Watching Rape: Film and Television in Postfeminist Culture

By Sarah Projansky

Book Overview

Looking at popular culture from 1980 to the present, feminism appears to be "over" that is, according to popular critics we are in an era of "postfeminism" in which feminism has supposedly already achieved equality for women.
Not so, says Sarah Projansky. In Watching Rape, Projansky undermines this complacent view in her fascinating and thorough analysis of depictions of rape in U.S. film, television, and independent video. Through a cultural studies analysis of such films as Thelma and Louise, Daughters of the Dust, and She's Gotta Have It, and television shows like ER, Ally McBeal, Beverly Hills 90210, and various made-for-tv movies, Projansky challenges us to see popular culture as a part of our everyday lives and practices, and to view that culture critically. How have media defined rape and feminism differently over time? How do popular narratives about rape also communicate ideas about gender, race, class, nationality, and sexuality? And, what is the future of feminist politics, theory, and criticism with regard to issues of sexual violence, postfeminism, and popular media?
The first study to address the relationship between rape and postfeminism, and one of the most detailed and thorough analyses of rape in 25 years, Watching Rape is a crucial contribution to contemporary feminism.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814766900
• ISBN13: 9780814766903
• Release Date: August 2001
• Publisher: New York University Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Watching Rape

I first saw Sarah Projansky present this book at the women's center of UC Davis. Her presentation was articulate, comprehensive, sensitive, and compelling. Her thoughts, ideas, and observations were enlightening.I have since read her book, "Watching Rape", and it is incredibly well done, comprehensive, fresh, and informative on many levels. This book was appealing to me as a survivor of sexual violence, an activist for ending sexual violence, and a writer. I especially appreciated the in-depth attention she paid to racism and/or the absence of race awareness in the media and sexual violence publications. I was also interested in her book to read her insights about the violence of spectators who do not intervene during a rape (and often hurt women [or children] further), and for her discussion of rape prevention and educational films and videos.I highly recommend this book to people who are interested in studying film representations of sexual violence and it's implications on our journey towards a less violent world, or to people who are interested in understanding and dispelling rape myths and the present state of feminism.