Another part of the puzzle\u00a0language. Anti-sexist male activist Jackson Katz points out<\/a> that labeling alleged victims \u201caccusers\u201d shifts\u00a0public support to alleged perpetrators. The media\u2019s common use of a passive voice when reporting on domestic violence (e.g., “violence against women”) inaccurately emphasizes a shared responsibility of the perpetrator and victim for the abuser\u2019s violence and generally leaves readers with an inaccurate perception<\/a> that domestic violence isn\u2019t a gendered social problem. Visual evidence of women\u2019s injuries at the hands of men is a powerful antidote to this misrepresentation.<\/p>\n In my own research, published in Sociological Spectrum<\/em>, I found<\/a> that the race of perpetrators also matters to who is seen as accountable for their violence. I analyzed 330 news articles about 66 male celebrities in the headlines for committing domestic violence. Articles about Black celebrities included criminal imagery \u2013 mentioning the perpetrator was arrested, listing the charges, citing law enforcement and so on \u2013 3 times more often than articles about White celebrities. White celebrities’ violence was\u00a0excused and justified 2\u00bd times more often than Black celebrities\u2019, and more often\u00a0described as mutual escalation or explained away due to mitigating circumstances, such as inebriation.<\/p>\n Data from an analysis of 330 articles about 66 Black and White celebrities who made headlines for perpetrating domestic violence (2009-2012):<\/strong><\/p>\n Accordingly, visual imagery of Ray and Hardy\u2019s violence upholds common stereotypes of Black men as violent criminals. Similarly, White celebrity abusers, such as Charlie Sheen, remain unmarked as a source of a social problem. It\u2019s telling that the public outcry to take domestic violence seriously has been centered around the NFL, a sport in which two-thirds of the players are African American<\/a>. The spotlight on Black male professional athletes\u2019 violence against women draws on racist imagery of Black men as criminals. Notably, although domestic violence arrests account for nearly half of NFL players\u2019 arrests for violent crimes, players have lower arrest rates<\/a> for domestic violence compared to national averages for men in a similar age range.<\/p>\n![\"Caption:](\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2016\/09\/2-1-3.png\")
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