2. Abstract This paper is a review on research papers that have been done on the topic of men’s attitudes and proclivity toward rape. Each article is related to what may create an atmosphere that produces a rapist. The studies look at possessing hypermasculinity, exposure to porn, exposure to violence, raised anger and aggression and the acceptance of rape myths. We find that when each of these elements come together, the likelihood of a non-rapist becoming a rapist are very high .
3. Hypermasculinity These studies also found that the more traditional a man identified himself as, the more he felt that ‘forcible sex’ was okay in many situation (if she had invited him into her home, if she had been wearing something sexy, etc). Therefore it’s fair to say that the hypermasculine man possesses strong Rape Myth Acceptance.
4. Exposure to Violence and Pornography In the study by Ramirez et al they determined that the more intense the pornographic the more intense the aggression instead of the other way around. Therefore there is room for criticism of these studies as we see incongruence between causes. Is it the more explicit the porn or the more violent the behavior?
5. Discussion This evidence shows us how complex men’s attitudes and proclivity toward rape really are. However, each seems to be a piece of a larger puzzle. When we combine hypermasculinity, porn, violence, and anger, we seem to come to Rape Myth Acceptance (which we see leads to a higher rape proclivity). Therefore the problem area I had previously identified as whether there is a link between porn consumption and negative attitudes toward women which leads to rape proclivity is a valid problem to investigate. It is vital we look more into the nature and result of (type specific) porn consumption.
6. Conclusion What I believe is that we can assume that most porn contains an element of violence to it, that the hyper-masculine male is a large consumer of porn and tends to have a high Rape Myth Acceptance. IF that is the case, anger is the spark that would set the fire-ablaze. That is to say, all it would take for that guy to turn from a non-rapist to a rapist is anger!
7. Resources Abrams, D., Viki, G., Masser, B., & Bohner, G. (2003). Perceptions of stranger and acquaintance rape: The role of benevolent and hostile sexism in victim blame and rape proclivity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(1), 111-125. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.84.1.111. Abbey, A., & McAuslan, P. (2004). A Longitudinal Examination of Male College Students’ Perpetration of Sexual Assault. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72(5), 747-756. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.72.5.747.
8. Barbaree, H., & Marshall, W. (1991). The role of male sexual arousal in rape: Six models. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59 (5), 621-630. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.59.5.621. Donnerstein, E., & Berkowitz, L. (1981). Victim reactions in aggressive erotic films as a factor in violence against women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41(4), 710-724. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.41.4.710. Eyssel, F., Bohner, G., & Siebler, F. (2006). Perceived rape myth acceptance of others predicts rape proclivity: Social norm or judgmental anchoring?. Swiss Journal of Psychology/ Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Psychologie/Revue Suisse de Psychologie, 65(2), 93-99. doi:10.1024/1421-0185.65.2.93. Hill, M., & Fischer, A. (2001). Does entitlement mediate the link between masculinity and rape-related variables?. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48(1), 39-50. doi: 10.1037/0022-0167.48.1.39.
9. Linz, D., Donnerstein, E., & Penrod, S. (1988). Effects of long-term exposure to violent and sexually degrading depictions of women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55(5), 758-768. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.55.5.758. Parrott, D., & Zeichner, A. (2003). Effects of hypermasculinity on physical aggression against women. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 4(1), 70-78. doi:10.1037/1524-9220.4.1.70. Ramirez, J., Bryant, J., & Zillmann, D. (1982). Effects of erotica on retaliatory behavior as a function of level of prior provocation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43(5), 971-978. doi 10.1037/0022-3514.43.5.971. Schooler, D., & Ward, L. (2006). Average Joes: Men's relationships with media, real bodies, and sexuality. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 7 (1), 27-41. doi:10.1037/1524-9220.7.1.27.
Editor's Notes
According to two of the articles, ‘Does entitlement mediate the link between masculinity and rape-related variables’? And ‘Effects of hypermasculinity on physical aggression against Women’ by Hill, et al and Parrott et al, the role of hypermasculinity, specifically entitlement (found to be common amongst this feature) proved to be “a personality trait that places men at risk of perpetrating assaultive acts against women” (Parrott, 2003). These two articles both found a strong link between hypermasculinity and assault/ attacks on women.
These studies do not address this question. Interestingly there were two articles that slightly disagreed with these two studies. The studies that disagreed found that it was the amount of anger the men already held toward women in general affected the sexual arousal when they were shown and read descriptions of a rape (Barbaree et al, 1991 and Linz et al, 1988). The study by Linz also found that the variable effecting victim blame was present in films containing violence but did not hold when the film only contained R or X rated sexuality.
Future research questions need to ask: What percentage of mainstream porn contains an element of violence and how strong is that element? If we go outside the mainstream to either feminist porn or kink porn, are we going to find both less violence and therefore less negative reaction toward women, even when anger is added to the mix?
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