Roman Catholic Church and conservative Republicans. (14) The so-called Moral Majority was a movement started by Rev. Jerry Falwell aimed at overturning abortion rights, the ERA and was the modern origin of the Tea Party mentality. It was the first time in modern history that a part of the "Christian" tradition attempted to deliberately overstep the Constitutional boundary between Church and State. In fact, the intersection between Right to Life, conservative Republicans and the Moral Majority were the paternalistic and misogynistic parents of the Tea Party.

The intersection of RTL, Moral Majority and Republican conservatism were joined by the rape culture to create a quadrilateral of oppression and objectification. Right To Life would give the fetus priority over the woman which, in essence, revokes her autonomy and rights to self-determination. The Moral Majority (which is neither moral or a majority) would obliterate the line between Church and State and impose fundamentalist values on the entire country. Republicans would do anything within their power to diminish the power of women who are a strong base for the Democratic Party. Each group had their own motivations but, in the end, all were seeking to diminish the autonomy, freedom and rights of women.

Currently, state level attacks on women's freedom, autonomy, access to reproductive health care, birth control and abortion are all being orchestrated by conservative elements like the Tea Party and those who fund it as well as the ultra right wing GOP. (15) They are all products of the past and seem to want to take us all back to before the time when women had rights. Apparently they think that regression is the answer, which it is not. The answer is acceptance not denial. The answer is not repression and oppression. The answer is to accept reality. They need to get with the movement of history towards freedom for all.

All of us, however, need to understand that this contemporary "war on women" was born out of historical events and settings. They didn't arise out of nowhere. It is important for us all to understand the "how" and "why" which can allow us to move beyond and overcome. Without this understanding, however, we are, as the saying goes, doomed to repeat history.

ENDNOTES

 



1.   ("August 26, 1920,"  About. com,  http://bit.ly/16UO7yF  24 March 2013 .)

2.     ( "I Am Woman",

       http://iamwoman-mxtodis123.blogspot.com/2010/05/women-and-workforce-1940-1950.html 24 March 2013.)

3.   ( Ibid. )

4.   (Our Bodies Ourselves,  http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book/companion.asp?id=18&compid=53 ,   24 March 2013.

 

5.   (“ The Pill”, American Experience, PBS3 http://to.pbs.org/wU3386 ,24 March 2013 )

6.    ("Has The Sexual Revolution Been Good For Women? Yes", WSJ, March 30, 2012: http://on.wsj.com/GLovU6 ,24 March 2013)

7.  ("Equal Rights Amendment", Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Rights_Amendment , 24 March 2013 ).

8.  (“Leeches, Lye and Spanish Fly”, by Kate Manning, New York Times, 21 January 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/opinion/leeches-lye-and-spanish-fly.html, 24 March 2013.)

9.  (Chris O'Sullivan, "Fraternities and the Rape Culture", in Transforming a Rape Culture, edited by Emilie Buchwald, Pamela R. Fletcher & Martha Roth in "Rape Culture", Wikipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_culture.  24 March 2013 )

10.   (Wikipedia, "Rape Culture", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_culture, 24 March 2013 )

11.  "(Aosved, Allison C.; Long, Patricia J. (28 November 2006). "Co-occurrence of Rape Myth Acceptance, Sexism, Racism, Homophobia, Ageism, Classism, and Religious Intolerance". Sex Roles (7–8): 481–492. and  Suarez, E.; Gadalla, T. M. (11 January 2010). "Stop Blaming the Victim: A Meta-Analysis on Rape Myths". Journal of Interpersonal Violence: 2010–2035.c From “Rape Culture”, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_culture, 24 March 2013.)

12. (Ibid).

13. ( "Rape Culture", Wikipedia,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_culture  24 March 2013.

 

14.  (“Rev. Falwell’s Moral Majority: How It Changed Politics and Religion,” by

Patricia Zapor, Catholic Online, 20 May 2007, http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=24153, 28 March 2013.)

 

 

15.  (“The Ongoing GOP War on Women” by Alisha Mims, Ring of Fire, 13 February 2013, http://www.ringoffireradio.com/2013/02/13/the-ongoing-gop-war-on-women/, 28 March 2013)

NBC and the Rape Culture

This morning, The Today Show ran an interview with convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky. The film maker, John Ziegler (a conservative) said that his "focus is on Paterno". He wanted the former head coach at Penn State to "have his day in court." (USA Today, 3/25/2013). I can only say that since Joe Paterno is deceased the 'day in court' angle is neither here nor there but the interview with Sandusky is immensely relevant for the very fact that it occurred at all and that NBC aired it.

I will not discuss the content of the interview with Jerry Sandusky. What I will say is that Mr. Sandusky had HIS day in court and was found guilty on 45 counts of child sexual abuse (Ibid). What is the point of dredging this up again when Sandusky is currently serving at least 30 years in prison?

