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16, that’s the age you couldn’t wait for, so that you could drive. 16 is how much you used to spend at the movies with your friends on a Saturday. 16 is also the number of women that Bill Cosby forcefully stuck his unwanted pudding pop in. That’s right, America’s favorite TV dad seemed to rape women on his days off. As the days go by, more accusers are coming forward. But you know who else is coming forward? People who have ton of excuses for Bill Cosby. Forgetting the fact that Bill has told them countless times about how he doesn’t like them. Or the fact that Bill really hasn’t even claimed innocence. I mean 16 people accusing you of a heinous crime, wouldn’t you cry foul? But this isn’t about Bill. This about the people protecting Bill by bashing the victims. Or what we like to call victim blaming. Victim blaming is a part of what many people are practicing called Rape Culture.
What is Rape Culture? Rape Culture is in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. So when you blame the victim, or make jokes about rape, you my friend are participating in Rape Culture. So why bring up Rape Culture? Rape Culture, just like homophobia, misogyny, and drug use, is running rampant in Hip-Hop. Here are some examples:
Eminem: “You’re the kind of girl that I’d assault and rape. Then figure why not try not to make your p—y wider. F–k you with an umbrella. Then open it up while the s–t’s inside ya.”
Three6Mafia: “I had to rape his b—h cause the hoe was stacked. I f—d her from the back, with my gun to her back.”
Cam’ron: “Who else in a hurry to murk? We kill girls, rape ’em, bury their skirts.”
Lil Wayne: “Kidnap mothers, rape with no rubbers.”
Notorious B.I.G.: “You can 76 the 69, try 68. Make Raven-Symoné call date rape.”
Joking about rape is never okay. Rape is a horrible and humiliating crime to go through. With murder there’s an end, however with rape, the victim lives with that for the rest of their lives. So to make it a punchline is highly irresponsible. And for the Bill Cosby nut huggers, who basically shamed the victims, here’s some nice little facts. Only 6% of victims lie about being raped. That means out of 16 women, only one person is lying. That means 15 women were ‘allegedly’ forced to endure Cosby’s Jell-O Pudding. Only 46% of rape cases are reported because no one wants to be blamed or made fun of for being raped. Don’t believe me? Ask Bizzy Bone from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony on what’s one of the reasons why he left the group. He’ll tell you about the jokes that were made on his behalf. So go ahead and keep posting those Cosby’s memes. You’re so funny (when are they going to make a sarcasm font?).
The bottom line of this Hip-Hop thesis is that Rape Culture is a real thing. We as a society tend to overlook these celebrities faults because we tend to put them on a pedestal. Bill Cosby. R Kelly. Woody Allen. Sean Penn. Charlie Sheen. Rick James. All of them did heinous crimes and as a society we gave them all passes. And that’s one of the reasons why Rape Culture is here. Did you stop listening to R. Kelly after you saw him pee on an underage girl? Did you stop watching Woody Allen flicks after hearing what he did to his child? Probably not, right? Hello, Rape Culture. So the next time you decide to fix your fingers to type something to defend Bill Cosby, ask yourself am I a part of the Rape Culture? Also remember: BILL COSBY DON’T EVEN LIKE YOU BRUH! -Pooh Bailey
