First of all, the song depicts an incident of "stranger rape" not date rape, like the title implies. Date rape is under the category of acquaintance rape. The situation presented in this song is not acquaintance rape. The rapist and woman do not know each other; they are strangers who meet in a bar. Stranger rape, although it is the "most recognized type of rape," it actually "only accounts of 20 percent of all rapes that occur" (Seely 193). As the song choose to focus on this type of rape and this certain situation, it failed to show that acquaintance rape makes up "75 to 80 percent of all rapes" (Seely 193), giving the false perception that stranger rape is more common.
The song goes on to depict the rape scene when the rapist says: "Come on babe it's your lucky day, Shut you mouth, we're gonna do it my way, Come on baby don't be afraid, If it wasn't for date rape I'd never get laid..." (Sublime). This line gives the impression that rape is about sex. Again, at the end of the song it is said: "The moral of the date rape story, it does not pay to be drunk and horny..." (Sublime). This goes back to the resurfacing "biological explanation of rape" that argues that "rape evolved historically as a form of male reproductive behavior," (Kirk, and Okazawa-Rey 264). This is misleading and false because "rape has nothing to do with sex and everything to do with power, control, and violence," (Seely 192). Rapists do not rape because they are horny and want to get laid. Blaming alcohol and biological "needs" only takes blame away from the rapist.
The female in the song is the protagonist and it is a happy ending at the end of the song when she fights back against her rapist and sues him. The song says: "The next day she went to her drawer, looked up her local attorney at law, Went to the phone and filed the police report and then she took the guy's ass to court, Well, the day he stood in front of the judge he screamed, "She lies that little slut!", The judge knew that he was full of shit and he gave him 25 years..." (Sublime). The good thing about this depiction of a court scene is that the judge is obviously unable to be swayed by the false allegations towards the woman's sexual history. This shows the important fact that "rape laws no longer require the corroboration of a victim's testimony...the sexual histories of rape victims are no longer a subject for cross-examination, unless shown to be relevant," (Kirk, and Okazawan-Rey 270). The bad thing about this depiction of the court scene is that it makes it all seem way too easy. The victim calling a lawyer "the next day" completely discounts the emotional trauma aspect of rape. A victim may not be able to report the rape at all, let alone the next day and would most likely be heavily questioned by police and fully investigated with the idea that she is lying. It is not nearly as simple as the song makes it seem.
Works Cited:
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Fifth Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print.
Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York University Press, 2007. Print.
Sublime, . "Sublime - Date Rape Lyrics." Lyrics007. 37 MAY 2008. Web. 3 Mar 2010. .
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteThis song seems really misleading! I know it's all entertainment and artist will do whatever it takes to sell their music but to make songs like these doesn't make sense!
I agree with you though when you said that the court scene makes it seem too easy. Realistically the women needs time to take in what has happened then makes the appropriate decisions as far as what actions to take against her rapist
The song IS really misleading, that's a good word for it. Its sung by men and meant to be kind of humorous but how can you find such humor in this kind of topic?
ReplyDelete