The possibility is that he is appealing his conviction and the extra attention received in the course of justifying his behavior would serve to influence the court of public opinion. If so, that is a vast misjudgment. To bring up the past puts public light on the behavior for which he was convicted. Forty-Five counts is way past overwhelming and he would have done better to remain silent rather than bring it all up again and remind us all just how vile and disgusting and criminal his behavior was.

What this interview DOES do, however, is illustrate that sexual abuse and violence are a horrible part of our culture and that there are those who try to justify the behavior and blame the victims.

In Steubenville, Ohio, the community was deeply divided by a rape trial which should not have been so controversial. The young men were found guilty of rape but face extremely light sentences to be served in the juvenile system. There is no reason that the community should mourn these sentences except that the two young men were looked up to as football players on the high school team. Football in Steubenville is as big a deal as anywhere else in the United States. In the view of the Steubenville community, to cast a dark light on two star players is to cast the entire town that way. This is not strictly true, of course.                                                       

Steubenville is only guilty in the sense that the entire community refuses to believe, and covers up, the truth. Denial is not a crime though conspiracy is. Allegedly, there was some indication that the coach had some knowledge of the rape and failed to report what he knew. Teachers and school personnel have a legal (and moral) duty to report sexual violence and abuse. Failure to do so is a crime. That should be investigated.

What the Sandusky and Steubenville cases illustrate is the extent to which society will go to cover up and excuse rapists and pedophiles. It is not just in the community around high school football or even college football but in the culture in general. It is just more noticeable when it happens among star athletes or their coaches.

Ask any woman who makes the courageous decision to press charges against her rapist - it is tremendously difficult to get many people, let alone an entire jury, to believe her. Even her family and friends will doubt her account if the accused is a "model citizen" and "pillar of the community". The victim is all too often blamed and stigmatized.This is true to some extent, even with children victims.

 Women and children who have been victims of sexual abuse and violence are told by society that their experiences are not to be believed. Even if their accusations are true they are often viewed as far less important than the suffering the accused is going through, even though their situation was one of their own making.

This culture in the United States and many other countries needs to change. Victims cannot continue to be blamed and punished for crimes against them. Women and children, while seen as 'weaker' are traditionally held to be somehow of less value than adult males. Women are told they are guilty because of their clothes or because they are beautiful. In many countries they have to wear burqas and children are told it is better for them to be seen and not heard. Women are often physically punished for crimes against them. This needs to cease being acceptable. Rape or child sexual abuse are not acceptable at any time. It is time to stop letting the Jerry Sandusky's and star athlete rapists of the world off the proverbial hook. They must be held accountable and the victims must cease being blamed.

There ought never be a case when the convicted abuser is given free air time to try to justify their behavior. NBC was wrong to air that interview with Sandusky and they OUGHT to face a backlash from viewers. By putting that interview on, they gave the impression that Sandusky's experience was somehow to be pitied or sympathized with, just like the CNN anchors who sympathized, on air, with the two Steubenville young men found guilty for raping a teenaged girl. This kind of tacit public approval for criminal behavior must stop. NBC was wrong and, I, for one, will never watch the Today Show  again.

The Culture of Rape

The Nation today published an article online entitled, "The Verdict: Steubenville Shows the Bond Between Jock Culture and Rape Culture," by Dave Zirin.  Much of the response to the article was debate as to whether the term, "rape culture" is appropriate.  I believe it is. One of the definitions of "culture" is: "... the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: the youth culture; the drug culture etc." (Dictionary.com) There is an environment where rape, if not actually encouraged, is certainly not discouraged. It IS intentionally overlooked. Athletics promotes that kind of setting in the sense that athletes, at any level, are so highly valued they get a pass on behavior which would be discouraged or seen as criminal when perpetrated by almost anyone else.

 Another category for which this is true is clergy. It is so because they are viewed as authority figures and many people look up to them. In general, it is assumed that clergy are virtuous and therefore incapable of pedophilia or rape, etc. One only has to look at the problems in the Roman Catholic Church to see the fallacy. 


 It is easy to assume clergy are not vulnerable to foibles and sins for two reasons: First, historically, clergy have been seen as moral examples. In the not too distant past, clergy actually tried to live up to that expectation. Secondly, clergy have been and still are, seen to be authority figures. Trust is placed in them because they are in positions of power AND presumed to be moral examples.

 It is shocking, indeed a real travesty, when that sort of position of power is abused whether by clergy or anyone else.To elevate any group of people, athletes, movie stars, entertainers, etc is a huge mistake because they are all human beings and cannot or will not live up to expectations. To fail to realize that fact is to set up the conditions in which abuse and rape can flourish; abusers and rapists will take advantage of any opening. 

To allow an environment where authority or power or idol worship is predominant is actually setting up a culture. The second definition of "culture" is for the verb form; "to cultivate." In biology culture means "to grow (microorganisms, tissues, etc.) in or on a controlled or defined medium" (Dictionary.com).  There are, clearly, environments in which abuse and rape are cultivated in a controlled or defined medium. In that sense, the term, "rape culture" is very apt. 

