Rape and Representation

[...] and Representation is The Title of a book of essays, edited by Lynn A. Higgins and Brenda R. Silver and published in (1991). The book "explores how cultural forms in Western society construct and reinforce social attitudes that encourage [...] violence. The contributors argue that literature reflects a patriarchal representation which makes the act of [...] seem NATURAL and inevitable" according to the Amazon blurb. Concentrating mainly on literature, the collection suggests that the politics and the aesthetics of [...] representation are indistinguishable (according to Anne Reef in 'Representations of [...] in Apartheid and Post-apartheid South African Literature', Critical Studies, 18, 245-262).

The representation of [...] takes place in our culture in many ways and across a number of different media, from mainstream Hollywood movies, independent cinema and television to literature, broadcast and print news and the popular press, as well as [...]. This has been an area for much academic research (see Representations of [...] in Popular Culture bibliography 1).

Theorists argue that it is important to differentiate between actual [...] and its representation and to ask questions of the different ways in which [...] is narrativised in Western culture(s). For example Sielke arges that "the term “[...] culture” says more about the prominent status of [...] as a central trope within the American cultural imaginary than about the state of real [...]" (Sabine Sielke (2002) Reading [...]: The Rhetoric of [...] Violence in American Literature and Culture, 1790-1990). 2

It has been argued that there is a culture of blame surrounding [...] victims (see Amnesty International's 2005 Poll).3 and that the narrativisation of [...] contributes to the ways in which [...] is perceived (see [...] culture), although some theorists are critical of what they identify as feminist criticism's exaggeration and perpetuation of the fear of [...] (see Gavan Tredoux) 4.

Much has been written about the inherent [...] narrative structure of many well-known fairy tales, such as Little Red Riding Hood, which some (feminist) critics argue reinforce our acceptance of [...] culture. 5 See, for example, Jack Zipes who has written extensively about fairy tale, disputing Bruno Bettelheim's arguments about the social acculturation of young children.

Another strong narrative trend is the [...] revenge narrative of many exploitation films, see for example I Spit on Your Grave (Meir Zarchi, 1978). Gasper Noe's more recent Irréversible (2002) offers a very different take on the [...] revenge theme, one that focusses on the implications of a woman's [...] for the male character's of the film. See also Sam Peckenpah's Straw Dogs (1971), The Accused (Jonathan Kaplan, 1988) and Thelma and Louise (Ridley Scott, 1991) for some notable and often controversial examples of the visual representation of [...]. One of the myths which is perpetuated by these representations is the idea of 'stranger [...]' whereas it has been documented that [...] victims are more often likely to be attacked by somebody that they already know, otherwise known as 'acquaintance [...]'.6

Watching [...]: Film and Television in Postfeminist Culture by Sarah Projansky addresses the relationship between the visual representation of [...] and post-feminism, examining "depictions of [...] in US film, television, and independent video" and exploring how "popular narratives about [...] also communicate ideas about gender, race, class, nationality, and sexuality". Siekle also identifies race as an important element of the"rhetoric of [...]" in America. Similarly, according to Tredoux "In the United States, [...] is strongly associated with race, with victims and offenders being disproportionately, even overwhelmingly, black".

In the UK the discussion has been taken up by feminist group Grrl Activistas who catalogue what they term as the "(mis)representation" of [...] in British broadcast and print news, and soap opera story lines, such as Hollyoaks and Eastenders, arguing that internet communication technologies allow [...] survivors to counteract this so-called (mis)representation through online discussion groups and chat rooms. 7

References

• [...] Correctness: The Gender-Feminist Attack on Women, Wendy McElroy,