A Starting Point
We find it useful to begin a discussion of rape culture from a context that is less personally threatening. A historical introduction is one way to do this, while at the same time providing students with the necessary understanding of how deeply-rooted the institutions, ideas and practises supporting gender- based cultural violence are.
It is also important to not reinforce simplistic dualities of guilt and innocence or female victims and male perpetrators. One way to start is to examine how men are harmed by the violence done on the women they care about, but we certainly go even deeper and explore the devastating impact of hyper-masculinity on men, and on the women and men in their lives. Discussions of male on male rape (and the gendered messages they carry to to the victim), as well as women’s own complicity in upholding patriarchal ideas and practices and their capacity to engage in gender-based violence are also important.
This is not about encouraging a relativist “everyone’s responsible, so no one is” perspective; degrees of responsibility and agency vary to be sure, and this should be drawn out through the material being studied and not simply by the students themselves-
For the Classroom:
Web-based and Media Resources for the classroom
key academic sources
Featured projects
Student work that addresses Rape Culture
Hannah Gold-Apel created a series of photographs that juxtapose images of possible victims of sexual assault and the questions most often asked by authorities in her project: Under Reported
A performance piece by Claudia Benko entitled “I Should Have Known” was presented at Dawson College in Fall of 2018. Guilt written on her body over and over again throughout the evening by the acting perpetrator, this piece left many speechless. A documentation can be found on our Youtube site and is not suitable for all viewers.
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Archive
Our archive of student work may help fill your classroom with critical thoughts about nonviolent action. We encourage you to consult it.
NEWS
Consult our blog for more information regarding current publications, events and community of practice updates.
Modules
Our module homepage can provide a foundation for navigating through our resources and ideas for the classroom.
Contact Us
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Foundational Resources
We've compiled a few key resources that can help you explore some concepts related to violence and nonviolence.