Common Rape Myths

There a lot of myths that people have heard about rape. These can range from she really wanted to have sex with me and was just saying no to tease me, to rape rarely happens to who know each other. These are false statements and that is why it is important for women as well as men to be informed of the myths so that they do not let things happen to them or someone they know. Just so we all know Rape is defined as: Sexual activity that takes place without any consent.

One of the most common myths is: Women invite rape by dressing provocatively. This is a myth. No man should touch a woman unless she consents to it. Just because a woman carries a purse does not mean that she is asking to be robbed nor does dressing provocatively invite someone to rape a woman either. There are men that can be in the nude with a woman and not touch her because he has respect. I think that if someone raped someone because of what they were wearing then it is because they were already looking for it and they just happen to cross paths with someone that looked good enough for them. Usually in cases such as this one, the man does it simply for sexual motives. The more the man focuses on his own wants and ignores those of the woman, the more likely he is to commit rape (Bushman et al., 2003). This way they do not have to have a guilty conscious and can simply focus on their own pleasure.

Another rape myth is: “she really wanted it”. This seems to be the most commonly used line a rapists gives. When a girl say no they continue going until they have sex with them. Rapists that use this try to say, “I thought that she was just teasing me. I did not really think she wanted me to stop”. They do this because it excuses the rapists from any responsibility to control their own impulses and puts all of the blame on the woman. They seem to think