This month we are unpacking the many complexities behind hyper-masculinity and its affects on rape culture. Cristal and myself make a great effort of speaking about rape culture from a place of hope due to our own experiences and the redemptive power of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We continue to believe that these acts of violent and inconceivable behavior could change when we as a culture heal and change as well. That being said, we are not naive to the fact that the dialogue around the topic of rape and sexual assault is often a he-said/ she-said basis. There is often a divide in conversations between victim and perpetrator, rapist and rape survivor, or antagonist and protagonist in every story. Our goal isn’t to do much identify who is the rapist and rape survivor in these stories. Our mission is to further the conversation beyond “one specific unfortunate event” to a cultural issue, needing cultural education and healing regarding such topics. This subject is incredibly important when we discuss the prevalence of rape and varying degrees of gendered violence in our world. Cristal and I have conducted interviews and reflected on the different perspectives on rape culture from perspective of men closest to Cristal and myself. Our hope again, is to better unpack the standards and expectations that come with being "a man" in society. Context Behind the Interview: In order to frame these interviews properly, we wanted to give our interviewees some context for the questions they will be asked. In a recent YouTube video, YouTube personality (@Derrick Jaxn) called out radio personality and author charlamagne for his alleged acts of sexual misconduct with another woman. ((After listening to the same interview about his encounter with the woman, we did want to for-warn our readers that this is trigger-sensitive and want to respect your journey in healing as the content may be overwhelming to hear. )) His interview mirrored many conversations that often take place in hyper-masculine/ privileged spaces as Derrick Jaxn reflected. On the other side of this disturbing interview, Derrick Jaxn revealed another aspect of masculinity worth evaluating and applauding. It was in this moment of “calling-out” another man’s inappropriate behavior we see a positive example of “Manhood” displayed. We believe there are more men like this; and we are hopeful we'll discover similar stories in future days to come! We’ve included the link for the video as well for your review. Feel free to leave any comments or questions throughout this series because next week, we will be sharing our reflections and interviews from the men closest to us! God bless you and as always... we send our love and solidarity, Cristal Lowe & Devin Marie
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August 2020
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