Slender Agenda
Member
- Aug 26, 2014
- 57
- 45
Earlier this morning i consciously found myself at Choice Fm on the African Queen's show discussing some very intimate details about my life and women's lives in general when it comes to issues of sex and rape.
When it comes to issues of sex, sexuality and our sexual organs, from a very young age we are taught to fear these. We are taught to fear our organs, we are told that they are unclean things that only become clean when one gets married. If by any chance someone ends up pregnant before they are married, society shuns them for this. They are made to feel as if they have done something dirty and disgusting that requires one to be punished by way of judgement.
When a woman is raped, she also faces similar forms of judgement. Questions such as "what were you wearing" arise, or "you shouldnt have been in that place". You become almost "unclean", dirty, and someone that people will avoid and look at differently for something that you did not willingly become a part of. It is sad that the patriarchal system has planted its seeds into so many people's minds that we fail to understand that rape is nothing to do with the victim but the perpetrator. After all, children do get raped and so do men. Were they wearing short dresses too?rape,
In a lot of ways, social stigma is the reason that a lot of people (male and female) that become victims of sexual violence choose suicide as a way out. As opposed to having to face their inner hurt and the world's eyes, they choose to not exist anymore.
In a country as conservative as this one, where important things such as sexuality and rape are not openly discussed, young people are struggling with themselves and how to respond and deal with issues of sex within their schools and universities.
Because we have been taught that our organs only have life when we get married, women do not know that their bodies belong to them. They do not know that when they are in a relationship with someone and this person demands sex from them they can actually say "no" and not have to succumb to the pressure of giving it to him just because they are in a relationship.
When it comes to issues of sex, sexuality and our sexual organs, from a very young age we are taught to fear these. We are taught to fear our organs, we are told that they are unclean things that only become clean when one gets married. If by any chance someone ends up pregnant before they are married, society shuns them for this. They are made to feel as if they have done something dirty and disgusting that requires one to be punished by way of judgement.
When a woman is raped, she also faces similar forms of judgement. Questions such as "what were you wearing" arise, or "you shouldnt have been in that place". You become almost "unclean", dirty, and someone that people will avoid and look at differently for something that you did not willingly become a part of. It is sad that the patriarchal system has planted its seeds into so many people's minds that we fail to understand that rape is nothing to do with the victim but the perpetrator. After all, children do get raped and so do men. Were they wearing short dresses too?rape,
In a lot of ways, social stigma is the reason that a lot of people (male and female) that become victims of sexual violence choose suicide as a way out. As opposed to having to face their inner hurt and the world's eyes, they choose to not exist anymore.
In a country as conservative as this one, where important things such as sexuality and rape are not openly discussed, young people are struggling with themselves and how to respond and deal with issues of sex within their schools and universities.
Because we have been taught that our organs only have life when we get married, women do not know that their bodies belong to them. They do not know that when they are in a relationship with someone and this person demands sex from them they can actually say "no" and not have to succumb to the pressure of giving it to him just because they are in a relationship.
