The Date Rape Backlash: Media & the Denial of Rape

http://www.mediaed.org

How did date rape shift from a "shockingly frequent... outrage," as Newsweek once called it, to a controversy over "crying rape," as New York magazine later labeled it? Susan Faludi, bell hooks, Mary Koss, Katha Pollitt, Neil Malamuth, and ohters, analyze a classical case study in media "backlash."

By the early 1990s, solid research and overwhelming evidence had prompted a growing awareness of the epidemic nature of date rape, especially on college campuses. But, starting in 1993, the media used the anecdotal comments of one young woman, Katie Roiphe, to undermine efforts to stop this continuing crime against women. How did this happen? Academy Award Winning- screenwriter Callie Khouri (Thelma & Louise) hosts a lively discussion by researchers, journalists, and authors.

One in 5 college women will be subjected to rape or attempted rape.

In 78% of rape cases, the victim knew the assailant.

In acquaintance rape, alcohol or drugs were involved with 55% of the women and 75% of the men.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• MEF
• Media
• Education
• Literacy
• Critical
• Mass
• Industry
• Educational
• Sut
• Jhally
• Date
• Rape
• Gender
• College
• Representation

[kenwen4]

This video is disturbing. There was a girl at my college who had to drop out because nobody would believe that a few "nice fraternity boys" would rape her. The school also encourages rape victims not to report the crime to police (that would tarnish the school's reputation). They never put this crap in any of the brochures.

[apexpark]

it is likely that you agree with feminists like myself on a whole lot of issues, but its possible that the information about feminists you have been receiving has been misappropriated, skewed, or completely wrong. Feminists get a terrible rap because they challenge all systems of oppression simply by asking questions about the legitimacy of such systems. Meanwhile, these archaic oppressive systems aren't going to just die easy out. Check out bell hook, fo' serious.

[cherubicnerd]

hey challengingmedia, i favorited this video. it speaks the truth about society and it's views of women. awareness of rape, domestic violence, and child abuse should be as popular as breast cancer and heart disease are in the public's eye.

[cherubicnerd]

hey challengingmedia, i favorited this video. it speaks the truth about society and it's views of women. rape, domestic violence, and child abuse should be as popular as breast cancer and heart disease in the public's eye.

[cherubicnerd]

@apexpark damn! could not have said it better.

[Gogonostop]

@kenwen4

Also, I'm not discarding anyone's testimony. Most of the time the evidence is he said/she said, with no physical evidence. We shouldn't automatically believe the woman was raped any sooner than we should believe she lied. Hence the idea of automatically believing the "victim" (meaning, of course, the female) is really quite prejudiced against men.

[Gogonostop]

@kenwen4

Prior to 1970, the Justice Dept. determined that only .5% (half a percent) of women were raped. After the definition was expanded, the "1 in 6" figure became more popular.

I've been raped a thousand times. I've had sex after drinking wine (which is an intoxicant, and hence negates my consent), in the absence of affirmative consent (an explicit "yes"), & when I was pressured to do it, but gave in to please my partner. All that falls under "coercion," used in the "1 in 6" figure.

[kenwen4]

@Gogonostop The number of unreported rapes is likely much higher than the number of falsified rapes. 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men are sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Many rape victims don't report the crime because they're afraid no one will believe them. It's really sickening to discard testimonies of victims because a few people lied.

[Gogonostop]

@apexpark

Or check out someone far more influential, like Radical Feminist Catharine MacKinnon.

[Gogonostop]

@kenwen4

They never put in the brochures that a lot of women falsely accuse men of rape too >.<

[kkmarivate]

this video is utterly destitute of intellectual rigor, one should never trust sources which brandishes the cliche term "the media" as to accuse the entire media of having a single belief system which is self-evidently untrue. it is perfectly acceptable to scrutinize accusers of rape regardless of what this might do to other women who are afraid of reporting an incident. false rape accusations are well documented and not as rare as feminists would like to claim. see, duke lacrosse case 2006

[apexpark]

@cruelcruellife Also, you have to be shitting me if you think I don't know what critical theory and cultural marxism are. Of particular hilarity is that you are under the delusion that I will freak out in red scare because you claim that I am drawing on either of these.