This book offers new insight into one of the most disturbing social problems of modern societies: rape. Using tape recordings of actual trials, Gregory M. Matoesian looks at the social construction of rape trials and at how a woman's experience of violation can be transformed in the courtroom into an act of routine, consensual sex. Matoesian examines the language of the courtroom, focusing on how defense lawyers interpret and classify rape in a way that makes the victim's experience appear as a normal sexual encounter. He analyzes the language that defense attorneys use in cross-examination to argue that courtroom talk can shape the victim's testimony to fit male standards of legitimate sexual practice. On this view, cross-examination is an adversarial war of words through which lawyers manipulate reality and perpetuate the patriarchal domination of women. Reproducing Rape will interest students and professionals in law, criminology, sociology, feminist theory, linguistics, and anthropology.

Representing Rape is the first feminist analysis of the language of sexual assault trials from the perspective of linguists. Susan Ehrlich argues that language is central to all legal settings - specifically sexual harassment and acquaintance rape hearings where linguistic descriptions of the events are often the only type of evidence available. Language does not simply reflect but helps to construct the character of the people and events under investigation. The book is based around a case study of the trial of a male student accused of two instances of sexual assault in two different settings: a university tribunal and a criminal trial. This case is situated within international studies on rape trials and is relevant to the legal systems of the US, Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. She shows how culturally-dominant notions about rape percolate through the talk of sexual assault cases in a variety of settings and ultimately shape their outcome. Ehrlich hopes that to understand rape trials in this way is to recognize their capacity for change. By highlighting the underlying preconceptions and prejudices in the language of courtrooms today, this important book paves the way towards a fairer judicial system for the future.

" Talking Difference provides an excellent critical review of a good selection of the research in language and gender published over the last 20 years, including a substantial amount from the area of psychology... I found this an exhilarating book, written with energy and wit. Crawford maintains a consistently critical approach, identifying contradictions and ambiguities in popular theories of gender difference, and exposing conceptual and methodological weaknesses in language and gender research. The volume is well-structured and readable; it will prove very valuable in undergraduate and beginning postgraduate courses in language and gender or in women's studies, as well as offering much which should interest students of communication studies and social psychology' - Language in Society The alternative to the essentialist] approach Crawford proposes is the social constructionist view... Crawford's analysis of conversational humor is particularly eye-opening... Talking Difference is not only a great read but also an acute criticism of current research and a very important contribution to feminist theory' - Journal of Pragmatics "

The first comprehensive book on rape since Susan Brownmiller's Against Our Will and Susan Estrich's Real Rape, this volume probes every aspect of rape law and the discrepancies between ideal law (on the books) and real law (in action). Susan Caringella canvasses the success and failure of reform in the United States, as well as Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand, and assesses alternative perspectives on rape reform, making use of theoretical models, court cases and statistical data. She uniquely delineates a creative model for change while addressing the discretion that undermines efforts at change. This includes charging the accused and plea bargaining, confronting a lack of transparency and accountability in implementing law, and acquiring funding for such changes.

It’s a Man’s World and a Woman’s Universe delves into the challenging and sometimes uncomfortable realm of interpersonal communication. It takes the reader on a journey of growth, with valuable insight into the inner workings of the mind as it relates to the duality of the individual’s energy. It is the ultimate handbook for learning how to develop greater understanding of how to communicate and foster deeper, longer lasting relationships. Learn to harness your energy rather than work against it. Learn to recognize and embrace your role, and how to implement and optimize your strengths in all your interactions, whether social, romantic, or professional.

Written for those involved in care services, this book aims to improve understanding of communication and relationships in health and social care settings, enabling critical reflection on practice and experience.

Sociolinguists and lawyers will find insight and relevance in this account of the language of the courtroom, as exemplified in the criminal trial of O.J. Simpson. The trial is examined as the site of linguistic power and persuasion, focusing on the role of language in (re)presenting and (re)constructing the crime. In addition to the trial transcripts, the book draws on Simpson's post-arrest interview, media reports and post-trial interviews with jurors. The result is a unique multi-dimensional insight into the 'Trial of the Century' from a linguistic and discursive perspective.

"What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape is brilliant, frank, empowering, and urgently necessary. Sohaila Abdulali has created a powerful tool for examining rape culture and language on the individual, societal, and global level that everyone can benefit from reading." —Jill Soloway In the tradition of Rebecca Solnit, a beautifully written, deeply intelligent, searingly honest—and ultimately hopeful—examination of sexual assault and the global discourse on rape told through the perspective of a survivor, writer, counselor, and activist After surviving gang-rape at seventeen in Mumbai, Sohaila Abdulali was indignant about the deafening silence that followed and wrote a fiery piece about the perception of rape—and rape victims—for a women's magazine. Thirty years later, with no notice, her article reappeared and went viral in the wake of the 2012 fatal gang-rape in New Delhi, prompting her to write a New York Times op-ed about healing from rape that was widely circulated. Now, Abdulali has written What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape—a thoughtful, generous, unflinching look at rape and rape culture. Drawing on her own experience, her work with hundreds of survivors as the head of a rape crisis center in Boston, and three decades of grappling with rape as a feminist intellectual and writer, Abdulali tackles some of our thorniest questions about rape, articulating the confounding way we account for who gets raped and why—and asking how we want to raise the next generation. In interviews with survivors from around the world we hear moving personal accounts of hard-earned strength, humor, and wisdom that collectively tell the larger story of what rape means and how healing can occur. Abdulali also points to the questions we don't talk about: Is rape always a life-definining event? Is one rape worse than another? Is a world without rape possible? What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape is a book for this #MeToo and #TimesUp age that will stay with readers—men and women alike—for a long, long time.

In the award-winning Just Sex? The Cultural Scaffolding of Rape, Nicola Gavey provides an extensive commentary on the existing literature on rape, analysing recent research to examine the psychological and cultural conditions of possibility for contemporary sexual violence. Just Sex? argues that feminist theory on sexual victimization has gone both too far and not far enough. It presents the reader with a challenging and original perspective on the issues of rape, sex and the body, incorporating new material on sexism, misogyny and digital culture, as well as debates over gendered analyses of sexual violence. The second edition has been updated and expanded to be extremely timely and relevant, with the most recent high-profile rape cases – the Stanford rape case and the Belfast rape case – being tried in the media and online. The rise of the Hollywood Harvey Weinstein scandal and the #MeToo movement makes this book incredibly useful and necessary to those who are working within the area of sexual violence. This will appeal to academic readers studying psychology, sociology, and criminology, as well as those looking into cultural influences on society. It will also be very useful to those working in the professional sector on prevention and with people who have been subjected to sexual violence.