As we have seen with the Steubenville case, the culture of abuse and rape is real and abuse and or rape happens far too frequently. Just ask the former altar boys who were sexually abused by priests, or girls/women who are overpowered or drugged by  athletes or the young victims of Jerry Sandusky. Ask them how real that culture is.

 I know how easily that kind of abuse of power can occur as I was raped while in seminary by an older student in his last year. I wrongly assumed that he was being pastoral when he offered to show me scripture to help me with a dilemma I was facing. He showed me scripture alright, then raped me, taking full advantage of both my naivete and trust. When telling a professor of  Pastoral Counseling about  the rape, I was told that it was my responsibility. Then the professor broke confidentiality and told the Dean. I was called in and told to "keep quiet or I would lose [my] career."  The atmosphere in this Dallas, TX seminary was a prime setting for rape. The student rapist used his position of presumed authority as a way of controlling me. It was both psychological control and physically overpowering. It was ideal for him because no one would believe that anyone in the seminary community would ever do such a thing. And very few did. Then the hierarchy was ready and willing to cover up the rape and they let him graduate, no punishment at all. The seminary was definitely a "rape culture".

The problem in all these cases is that the general public or surrounding community refuses to believe the accuser and the accuser is often, if not always, blamed. "She must have asked for it. She dressed like a whore". The fact is that NO ONE deserves to be abused or attacked - EVER. The atmosphere or culture where that kind of thinking is prevalent needs to be changed.

Rape Culture, USA

A great deal of attention has been paid, as of late, to the so-called "rape culture" in India. Many women have been raped and killed with accusers being labeled and shamed. Many rape victims commit suicide rather than live with the perceived shame.

I hate to say that the situation is not all that much better in the United States. Two stories ("Sex Assault Rarely Punished In Military, Victims Say"; R. Norman Moody, Florida Today and the Steubenville rape case) recount the atrocities that occur because our culture has refused to admit there is a problem with star athletes and military personnel (and others). Too often men are given a free pass for sexual assault because they are seen to be heroes or stars. Women who have been assaulted are presumed to be liars and degraded or harassed if they have the courage to report the crime. They are regarded as the perpetrators, not the men who raped them..

In the Steubenville, Ohio case, two male high school athletes were found guilty of sexual assault ONLY because the hacktivist  group Anonymous found texts and pictures and video and exposed the crime. Though it is apparent that many people in the Steubenville community knew of the attack, there is a good chance that no one would have pressed the issue if it wasn't for Anonymous. Even then, the community is deeply divided . I wonder if the victim will continue to be victimized by the community? My bet would be, yes, she will be hounded and derided and blamed. It is very wrong but it happens

In the case of women in the military who have been sexually assaulted, it has, historically, been extremely difficult for them to report and then to be taken seriously. In fact, many, if not most, have been harassed and persecuted. Many women have not reported the assault for this very reason.

It is this entitlement atmosphere that permits rape to occur. The two convicted young men in Steubenville undoubtedly thought they were safe because of their status as football players. Military personnel likewise think if they make life as difficult as possible for the assaulted women they will not report the rape and, historically, they have been correct. Only now is this travesty getting attention and action in the military and from Congress.  The question is, will attention translate into action and will assault victims ever get the justice they deserve? Thankfully, the assault victim in the Steubenville case seems to have prevailed in the justice system. It shouldn't have taken Anonymous to bring the assault to light so that justice COULD  be served.

When will women, worldwide, be safe? When will women and girls stop being trafficked worldwide and when will the rape culture be dismantled?

 UPDATE : Apparently the answer is: not now.  When reporting on the verdict in the Steubenville trial CNN couldn't restrain their sympathy with the convicted rapists: 

[CNN Anchor] "I cannot imagine having just watched this on the feed coming in. How emotional that must have been sitting in the courtroom." 

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: "I’ve never experienced anything like it, Candy. It was incredibly emotional — incredibly difficult even for an outsider like me to watch what happened as these two young men that had such promising futures, star football players, very good students, literally watched as they believe their life fell apart..." (Quoted from:  PoliticsUSA, Jason Easley)

Jason Easley (PoliticsUSA) continued, "CNN was sure to mention the impact of the verdict on the two football players, but they didn’t mention that the victim had her life ruined too. As the victim of a violent sexual attack, she will potentially carry trauma and injuries with her the rest of her life...

I wish I could say that this was a CNN only problem, but the blame the victim culture being perpetuated by the media and the Republican Party has created an epidemic. It would have been appropriate for CNN to mention that this was a sad and troubling case all the way around, but the network’s sympathy for convicted rapists while never mentioning the victim was inappropriate and disgusting."        http://www.politicususa.com/cnn-reports-steubenville-verdict-disgusting-pro-rapist-bias.html  
 
CNN is not unique, unfortunately. Our culture too often sides with the rapist and blames the victim. "She was just asking for it." Wrong. No one ever asks to be raped. Our culture needs to change and now.