TW:The following article covers sensitive and possibly triggering topics such as sexual assault/abuse and rape.

In the 21st century you would think that women would no longer have to worry about their safety when going out for the night, but that is not the case. It is 2017 and rape culture still surrounds us. In a world where men can be accused and convicted of domestic abuse, sexual assault, even rape and still be put up on a pedestal for the world, it becomes quite clear that we still live in a world that favors men over women.

1. “Boys Will Be Boys”

Rape culture begins to exist in someone’s life as early as toddler-aged. The simple phrase “boys will be boys” is first used when boys are about 3 to 10 years old to justify why they get grass stains on everything. And that’s the only time it should be used.

This outdated excuse is now used as an excuse for why grown men grope women. It's why many girls grow up being taught to take responsibility for their actions and maturing at extreme rates while boys are allowed to get away with whatever they do with the help of the term “boys will be boys.”

2. Rape Jokes

If you spend five minutes inside a high school there is almost a hundred percent chance that you will here at least one rape joke. They range from mildly inappropriate to flat out crude, but they all should make your blood boil. And whenever you tell someone off for making a rape joke, you are told to take a chill pill because “it’s just a joke.”

These “jokes” may not seem like that big of a deal to some people, but it is adding to the desensitization of this generation. These “jokes” minimize the effect rape has on a person and makes victims feel as if they have no right to be mad or hurt about what has happened to them.

3. “Locker Room Talk”

This phrase got quite a bit of media coverage a little while ago when that video of Donald Trump saying “grab them by the p--sy” went viral. Many Trump supporters justified his saying this by calling it good, old fashioned “locker room talk” and that no one was supposed to hear it.

I’ve spent a good deal of time in girl’s locker rooms in the past few years and our “locker room talk” is more along the lines of “I’m so hungry/tired/bored” or “did you see [insert high school boy name] today? He’s sooooooo cute!” We don’t degrade boys or talk about the things we wish we could do to them because we realize the fact that they are people too and deserve respect.

4. Revenge Porn

I’m looking at you Rob Kardashian. Women have every right in the world to take naked photos of themselves and share them with whoever they want. But when those people then share those photos on the internet or with other people, it crosses a line.

Take for example Blac Chyna and Rob Kardashian. Recently Kardashian posted sexually explicit pictures on Instagram that Chyna had sent to him in private. Many people said that what Kardashian was okay because Chyna had been a stripper and there are already naked photos of her on the internet. This shows the lack of comprehension of consent that some people have.

Just because she had done something in the past and given consent for that does not mean that she gave consent for what Kardashian did. Just because you’ve eaten peanut butter in the past, doesn’t mean you want to eat peanut butter all day every day, and you would be rightfully angry if someone tried to force feed you peanut butter when you don’t want peanut butter.

A less public form of revenge porn is when men, and women, show their friends private photos someone has sent them. This includes when teenage boys show their friends the photos their girlfriend sent to them in public. The girl consented to sending the photo to their boyfriend, someone they think they could trust, but don’t consent to all of his friends seeing it.

5. The Idolization of Convicted Rapists

There are many men who have been accused of or convicted of some form of assault or abuse towards women and are still in the public eye and are still widely regarded as role models. These include Woody Allen, who was accused by his adopted daughter of raping her as a child, Chris Brown who infamously abused Rhianna, Florida rapper Kodak Black who abused and raped a girl and most recently rapper XXXTentacion who is accused of raping a girl.

These men are still famous and still viewed as good people. Woody Allen is still making movies, Chris Brown is still making music and playing sold-out shows, Kodak Black and XXXTentacion still having rising numbers of Instagram followers and are still played at high school parties.

Probably the worst part of men like this is that here are women who will turn a blind eye to what they have done and continue to work with them. Selena Gomez was an executive producer on Netflix’s original series 13 Reasons Why, which received some positive reviews for shedding light on sexual assault, but she is now working on a new movie with Woody Allen, leading some people to question her morals.

Rape culture is deeply ingrained into our modern society and is a main reason why people like Brock Turner are able to get off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

However, by shedding light on what rape culture is and where it exists as well as teaching boys that they will be held responsible and teaching girls that they should learn to speak out for themselves and others, we will be able to turn the tide and make rape culture no longer a culture.