How many of these myths do you think people believe are true?

Question

http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/jhamlin/3925/myths.html

It seems that these are the exact arguments that are brought up in this forum every time there is a discussion or question regarding rape and/ or sexual assault. How can we stop these false beliefs?

Comments please.

Answer 1

social double standards persist in america like a the stink of a skunk.

men over women

white men over non whites

rich over poor

Or am I being just redundant.

Pattern?

Answer 2

they only way you can stop it is to correct people and show them the data that proves the facts. i was involved in an arugment between 2 friends as one was raped by an coworker old enough to be her father or even grandfather while she was drunk becuase she thought she was safe. and the other girl stated that she was asking for it and shes a flirt when shes drunk. unfortuantly people are goin to believe what they think is right and stand that thier friend never raped their other friend.

as long as you know the truth and are their to help the victim and lock up the rapist thats all you can do.

i know all this as im studing to be a criminal profile and am very interested in these things and why people do what they do.

Answer 3

I'm sure that some people believe some of these myths. But I also think most people don't really think about it. If they did, they'd probably realize these are misconceptions., To inform is to empower-. that's how we can help stop false beliefs.

Answer 4

I think many people believe most of these myths are true.

What worries me more however is that there is little effort to educate people otherwise, and most of our culture and media perpetuates them in a way that can easily offset any efforts to educate people.

Answer 5

I think rape is looked down upon a lot of times in terms of the victim. They deserved it, brought it on themselves, were drunk, it wasn't "really" rape. It makes victims not want to step forward. Especially because then they have to begin a process to bring justice when all they want is for it to go and to forget.

I think rape is rape. I don't care who raped who, how drunk either party was, or how well they knew each other. I don't think the person has to be screaming "No! Rape!" for it to be considered rape. And victims need to step forward to stop it from happening to someone else. The stigma needs to be removed and people who cry wolf and fake rape need to be punished to the full extent of the law to hopefully bring an end to that nonsense.  

Answer 6

You can make accurate statistical facts easily accessible, but people will always interpret them differently according to their own experiences.

"Fact: No woman fantasizes about being raped."

Is that really a fact? Or just an opinion? Because I sure do.

Answer 7

Actually, unfortunately for our society, people believe in a great deal of those myths.  Although they may say otherwise in their every day talk, when presented with a rape victim or when shown a situation of rape, their opinions and voices change.  

And I agree 100% that male rape victims are ignored, denied, or shoved under the rug.  Its horrible because anyone can be a rape victim, male or female.  I fear for these victims because as hard as it is for a woman to come forward after such an attack, its even harder for men.

I'm not sure how to fix these myths-- how to make people see how damaging and untrue they are.  The only thing we can do is try to educate everyone the best we can.

Answer 8

If you get any answers at all from the misogynists, they will still be in denial. I've learned that facts, and logic doesn't change their thinking. they enjoy their prejudices too much.

Answer 9

With some people they will just believe what they want to believe and no amount of facts or logic can change them.  Producing the facts like you did may help.  The most pervasive falsehood on this board is that many rape claims are false.  Thanks for providing proof that they are not.

Answer 10

most intelligent people will agree that the facts are correct.

Answer 11

The false rape claim has been found by most credible studies to be anywhere between 25 and 40 percent.  I have seen several studies that have said this.  One even went higher than 40 percent.  I wouldn't go that high, but it's not a myth apparently.  The fact that the article states that 2 percent are false at one point and 8 percent are at another-and both figures come from the FBI- shows that their stat on this is extremely suspect.  They can't even get their own stat from the same source the same!

As for the rest, I've heard a lot of people say men can't be raped and I'd bet most people believe that most rapists are strangers.  I've heard people say a few others, but not many.

Even though there does seem to be some sentiment that the woman "invites it" from many people, I have yet to seriously hear in real life (GWS doesn't count here) that a rape should be allowed.  There are instances where some people disagree on what constitutes a rape though.  However, most people I know of seem to think that rape of a woman is even more heinous than murder of a man.  I have never seen people get so worked up over anything like rape.  I don't see where this whole "rape culture" myth comes from.  Who the h**l is supporting rape?  I haven't met them.

Answer 12

I think it would be only the willfully ignorant who would dispute any of these findings. Rape is about power and control, s*x has never been a part of it - only the tool by which that power is exerted.

However I do think that the author of the article needs a better proof reader. They go to great lengths to point out that sexual abuse can and does happen to men - but in the next breath state "an assailant often uses the victim's trust in him to isolate her".

It was also stated at one point that 8% of reported forcible rapes were false, but by the end of the article that had been reduced to 2%.

Again when discussing interracial rape they said that 77% of rapes were from the same race, but at the end they stated that only 4% were interracial.

It is unchecked and confusing articles like this that confuse people and only add to the lack of general knowledge about such a serious crime. If a University cannot even get its facts straight, what hope do we have?

Answer 13

people are sheep and will beleive whatever they are told first... unfortunately misconceptions and lies usually come first as theyre easier for people to wrap their head around and then the when the truth comes up they have to change their mind... the reality of what people will continue to beleive is dependant on how stubborn they are.