Week 9 Blog Post
Dec. 2, 2025
The continued rape myths in society are from the patriarchal gender norms that mass media slyly supports. The analysis of Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie" by Lind demonstrates how violent stories get presented as passionate, mutual or romantic, validating male aggression while making female suffering seem natural in heterosexual, cisgender relationships. The way violent relationships are shown in media leads viewers to believe that abuse happens naturally. We see this in rap music often, which is why it has seen a decline in popularity amongst many groups.
The beliefs that victims should stay in abusive relationships and that women cause men to act aggressively through their behavior shift blame from perpetrators to victims. Black women experience an enhanced set of discriminatory stereotypes because of their race and gender. The article Not Just Jezebel by Lind demonstrates how Nicki Minaj handles and fights the sexualized images that society forces upon Black women in rap music. The three main stereotypes of Jezebel, Sapphire, video “vixen” continue to shape public perception about Black women who experience violence, as society shows less belief in their cases, providing less protection and media attention.
Media fails to report male sexual assault victims because society holds the false belief that men cannot experience harm because of their masculinity. The belief system of patriarchy teaches men that showing weakness makes them less strong, sp their assault experiences get dismissed as trivial matters. Media professionals who work as journalists and producers have the ability to change how society handles and views this because of their platform. Media outlets need to show victims as victims, while demonstrating how sexual violence operates through power dynamics. This could open the door to survivors telling their stories without being seen as “responsible” by people who can’t understand this concept.
Media organizations need to expose these rapes, assaults and harassment while showing how our system fails to protect victims. We can move towards establishing equal protection for male survivors like female survivors have. Media that doesn’t use stereotypes enables people to grasp these awful situations better while creating an environment where survivors can feel safe to get assistance. The problem is not the victims, its how people outside diminish the victim’s experience.