Compelling Engagements: Feminism, Rape Law, and Romance FictionAfter decades of rape law reform, it is still being argued that the criminal justice system fails rape victims, that too few cases are prosecuted and too few prosecutions result in conviction. Compelling Engagements is a ground-breaking work which investigates the narratives of rape law and of romance fiction, and explores the outmoded and strikingly similar depictions of their normative female subjects. These are women who are not only vulnerable but also evidently worthy of the protections or rewards promised: punishment of the rapist or the hero's love. Larcombe's analysis explores: the definitions of "rape" in the criminal law and "romance" in Harlequin Mills and Boon fiction; the feminine subjects represented in the texts of rape law and romance fiction; the feminised subject positions the texts produce: the rape complainant and the romance reader; particular fictionalisations of the rape complainant and the romance reader: the false rape complainant and the ideal romance consumer; and how these fictionalisations serve the interests of the criminal justice system and the romance publishing industry. Larcombe shows how the legal construction of gender and subjectivity in rape law is still working to disempower victims. She suggests feminism's failure to accommodate women's investment in heroines of romance fiction has limited their effectiveness in transforming rape law. Compelling Engagements is an original and engaging analysis, and fascinating reading for anyone who deals with rape as part of the criminal justice system. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 28
Page 5
... suggest , not least because it is a more effective story for law to tell than the story of rape . From Chapters 1 , 3 and 5 then , we can conclude that the legal construction of gender hierarchy and gender norms is still working to ...
... suggest , not least because it is a more effective story for law to tell than the story of rape . From Chapters 1 , 3 and 5 then , we can conclude that the legal construction of gender hierarchy and gender norms is still working to ...
Page 7
... as articulated in romance fiction , as well as its conditions , as enforced through the applications of rape law . Only then , I suggest , can we understand why normative femininity is so resilient and how it 7 INTRODUCTION.
... as articulated in romance fiction , as well as its conditions , as enforced through the applications of rape law . Only then , I suggest , can we understand why normative femininity is so resilient and how it 7 INTRODUCTION.
Page 10
... suggest , can we gain new insight into the persistence and resilience of the gendered subjects of rape law and romance fiction . Only in this way can we explain how and why - despite extensive feminist critique - apparently redundant ...
... suggest , can we gain new insight into the persistence and resilience of the gendered subjects of rape law and romance fiction . Only in this way can we explain how and why - despite extensive feminist critique - apparently redundant ...
Page 18
... suggests , " we need to ask ourselves why feminist legal reforms have been so difficult to sustain and why the conditions of women's inequality are continually restored " ( 68 , emphasis in original ) .11 In developing answers to ...
... suggests , " we need to ask ourselves why feminist legal reforms have been so difficult to sustain and why the conditions of women's inequality are continually restored " ( 68 , emphasis in original ) .11 In developing answers to ...
Page 19
... suggest that rape law constructs a female subject who not only lacks sexual agency but also , more problematically , naturally responsive and receptive to male desire . Explaining that what we witness in rape law is the repro- duction ...
... suggest that rape law constructs a female subject who not only lacks sexual agency but also , more problematically , naturally responsive and receptive to male desire . Explaining that what we witness in rape law is the repro- duction ...
Contents
13 | |
Desire and Love Gendering Subjectivity | 34 |
The Fortitude of Heroines | 59 |
Heroines and the InSecurity | 78 |
Fear and Hope | 97 |
Preferred Readers and Other Romances | 115 |
Compelling Engagements | 135 |
Index | 161 |
Common terms and phrases
accused appeal argue attempts Australian basis become changes chapters complainant's consent consequence construction consumer contemporary continue conviction course criminal law critics cultural defence desire effect engagements evidence example experience explains fact false false complaint fantasy female feminine subjectivity feminist gender genre Harlequin hero hero's heroine heroine's heterosexual exchange ideal individual interests issues judges jury knowledge law and romance law's limited means mind narrative nature non-consent normative object particular person pleasures political popular romance position practice Press problem produced promises prosecution provides publishers questions rape complainant rape law rape victim reading reason reform relations relationship representation represented reproduce requirement resistance respect romance fiction romance reader satisfaction satisfied sense sexual assault sexual penetration social specific standard story successful suggest takes testimony texts true understand victim violence woman women women's romance Writing
References to this book
Choice and Consent: Feminist Engagements with Law and Subjectivity Rosemary C. Hunter,Sharon Cowan No preview available - 2007 |