Blaming, lying, assuming, and coercing: rape myths in popular music lyrics from 2013–2023

Because rape myths, or false beliefs about sexual violence victims and perpetrators, are theorised to be a root cause of sexual violence, sexual violence prevention programming often includes a focus on reducing acceptance of rape myths. To measure the acceptance of rape myths, a small number of quantitative scales that were developed in the 1980s or 1990s, or were adapted from these scales, are still commonly used. To avoid systematic bias in our knowledge-base about rape myths, up to date descriptive research is needed to explore the framing and content of rape myths. The current study addresses this need through an individual, interpretive analysis of the content and framing of rape myths in the 25 most popular songs on Billboard's year-end song charts from 2013 to 2023, which reflect the most popular songs in the USA. Out of 151 songs that met inclusion criteria, 70% included at least one rape myth. Results provide insights into which rape myths have been widely circulated via popular song lyrics and should therefore warrant a special focus in violence prevention programming. The discussion also provides recommendations for updates to existing scales for measuring rape myth acceptance.