November 17

Today in class we finished up the book review discussions and did the two minute TED talks. My book was Lucky by Alice Sebold, and a couple other people in the class also reviewed this book. The way I looked at my book was to break it down into a few main issues or themes that Sebold seemed to tackle most often. The three I thought were important were: Sebold's position as a rape victim (and therefore only a story to some people), the effect the rape had on the way she viewed her sexuality, and needing people to say the word "rape." The other two in class who looked at the same book chose different aspects of the case, especially looking at the relationship of the family, which was crucial in understanding the way Sebold thought about her rape.

As with my book, many of the books in the class related to the stranger rape that American culture tends to think is the most common form. I have wondered if this is due to the fact that the book may then be more "marketable." Marketable, in this sense, would then deal with the idea that it might be slightly easier to suggest a stranger rape than someone who you know.

There were also some contradictions with the firsthand accounts from the U.S. The only one that was out of the country was Jackson's case, which occurred in Paris. This one was interesting because the police response was completely different than the responses we have seen here. It seemed that the law enforcement over there were much readier to help the target and more willing to listen to her story. That was a bit refreshing in contrast to the diminishing actions of the law enforcement here.

Another case that was quite different from what the rest of the firsthand accounts was Jace's book about the woman who was targeted by her high school teacher, who began an abusive statutory rape "relationship" with her. In that book, the author described the process the abusers go through to make the targets more susceptible to their advances. She stated that many of the targets that are abused by these educators (or others who are in an authority positions) are people who feel ignored.

The other book that had a few different details was Lateah's book, which took a look at black women's stories of rape. This was different because most of the stories had targets who were white women. This book seemed to add much to the discussion of rape because it looked at the oversexualization of women of color. The book talked about the ideas surrounding the rapes of women of color, which were that she must have wanted it, or that she deserved it, or other horrible ideas. Moreover, she said the book discussed the accusation of betrayal that women of color had to face when they accused the black men who raped them. The accusation came with the idea that they would not want to "contribute" to the imprisonment of the black male population. The discussion of rape within the context of rape was really important.

November 8

Today in class, we discussed the different rape cases in our books.

The first one we discussed was called 1 Hour in Paris, in which an American woman was raped in Paris. It was published in 2014, which is quite new, in comparison to some of the others (mine was published in 2002). What sets this apart is the fact that it was international. The woman was raped by an acquaintance, which falls in line with what we have examined in this case. However, there is no athleticism at work here. The other additional aspects of our rape culture might also seem to not be a factor here. He was drunk, she was only sipping her wine, and did not really want to drink. Additionally, this case fits into the dominant idea that there will be a significant violent aspect to the rape that is easily identifiable, since she was raped at knife-point. The other interesting aspect was the difference in police response. We have talked in class that the police officers in America downplay the experiences and reactions of the targets and survivors, but the reactions of the police in France were very different in that they immediately took her claims to heart.

The second book we discussed was the Invisible Target. That one was about an abusive relationship between a teacher and a high school student. The male teacher began an extended statutory rape relationship with the young student. I thought the most interesting part of the story was the idea of the grooming, which goes towards what we know about rapists. The fact that he groomed her and targeted her shows that this was not a loving relationship, which is often what the defense/rapist will bring up. Another interesting part was that the girl did not have a great relationship with her father, which led her to seek that attention elsewhere. When he effectively rejects her at the beginning of their relationship so that she would want him more, he is definitely exhibiting a power play. And as we know, rape is about power, not sex.

The last one we discussed was Perfectly Broken. One of the things I found interesting about hearing about this book was the fact that she added a large faith-based component. I know some people in class seemed dismayed that there was such a large religious component, but I think that is beneficial and different than what we have read before. In many of the books and accounts we have read, the women tried to find the strength to overcome their rapes by themselves. That is obviously awesome, but I think that finding her faith again in this account would have been very beneficial. I imagine that finding her place in her faith again would allow her to (potentially) look at humanity in a healthier way after having that view so fractured.

Two of the three accounts today were acquaintance rape, which is closer to what we know about the statistics of rape, but overall in class, there has been more discussion of the stranger rapes that occur. Most of the books we looked at had the “classic” narrative of having some man (and they have all been men) jump out of the bushes and assault an unsuspecting or kindhearted woman (kindhearted in the case of the woman who was asked to give directions). This goes back to the idea that with all these stories, they are more marketable than telling the population they might know someone who is a rapist. The other dissimilarity between one of the books was that it was an extended abuse. The rest of the accounts of rape were only one instance instead of many years.