Realizing the causes of sexual violence and why it occurs seems to have a reoccurring theme. There are gendered disparities and most cases of sexual violence occur from men upon women. An introducing point that was made in the article was how men performed these actions to maintain their privileged status over women. In relation to that point, the article “Constructing Gender and Sexuality”, under Conflict Theory, the point is interpreted here, “Zillah Eisenstain (1979) notes that men stand to lose a good deal if gender segregation disappears: they would have to do more unpaid work, or pay to have their homes kept up and children cared for; they would have to find jobs in a larger and more competitive market; and they would lose some power and prestige if they were no longer the most viable breadwinners.” It seemed to connect in ways where men have the constant threat to their way of life if women were to be seen as equals, and in fear of that they connect to sexual violence to make sure that power stays in check. Another thing that I came to recognize was through that constant threat to a man’s power, an assumption they may have over how to maintain that power, would be how the media influences that same form of dominance. In ads. Scene through the mass media and pop-culture throughout society, men are portrayed as strong individuals, whereas women are portrayed as fragile and weak. It creates the fixation that men are intended to use women as objects and assert that form of powerful dominance.
Masculinity is defined as socially constructed practices within a system of gender relations that is revolved around unequal power. A connecting detail to this is in the same article as above under Inequalities of Sex, Gender, and Sexuality, “From unequal pay to sexual assault, patriarchy systematically devalues women and their contributions to society.” It brings patriarchy into the situation where it is seen as the form of society that men have formed. A patriarchal society and structure that is in place to govern society calls the domination between other males into play because they are then influenced by other of their same gender in relation to their peers. Their peers can have a hold over them in ways where they feel pressured into asserting the masculinity that is expected of rising men in life. This same masculinity is displayed through law, norms, practices, actions etc., which applies all the more pressure that creates the sexual violence that men perform. There’s also the threat of the hegemonic masculinity that is touched upon. Sexual violence is can definitely be seen as a hegemonic masculinity impact for how it displays a man’s aggression and violence through his success and achievement, ultimately interpreting the how a man must act in order to keep such a hierarchy.
Whether or not this is being portrayed as an excuse, a man’s mitigate body shame, social exclusion, and masculine insecurity is still no excuse to enact sexual violence upon a woman. This reflect back to the point of how one’s peers can influence these actions in terms of acceptance, but once again, it is no excuse. Even the supposed warrior complex, which connects to the political views of a man sustaining his dominance through power (rape), is again not a reasonable reason for why a man should feel the need to do such a thing. I understand that the point in the article is to find the reason behind why such occurrences happens and what the reason behind them are, but in relation to the impact on women that it has, (not just them but their way of life, environments, and communities), give no reason for why these would be reasons as to why a man should feel the need to enact in sexual violence.
