50 Cent's mocking of Terry Crews' sexual assault is no surprise given the toxic masculinity engulfing African American communities

Over and over again we see the message that 'being a man' calls for repression of any appearance of weakness. Men are 'supposed' to be strong and untouchable, and Crews identifying himself as a victim dismantles that narrative

Last night actor Terry Crews gave an emotional testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in an attempt to use his story of sexual assault to advocate for the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights.

This bill drafted by Amanda Nguyen, a rape survivor and founder of civil rights organisation Rise, would give victims of sexual assault more rights consistent across all 50 states in the US, like allowing for continued preservation of rape kits.

Following the news about Crews’ involvement in championing this bill was a now deleted mocking Instagram post by rapper 50 Cent, who seemed to think that Crews didn't "look like a victim". This is a mentality we have pushed against when it comes to female victims, but still struggle to reframe when it comes to male victims.

The post featured an image of a Crews shirtless, with the words, “I got raped. My wife just watched.” across it. The caption of the post was equally as belittling to the agency of Crews: “LOL,What the f*** is going on out here man? Terry: I froze in fear. they would have had to take me to jail. get the strap.” This sentiment was loudly echoed on social media, and it’s sadly an all too common story for men who report sexual abuse.

By "coming out" as a sexual assault victim, Crews is going against the grain of what defines masculinity in our society. Over and over again we see the message that “being a man” calls for repression of any appearance of weakness. Men are “supposed” to be strong and untouchable, and Crews identifying himself as a victim of sexual assault dismantles that narrative, something 50 Cent clearly cannot wrap his head around. Crews' story supports the feminist assertion that sexual assault is more about power than sex. If men who are as physically muscular and intimidating as Crews can be subject to sexual assault, then anyone can, regardless of what they were wearing and how much they had to drink.

In our society of asymmetrical power dynamics, women are disproportionately victims of sexual abuse, perpetrated mostly by males.

When we share our stories of sexual assault via the #MeToo movement on Twitter for example, our mentions are filled with comments from men insisting that they too are victims of sexual assault, and that this should be more widely discussed.

In the wake of Crews sharing his story as an actual victim of sexual assault, the lack of support from men has been evident. Instead, he has been exposed to silence and ridicule for daring to expand the rigid notion of masculinity. One could conclude that the intention of interrupting women sharing their stories of sexual assault is an obvious attempt to deride and deflect from the severity of our experiences – when faced with a real opportunity to champion a cause frequently brought up by men in response to women sharing these stories, we encounter silence and mockery of the victims instead.

Crews is a physically imposing black male from Michigan. He is expected by society to address sexual assault by either lashing out or staying quiet. His choice to instead lend his voice as an advocate for sexual assault is foreign to our society, even more so the African-American community, which is conditioned to view males only through narrow and stereotypical lenses.

When asked by Senator Diane Feinstein why he didn’t physically push back against his abuser, Crews replied, "I'm from Flint, Michigan. I have seen many, many young black men who have been provoked into violence. They're in prison or they were killed,"

Crews is openly identifying as a victim, flipping the script of what we perceive one to look like. Attempts made by his fellow African-American peers to ridicule and discredit his response are intended make him look weak and silence others like him, lest an uproar of voices truly make us question our idea of masculinity.

Crews is proof that a possibility for change is near. If more men were to be as bold and honest as he is, despite the pushback from society, the world will be a better place for us all.