How Rape Has Become a Staple of American Culture

(Trigger warning: Rape, sexual violence.)

Rape songs, rape jokes, rape scenes. It’s alarming to recognize how much rape is embedded in United States culture.

To change this, we have to speak up about it – which is exactly what these awe-inspiring poets did.

With this spoken word piece, witness the fierce courage it takes to stand up to rape culture, call out the offending songs, and stop singing along.

Video courtesy of Button Poetry. For more amazing spoken word performances, check them out on YouTube and Facebook.

To learn more about rape culture, check out the following:

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FreeQuency is a spoken word artist hailing most recently from New Orleans, LA. A 2014 member of the two-time National Poetry Slam Championship Team Slam New Orleans (Team SNO), FreeQuency has ranked 5th at the Texas Grand Slam, 3rd at the SouthWest ShootOut and is the 16th ranked female poet in the country in her first year competing on the national slam circuit. Off stage she is a local teaching artist in New Orleans and has been invited to speak at various events about arts and education. Check out her website and follow her on Twitter @FreeQThaMighty.

Desireé Dallagiacomo ranked 3rd at The 2014 Individual World Poetry Slam and 3rd at The 2014 National Poetry Slam. She is a student at the University of New Orleans where she studies women & gender as well as creative writing. Her work, and more info about her, can be found at poemsbydes.tumblr.com.