The futures of the perpetrators

After reading this week’s play by Padilla, I feel like the change that is being called for is the situation the writer feels is an issue—and that is that the writer believes there exists a rape culture in today’s worlds. The writes makes this plain when she narrates instances in which her characters behave in a way that, although horrifying, are indicative that association with rape culture has been normalized within society. An example of this is when Susannah was assaulted and those around who had witnesses the ongoing did nothing to stop the occurrence. This suggests that people have become horrifying accustomed to horrendous acts such as these.

The costs, as are portrayed in the play, consist of instances where the futures of the perpetrators, which Padilla generalized it on men, seem to be viewed as more valuable than those of women. In this way, people would be hesitant as to ruin these possible bright futures. Further, the hesitation of not being believed by others regarding the assault is another obstacle that prevents these accusations from taking place. Other costs not associated with the victims are those belonging to witnesses, and the guilt that they carry after having witnesses these sexual assaults and having done nothing to prevent them or making them right by taking steps to seek justice.

As the article below puts it, rape culture is the normalization of behavior which seeks to undermine justice and correcting assaults of sexual nature within a society. This implies that sexual assaults would go unpunished by perpetrators and the existence of victim blaming exists which would suggest that the fault of being assaulted of raped falls on the victims. I see this being reflected in Padilla’s play by witnesses of these assaults standing aside and letting them occur and not aiding to stop or correct them.

https://www.unh.edu/sharpp/rape-culture