Women, Violence, and the Media Readings in Feminist Criminology

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:11:00 +0000

At times, much like a good teacher, this book had my full attention. At other times, I nodded off. When I was three-quarters the way through, I began to wonder why it sounded like one of my old college text books. When I finished the 279 pages and went back to the preface, which I had long forgotten, I learned why: it was written for college students. That explained it. Had I not had to review it, I might have put it back on the shelf with those other books from a decade or so ago.

It’s not to say Women, Violence, and the Media: Readings in Feminist Criminology was uninteresting. It seeks to describe how women and violence are framed in fictional and non-fictional accounts, which interests me a great deal. The editor, Drew Humphries, professor in the department of sociology, anthropology and criminal justice at Rutgers University, pretty much achieves her aims. It’s just that like most people, I’d prefer to read about TV shows I watch. So, for example, I would enjoy reading an analysis of Dateline or even America’s Most Wanted. Do they serve to enlighten or to frighten? Do they show more cases of male violence than female violence, or is it in proportion to actual crime rates? This would interest me. Instead, there are chapters about Law and Order and Prime Suspect, shows that are popular, but that I don’t personally watch.

Even though I don’t have cable, I did find it interesting that Lifetime does well at depicting crime. It can broaden our understanding of crime because it shows subsequent victimization (like when a rape victim goes to a hospital and faces judgemental behavior by medical staff), which other programs often fail to include. They also have a balanced creative team. Oxygen and Women’s Entertainment actually have more males than females directing, producing and writing. Sounds like false advertising to me!

I would also have loved to read more about victim blaming, but it was only touched upon. I am always shocked and disheartened by news accounts on interpersonal violence and the comments that are sure to follow them. The editor says that victim blaming gives men “an edge in the court of public opinion and frequently in criminal court as well.” I never thought of it that way, but it makes sense. In chapter one (“Words That Wound”), the writers say that victims get more support when their behavior follows gender norms (example: wives like Lacy Peterson), and that made sense, too.

The chapter that compared mass rapes in Yugoslavia to those in Rwanda was interesting. The authors quote a researcher who says women are viewed as “victimized women rather than as persecuted citizens.” They analyzed how the media framed the situations in both countries, noted the different terms and emotionally-charged words that were used and how human rights organizations even responded differently to both countries.

Another chapter focuses on mass murder in domestic context. Working in the field of domestic violence myself, the information on this issue confirmed what I had already knew about it (and then wondered, do reporters ever read books like these?), particularly in regard to the media reporting on “nice guys” that inexplicably “snap.”

Once I got through the book, I enjoyed going back over the highlighted parts, which succinctly provided me with information. Since the book has a lot of material to wade through, I would encourage reading this book for a college course, as intended. All in all, I give it a B-.

Written by: Joan Dawson, June 26th 2009

Women and Sports in the United States

admin — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 02:19:00 +0000

Edited by Jean O’Reilly, Susan K. Cahn

Northeastern University Press

As the rather generic title would suggest, this collection is intended as an introduction to a broad field, perhaps a reader useful for a college-level Exercise Science or Physical Education seminar. There are nods to some of the pioneers of sport, essays on gender and athleticism—most of them more journalistic than scholarly—an all too brief treatment of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League of A League of Their Own fame.

There is a rehash of Brandi Chastain’s exuberant celebration after the 1999 Women’s World Cup and the sexualizing of athletes’ bodies in the media. There is coverage of Title IX, including a reproduction of the law itself, that revolutionized women’s sports in the 1970s. Lamentably, George Will, the notorious global warming-denier, is permitted space to spew his tiresome resentment against “the codification of feminism”—shocking, indeed!

What is missing, here, is the power of story: narratives of compelling individualism and achievement against odds that do much more to explain and account for the cultural pervasiveness of sport than essays such as are presented here. The book mentions that in 1974 Little League Baseball began to allow girls to participate after losing a lawsuit. That may well be of historical consequence, but there are powerful baseball stories that the editors overlook: the story of Pam Postema, minor league umpire from 1977 to 1988—and major league umpire in the spring of 1988, who was victimized by discrimination of the Jackie Robinson variety and was driven from the sport. Or Illa Borders, a pitcher who in 1998 proved that women could succeed in competition with men in professional baseball.

As an introduction to a burgeoning field, this collection is useful, but it may fall short of contributing to the growing excitement, building story by story, achievement by achievement, that surrounds women’s athletics.

Written by: Rick Taylor, March 7th 2007