Rape on Trial: How the Mass Media Construct Legal Reform and Social Change

Why has so much of the public discussion of rape focused on a few specific cases, and to what extent has this discussion incorporated the feminist perspective on rape? Rape on Trial explores these questions and provides answers based on a detailed examination of the mainstream news coverage of the John and Greta Rideout marital rape case, the Big Dan's Tavern gang rape case, and the Webb-Dotson rape recantation case.

Lisa M. Cuklanz traces where and how rape reform ideas were granted legitimacy in mainstream news coverage. She finds that while the subsequent fictionalized versions frequently adopted the themes foregrounded in the news coverage, they usually were more sympathetic toward--and indeed often took on--the rape victim's point of view.

Author: Lisa M. Cuklanz
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: 11/01/1995
Pages: 160
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.94h x 6.03w x 0.41d
ISBN: 9780812215595

About the Author
Lisa M. Cuklanz is Chair of the Women's Studies Program and Associate Professor of Communication at Boston College. She is on the board of directors of the Radcliffe Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies and the author of Rape on Prime TimeTrial: How the Mass Media Construct Legal Reform and Social Change, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.