The blog post is written by PGRNS committee member Maja Brandt Andreasen. She is an AHRC- funded PhD student in feminist media studies at the Universities of Strathclyde and Stirling. Her research project investigates rape discourse on humorous websites with the Weinstein allegations and the #MeToo movement as the case study.
A while back I went to a PhD workshop where the presenter introduced each participant using the title of their PhD project. When it was my turn he said “So, Maja, you have quite a controversial word in your title”. He continued to read the title aloud: “Rape discourse on social media”. I feel pretty certain that he did not consider neither discourse nor social media to be particularly controversial words. I’ve been thinking a lot about this ever since. Because why is rape such a controversial word that even saying the word out loud can feel like an act of controversy and perhaps even provocation?
This has been an issue since I started my PhD. This isn’t the first time I’m met with similar reactions to my research subject and I’ve noticed that I moderate my language when I talk about my research. Especially when I talk to strangers, non-academics and family members. I suppose it comes down to the fact that I don’t want to offend anyone or invoke possible trauma. So what do you do when your research subject might warrant a trigger warning?
I realise that rape is an extremely sensitive subject and every conversation about rape should be addressed with caution, sensitivity and awareness of the victims’ experiences. I can’t emphasize enough that I in no way want to argue in favour of forcing anyone to share experiences or partake in conversations that feel intrusive, personal and traumatic.
What I do want to argue, however, is that rape is a real problem that does not go away by ignoring it and censoring the word. Recent numbers from the WHO show that 35% of women worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. Combining this with the fact that 45-55% of all women in the EU have experienced sexual harassment since the age of 15, we are faced with a systemic problem of sexual violence which needs to be addressed as just that: a systemic problem.
Within feminist research, scholars have sought to bring attention to themes traditionally associated with taboo. Emma A. Jane who conducts research on online misogyny, makes a point out of quoting examples of this language use. As she points out, we need to avoid the “Tyranny of silence” and speak of the unspeakable. Similarly, Judith Butler argues that, what she refers to as injurious language, meaning certain terms that are hurtful and connected to trauma for some people, should not be left unsaid and unsayable. Any kind of censorship will, in her argument, only lock such terms in place and enforce their injurious power.
Following this argument I would like to pose the question: how can victim’s even start to make sense of their experiences and work through trauma and possibly heal without being allowed to articulate their experiences? Naming abuse and finding a voice can be essential to healing from traumatic experiences and we need to let victims speak when they choose to and we as academics need to help articulate and develop a vocabulary to talk about rape culture.
Furthermore, I would argue that the only way to way to understand the many different experiences that all constitute rape, is to name them. Yes, it is deeply uncomfortable to hear details of sexual violence because it is deeply uncomfortable to experience. And I am not suggesting that we should all listen to detailed narratives of rape. I am just suggesting that we call it by its name. There is no way to discuss the large, systemic, worldwide issue of rape culture if we have no words for the many faces of rape culture. Censoring the word, does not help to understand and conceptualise rape. Censoring the word might instead mean ignoring that rape exists. I refuse to do that. As a matter of fact, I think it’s crucial for feminist scholars to avoid self-censorship and speak the unspeakable. So here we go: Rape is real.
Saying the word “rape” is not controversial. Should not be controversial. What is controversial, is the fact that we continue to perpetuate a rape culture in which male sexual aggression is celebrated, in which perpetrators of rape are met with sympathy for having their careers ruined by rape accusations and in which alcohol consumption, appearance, and previous sexual partners are still factored into rape cases.
What is controversial is that we teach girls how to avoid being raped rather than teach boys not to rape. What is controversial is that we still blame the victims of rape for trusting people they (for the most part) know, like and love. What is controversial is that stigma and shame is still strongly associated with the victims of shame rather than the perpetrators. Rape is real and rape culture is systemically perpetuated everywhere. The only way to fight rape culture is to address it in every way it manifests itself. So this is why I will not censor myself, this is why I chose to talk about rape.
Works cited:
Butler, Judith. 1997. Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Perfomative. London: Routledge.
Jane, Emma A. 2014. “‘Your a Ugly , Whorish , Slut’ Understanding E-Bile.” Feminist Media Studies 14 (4): 531–46.
The Postgraduate Gender Research Network of Scotland 
Dear Maja, very good article, will spread the word!
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