{"id":988,"date":"2016-12-26T10:09:01","date_gmt":"2016-12-26T16:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=988"},"modified":"2016-12-26T16:40:10","modified_gmt":"2016-12-26T22:40:10","slug":"when-nice-guys-rape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2016\/12\/26\/when-nice-guys-rape\/","title":{"rendered":"Best of 2016: When \u201cNice Guys\u201d Rape"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_990\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-990\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/garryknight\/5829069804\/in\/photolist-9T6vnw-bRsjVc-arWZpk-bRskFT-9T3R1P-arWSw6-9T3HDZ-9T6yS9-arWMDz-sdt8Ym-arZmcu-9T3JdV-arXpfi-9T3MYV-bCyCvE-4RHhHq-hYFwz1-arZsou-arWunP-arWXyR-9T6yiE-9T6Bkd-9T3PPF-arWBfc-bRshxD-arXeQk-9T3VnZ-9T6Kmq-de3oyE-bCxy8y-9T3Hb4-9T6usw-bRsiEH-9T3LvB-bpE5wg-62AQG6-bCxBaC-9T3VNM-bCxCd3-bCudZE-arX9WH-9T6C6m-bCxAoU-bCxAT7-arWCJ4-9T3Qhi-bCxA9G-bCxCZf-bku6Gq-9QHSKR\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-990\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-990 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2016\/09\/5829069804_4eb01ac802_z-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"Taken at the Slutwalk meeting at Trafalgar Square in London, June 2011. Garry Knight, Flickr CC\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2016\/09\/5829069804_4eb01ac802_z-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2016\/09\/5829069804_4eb01ac802_z-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2016\/09\/5829069804_4eb01ac802_z.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-990\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taken at the Slutwalk meeting at Trafalgar Square in London, June 2011. Garry Knight, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>Originally published Sept. 13, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Earlier this summer, a California judge sentenced <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation\/2016\/09\/06\/brock-turner-registers-sex-offender-sanford-assault\/89904618\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brock Allen Turner<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to 6 months in jail for the sexual assault of an unconscious 23-year-old woman because the judge believed a harsher punishment would \u201chave a severe impact on him.\u201d After Turner\u2019s father referred to his son\u2019s actions as \u201c20 minutes of action,\u201d the survivor detailed the emotional aftermath of her assault and the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2016\/03\/12\/revictimization-after-sexual-assault\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">revictimization<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> during trial in a powerful <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/katiejmbaker\/heres-the-powerful-letter-the-stanford-victim-read-to-her-ra?utm_term=.roQ22Vozo7#.gaLmm9v8vK\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">impact statement<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This sentencing decision and subsequent defending of Turner because of his university status, lack of criminal history, and \u201cpositive character\u201d continue to strike public outrage, as he was released from jail after serving 3 months. Feminist scholars have long addressed the pervasiveness of rape culture and help us pinpoint how it reproduces notions that only \u201cbad guys\u201d commit \u201creal rape.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Police and prosecutors often make decisions to arrest and charge suspects based upon characteristics of \u201creal rape\u201d &#8211; \u00a0rapes that involve strangers, weapons, and physical force. These depictions of sexual assault suggest only \u201cbad guys\u201d rape and that victims must physically resist and show their injuries to prove it. Empirical studies illustrate that acquaintances perpetrate the vast majority of rapes and include little, if any, physical injury. Still, rape and sexual assault continue to be characterized by under-reporting and high attrition rates.<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Susan Estrich. 1987. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hup.harvard.edu\/catalog.php?isbn=9780674749443\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Real rape<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ccj.asu.edu\/content\/cassia-spohn-0\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cassia Spohn<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and Katharine Tellis. 2014. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rienner.com\/title\/Policing_and_Prosecuting_Sexual_Assault_Inside_the_Criminal_Justice_System\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Policing and Prosecuting Sexual Assault: Inside the Criminal Justice System<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Lynne Reiner Publishers: Boulder, CO.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some men convicted of rape deny their actions by portraying the victim as the true sexual aggressor and themselves as the victim. In one study, men argued that the victim said no when she really meant yes, initiated the sexual contact, and even enjoyed the sexual contact once she relaxed. Other men acknowledged their actions as rape but provided excuses, citing drugs and alcohol, emotional problems, and a brief lapse in judgement from their otherwise \u201cnice guy\u201d persona as the true source of the victim\u2019s rape. <\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Diana Scully and<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.vcu.edu\/person\/joseph-marolla\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Joseph Marolla<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 1984. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.d.umn.edu\/~bmork\/2306\/readings\/scullyandmarollis.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Convicted Rapists\u2019 Vocabulary of Motive: Excuses and Justifications<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social Problems <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">31(5): 530-544.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps one reason myths of the pathological rapist persist within the criminal justice system is\u00a0the expectation that women and girls should accept sexual violence and aggression from men as normal in their everyday interactions. In a recent study, adolescent girls often described their experiences of harassment and sexual violence with men and boys as normal \u201cbecause they do it to everyone.\u201d<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cjpascoe.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">C.J. Pascoe<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2007. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ucpress.edu\/book.php?isbn=9780520271487\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dude You\u2019re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Berkeley: University of California Press.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.marquette.edu\/social-cultural-sciences\/heather-hlavka.shtml\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heather R. Hlavka<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2014. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/gas.sagepub.com\/content\/early\/2014\/02\/28\/0891243214526468.full\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Normalizing Sexual Violence: Young Women Account for Harassment and Abuse<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gender &amp; Society <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">28(3): 337-358.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more on rape culture and its consequences, see <a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2016\/03\/12\/revictimization-after-sexual-assault\/\">this TROT on the revictimization of rape victims<\/a>, this piece on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/feminist\/2015\/11\/12\/pop-music-rape-culture-and-the-sexualization-of-blurred-lines\/\">pop music and rape culture<\/a>, and these <a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/ccf\/2015\/06\/01\/ncvs-findings-on-rape\/\">stats on rape and sexual assault in the U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Originally published Sept. 13, 2016 Earlier this summer, a California judge sentenced Brock Allen Turner to 6 months in jail for the sexual assault of an unconscious 23-year-old woman because the judge believed a harsher punishment would \u201chave a severe impact on him.\u201d After Turner\u2019s father referred to his son\u2019s actions as \u201c20 minutes of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1957,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,15,55],"tags":[38547,38543,38545,286],"class_list":["post-988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime","category-culture","category-gender","tag-crime","tag-culture","tag-gender","tag-rape"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1957"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=988"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1223,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988\/revisions\/1223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}