Female Angst: The Social Cost of Rape

Rape, a word which shudders every conscientious human to their very core; a word which terrifies and disgusts us; a word which represents the blot of society and failure of humanity. Yet, unfortunately the word is thrust at our face every morning by the newspaper headlines. Hence, it is foolish to desist from a word which so menacingly dominates our daily discourse. Therefore it becomes imperative that we sensitize the prevailing narratives concerning rape rather than naively categorizing the word as an unutterable taboo.

Rape, though undoubtedly the most horrendous crime afflicting humanity, cannot simply be categorized through the binary division of black and white by relegating it into the abyss of the black. As the most insidious implications of rape acquire a grey shade by defying the binary opposition of white and black. This article aims to bring forth one such insidious implication of rape which operates so implicitly that it deludes an unobservant eye into believing it to be the norm of the society. Female angst or the perpetual terror experienced by women at the possible prospect of becoming a rape victim is one of the insidious implications of rape which is mostly mistaken for a general safety concern evinced by every person regardless of their gender. Female angst is usually downplayed or dismissed as paranoia and hysteria which have been historically associated with women.

There have been numerous studies to show that women regardless of their age and social strata experience an intense fear of rape more than any other violent offense, such as physical non-sexual assault, armed felony and even murder. Though rape is a crime which is committed against both, women as well as men, yet men rarely exhibit such an intense and perpetual fear of sexual assault lurking in their minds. Men though sympathise with the female angst but find it nearly impossible to relate with this terrifying experience which is undoubtedly gender specific. This demonstrates how the casual and insensitive dismal of female angst as paranoia is not only divergent from the established facts but also exacerbates this terrifying female experience.

The portrayal of the female angst as simply a derivate of the gender unspecific general safety concern by the dominant discourse evinces a few loopholes. The first loophole is the emphasis on the gender unspecificity of a predominantly female experience. Had the female angst been truly a gender unspecific general safety concern, then a large number of men would have surely reflected and related to the intense perpetual terror of sexual assault experienced by every woman. However, the studies have sketched quite a contradictory picture, proving backed by data that men don’t experience a perpetual fear of rape plaguing their psyche. Hence, the reduction of a female-specific experience to a general human experience erodes the immensity of trauma that the women undergo, thereby trivialising their sufferings. The second glaring loophole is generalisation of a specific fear to incorporate within its ambit the broad spectrum of physical safety concerns. It must be understood that female angst is a specific fear of rape rather than any a safety concern about any physical offense. Had female angst been a derivate of the general safety concern then it would have surely included within its ambit the fear of other physical assaults. But as studies had already proven the specificity of female angst it becomes preposterous to use the term synonymously with general safety concern. Hence, it becomes imperative to sensitize the society about the female angst, a usually overlooked and misunderstood implication of rape which traumatises half of the population of the society.

Though female angst is a gender specific experience yet it affects the society as a whole. Female angst is not merely a psychological phenomenon for it generates significant economic repercussions as well. Female angst is a shelved fear of rape that may not be always present in the consciousness of women yet it perpetually lurks in their subconscious mind. This subconscious fear compels women to impose restrictions on themselves in order to avoid putting themselves at the risk of sexual assault. These restrictions mostly include a deliberate avoidance of dark and isolated places, going outdoors late at night, etc. These self-imposed restrictions not only curb the free movement of women but also hinder their economic freedom thereby impacting the economy of the entire country. These restrictions severely limit the economic choices of women since they avoid night shifts and workplaces located in isolated and far-off areas. However, the brunt of such limiting choices is borne not only by women but also by the employers who lose a significant employee pool.

Studies indicate that women develop female angst early in life. It is aided by the parental warnings to which they are exposed early in life. Reports claim that though the parental warnings against strangers to which women are exposed early in life contain no explicit reference to sexual assault yet they are menacing enough to create a deep-rooted fear of strangers in the hearts of the young girls. Though all young children irrespective of their gender are exposed to such parental warnings against strangers, yet as they grow in age such warnings become exclusive to the girls as the innocuous warnings are transformed into increasingly explicit warnings about possible sexual assaults.

Though female angst is a shelved fear of rape yet it can be painfully wrenched to the forefront of the conscious mind by the dreadful parental and societal warnings as well as the woman’s own experiences of implicit and explicit sexual harassment and intrusion. Such triggered conscious fear of rape results in a traumatic experience for the woman which becomes extremely difficult for her to overcome. Society with its stigmatisation of rape and victim blaming narrative is also to a large extent responsible for the reiteration of female angst. A woman who is constantly threatened with ostracism should she be sexually violated cannot help dreading rape.

Rape which represents the failure of the entire human civilisation and which unfortunately has become a part of our daily lexicon affects each one of us, both as a society as well as individually. Hence, each of us must accept our responsibility to purge this blot on humanity. This daunting task can only be achieved by understanding the root cause of this social malice; and sensitizing the society on the issue of rape rather than stigmatising it; and by supporting the victims instead of ousting them.