Rape Culture occurs in a society or environment where prevailing social attitudes, believes and actions have the effect of cultivating or trivializing sexual assault, abuse and rape. Media plays a huge role in perpetuating rape tropes. I will be analysing the African folktale, 'The Reunion' by Dianne Stewart to illustrate how prevalent rape tropes are in media. By recognising these tropes we may begin to understand the roots of toxic non-consensual relationships.
In the beginning of the short story The Reunion, M’weru is first introduced to the reader as someone who is dependent on her brother, Wagacharaibu, for safety. By “staying alone in a house high in the hills” most of the time, since her brother has the freedom to go off and visit his friends, poses a potential threat.
This is a narrative of the Damsel in Distress trope used in a number of fairy tales. The Damsel in Distress according to Feminist Frequency is, ‘a plot device in which a female character is placed in a dangerous situation from which she cannot escape on her own and must be rescued by a male character, usually providing a core incentive or motivation for the protagonist's quest.’
Disney movies are classic examples of using the Damsel in Distress in their stories once the Princess is in danger such as the movies Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, whose curses are broken by the kiss of their one true love. It creates this impression that women cannot control what happens to them as they need protection.
This forms part of patriarchal ideas of women being submissive and dependent on men and therefore contributing to the idea women can be controlled by men. Since a lot of these Disney stories were adapted from the Brothers Grimm, these notions seem to have gotten carried over into some contemporary adaptations, where they might end up contributing to rape culture.
It’s unfortunate that she has to face this threat in the first place, while her brother is shown to go off with his friends freely with no consequence or fear of being taken. M’weru spends her days alone and afraid in the isolated house. As part of being a large issue in society, many women are faced with the challenge of having to live in a world where violence inflicted upon them is prevalent.
Some women will find ways to either avoid facing such violent actions, by being critical with the way they dress to how they act. Which is why some women find themselves relying on another man to shield them from potential threats, for instance escorting them to places at night or constantly checking up on her. As a result, the fear M’weru feels for her safety is a shared emotion amongst many women in today’s society.
Ann Burnett et al says in the article entitled, Communicating/muting Date Rape: A Co-cultural Theoretical Analysis of Communication Factors Related to Rape Culture on a College Campus, “women have been muted in a multitude of ways, including the methods in which women tell stories, through male-controlled media, in ways women’s bodies are portrayed and analysed, and through censorship of women’s voices”.
As the reader, you rarely get to see M’weru voice her opinion on the situation she’s in, from the time she was captured to how she feels about being a wife and conceiving the child of the man who abducted her. The only time she has that opportunity to speak about her situation, occurs when she asks her brother for help as she fears the men will carry her away if he is not around, yet her concerns get dismissed from her brother. The issue of dismissing the concerns of victims of violence is prevalent in today's society that they become increasingly discouraged from reporting.
Once she is abducted ‘the quest’ begins, with her brother going on to look for her for months, “scouring the hills and valleys.” Although the story mentioned that her brother is worried for the safety of his sister, the primary focus is shifted to questions of who would be responsible to cook for him and shave the front part of his head now that his sister had gone? Instead of focusing on what M’weru could be going through, the story focuses on her duty not being fulfilled for her brother’s sake which further perpetuates traditional gender roles. Traditional gender roles in stories have been prevalent for quite a long time.
The story mentions that their parents passed away in the beginning, which is used as a plot device to place the responsibility of protecting onto the brother as well as becoming 'the man of the house.' From the jobs we do to our personality traits, it's still heavily engrained in our society to assign a gender bias. That is evident in the way the story portrays Wagachairaibu as a protector and strong man, who goes through an intense journey to find his sister. While M’Weru is portrayed as a women in need of protecting, completing household duties and taking care of the men in her life before herself.
Abduction as Romance, is a media trope where a man imprisons a woman and then she eventually falls in love or rather ends up in a relationship with him (Pop Culture Detective, 2018). Just like a lot of storytelling themes, Abduction as Romance isn’t new because you can find it in literature such as The Phantom of the Opera (French: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra), a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux published in 1910 and as a typical plot device in classic Hollywood e.g. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers directed by Stanley Donen in 1954.
M'weru expressed her fear of being taken, then “It was not long before she heard noises in the distance, which came closer until the men with the clubs and spears burst into the house, grabbed M’weru and lifted her up, carrying away into the night.” Although the story does not delve into the details pertaining to what occurs during the time after being captured, one might begin to wonder if she experienced sexual harassment and more extremely, rape? By being forcibly taken from her home, it’s hard to not believe her captor initiated non-consensual sex with her. This is as an act of gender-based violence, defined as the act of violence against individuals based on their gender.
However, the abductor is still usually framed as a decent person despite the atrocious act they’ve done. This occurs towards the end of the short story, where her abduction is not addressed especially by her brother who searched so long for her. Mweru’s husband’s actions seemed to be excused since he manages to marry her and trade animals as a form of compensation.This further illustrates how the story glorifies men exercising complete control over women, as the husband is shown to not be remorseful after his act.
Abduction as Romance from a movie most people love and remember from their childhood is Disney movie Beauty and the Beast. The Beast holds Belle’s father in captivity and in order to save him Belle trades away her own freedom and agrees to be imprisoned forever in the Beast’s castle. During the time spent together, Belle falls in love with the Beast. Belle seems to suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, a psychological phenomenon where the victim held against their will sympathizes with their kidnapper/abductor. It is in no way the victim’s fault but it helps in also understanding why M’Weru is still in a relationship with her abductor.
Similarities can be drawn in this story to a practice that occurs in certain parts of South Africa, more specifically in the rural parts of South Africa. It is ‘Ukuthwala’, a practice that still exists today, which involves an older man and his accomplices abducting a girl (majority of the cases are children) or young women with the intentions of forcing her family to agree to marriage.
The abductor usually makes a deal with some of her family members, like selling some cows for this marriage. According to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, ‘Ukuthwala’ is illegal in South Africa yet there’s a lack of law enforcement. For some the lines between tradition and crime are crossed. Traditionally this was used as a way for two lovers to secure marriage, and now it has taken the form of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and human trafficking. So long as this continues, many more girls will be robbed of their freedom and childhood.
As consumers of different types of media, it’s important to be aware of how certain tropes such as the Damsel in Distress, muting of female voices and traditional gender roles cultivate Rape Culture. We are also expected to assume abduction romances will end happily ever after, but in reality, such affairs would likely lead to abusive relationships because of the power dynamics. The first step in breaking these damaging messages is for the perpetrators in the short stories, movies and video games to be held accountable for the harm they’ve inflicted on others. The tropes need to be challenged or ended, since relationships can bloom from a number of consensual scenarios, therefore there’s no reason for writers to continue romanticizing abusive behaviour.
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