Content warning: Please be advised that this post discusses rape culture and sexual violence, which may be triggering for some users.
The following video shows how rape culture progresses, from something seemingly simple like a joke amongst friends, to rape, abuse, and murder.
How does this happen? How serious are the outcomes of the choices we make, and the behaviors that society tolerates?
This pyramid works much like a domino-effect, or for the bio-fanatics out there, like how a small plastic particle ingested by a microscopic organism can lead to the amassing of significant damage in larger animals.
Small choices make a difference.
Objectification through language includes "jokes" that target marginalized populations: women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, trans-folks, people of certain faiths, Indigenous peoples. While seemingly harmless, these choices of speech are a reflection of a societal problem. The problem is that rape, toxic masculinity, victim-blaming, sexist, racist, homophobic, and transphobic views are validated. The lack of intervention at the bottom of the pyramid yields to the normalization of these mentalities, and reinforce the actions higher-up on the pyramid.
It's time to take action. It's time to #ChallengeTheNorm