Inte alla män? En normativ studie om kollektivt ansvar.

Abstract

This essay seeks to provide an answer to the subject of collective responsibility amongst men to end rape culture in the western world. For more than two hundred years, women have fought for the right to be treated fairly by men. Despite feminist activist uprisings, gender equal laws and various attempts to shield themselves from mens sexual violence, women are still trapped in the constraints of patriarchy. This makes the question of responsibility a relevant subject in order to establish a permanent and effective change. Should men be the only collective agent responsible for the prevalence of rape culture? In order to answer these questions the method of reflective equilibrium is applied to the principles of collectivism and individualism. The principles are fundamentally different in their way of prioritizing the way that responsibility should be allocated. On the one hand, individuals may risk being collectively punished for simply being male. On the other hand, men have retrospectively gained advantages by simply being male in a rape culture unfavored against women. Through a discussion of non-distributive and distributive responsibility, a new possible way of responsibility is reached. Because of mens retrospective responsibility for rape culture as well as their prospective ability to help, I argue that men should be eligible for a distributive, prospective collective responsibility.