Rape has always been a loaded word that people tend to shy away from. People nod their heads and will say things like; rape is bad, rape is sad, but no one is willing to discuss it.

'Rape Culture' is the new growing trend. This means that while rape is a well-known occurrence, the act is now being blamed on the victims. Comments are being tossed around like "she deserved it" or "if she didn’t want it, she wouldn’t wear that". But women are not the only victims of rape culture. Men are less likely to speak out if they are raped because of the taboo that surrounds it. "Men can't be raped" or "he must have wanted it," are common phrases used when a man steps forward after being victimized.

Like any trend, it starts off as someone trying to make a statement; however, unlike the bug sunglasses, this one didn’t fade away. Rape culture is defined by the DOTG (Day of the Girl 2013) movement as "a culture in which dominant cultural ideologies, media images, social practices, and societal institutions support and condone sexual abuse by normalizing, trivializing and eroticizing male violence against women and blaming victims for their own abuse". The same organization goes on to explain and gives an example of a well-known rapper, Rick Ross, who glamorizes rape in one of his songs. The lyrics state, "Put molly all in her champagne/She ain't even know it/I took her home and I enjoyed that/She ain't even know it". He is not the first artist to write something to this magnitude, nor will he be the last.

One of the more well known cases of this happening was in Pennsylvania where a typist that worked at the state prison was raped by an inmate. According to CNN news the attorney for the inmate said that the woman "acted in a manner which in whole or in part contributed to the events".

The fact that people are condoning rape in the media and it is being overlooked by the general public, proves how much rape culture has spread. Unfortunately see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil will not apply to this. The sad fact is not a lot of people know about this new culture, like previously stated, yet it is a big part of our day to day lives. How will this issue be put to rest if no one is willing to speak up about the dreaded R-word? Is this culture something to worry about or is it something that we should support? Is rape the victims fault or the perpetrators?