Sexual Assualt

Andrea Hamar Edmondson, the rape prevention and education coordinator with the Oklahoma State Department of Health, recently held a presentation about rape culture, especially in TV commercials, movies, music and advertising, and how it does more harm to victims by de-sensitizing the public. Ms. Edmondson will hold the presentation again at 9:30 a.m. April 17 in Fannin Hall. (Air Force photo by Kelly White)

Briefing unblurs the line between media, abuse culture

Published April 10, 2015
By Kimberly Woodruff
Staff WriterTINKER

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Unlike some of the subtle messages objectifying women in advertising, the message delivered by Andrea Hamar Edmondson to a Tinker audience last week was loud and clear.

During an April 3 discussion about rape and the media, Ms. Edmondson from the Oklahoma State Department of Health said it's time to send a different message.

"We tend to think the messages in a lot of media are subtle," said Ms. Edmondson. "

"Some of the subtle messages in advertising are what come across as unacceptable -- it gets inside your head."

She showed some not-so-subtle advertising from magazines, television and even played some popular music with the lyrics on the screen. One ad showed a man coming at a woman holding a tie in a way to suggest he is going to strangle her with it.

"The message," Ms. Edmondson said, "suggests that this particular tie is good for murdering women."

She said rape culture tends to normalize, trivialize and excuse a person's behavior. "It is culturally embedded that we put the responsibility on the victim," she said.

Advertising in magazine ads and television objectify men and women. Many adds distort a woman's idea of what is normal and distorts the fantasies males often have of how they want women to be. Ads for perfume, alcohol, clothing and more portray women in a variety of situations that are clearly wrong by society's standards, including showing women in cages or passed out drunk. Though the conventions are objectionable, and people do not keep women in cages, Ms. Edmondson said society has come to accept the images in advertising.

Movie directors have come to rely on tropes, or plot devices and conventions the audience will understand and that would need no further explanation. The messages are simply embedded, but society is used to the message and accepting of it.
According to Ms. Edmondson, people need to be made aware that their support of suggestive music, movies or television promotes a culture of rape.

"Be thoughtful about messages you send, and don't buy in to victim blaming," she said. "Talk to people and start conversations about inappropriate messages."
Ms. Edmondson's briefing will be repeated at 9:30 a.m. April 17 at Fannin Hall Bldg 282.