false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177903636m/741459.jpg 741459 3 In the last few years, the national press has lavished coverage on several major sex-related scandals: the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings, the William Kennedy Smith rape trial, and the Mike Tyson case. With each event came lurid stories pitting either a loose or virginal woman against an unwilling or monstrous man. Such extreme coverage, argues Helen Benedict, perpetuates myths that are harmful to victims of these crimes (and sometimes to the accused). In Virgin or Vamp Benedict examines the press's treatment of four notorious sex crimes from the past decade--the Rideout marital rape trial in Oregon, the Big Dan's pool table gang rape in Massachusetts, the "Preppy Murder" in New York City, and the Central Park jogger case--and shows how victims are labelled either as virgins or vamps, a practice she condemns as misleading and harmful. Benedict also looks at other factors that perpetuate the misunderstanding of rape. For instance, she shows how the New York press presented the Central Park jogger rape case as motivated by racism because of its unwillingness to consider rape an issue of gender. She also addresses our inherent language bias, the press's tendency to use sexually suggestive language to describe crime victims, and its preference for crimes against whites. In conclusion, Benedict offers a number of solutions that will help reporters cover these increasingly common crimes without further harming the victims, the defendants, or public understanding. 727625 1992 Virgin or Vamp: How the Press Covers Sex Crimes total:22|5:6|4:7|3:4|2:4|1:1| 22 79 45 3 5 0 false false Mon Feb 04 11:19:55 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 04 11:23:08 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Sun Apr 29 20:27:19 -0700 2007 Tue Dec 02 23:47:58 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Fri Apr 27 07:58:52 -0700 2007 Fri Apr 27 08:14:49 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Sat Nov 21 06:22:39 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 21 06:22:39 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Nov 16 18:49:09 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 16 18:49:09 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sun Oct 25 18:31:42 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 18:31:42 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Sep 22 22:56:51 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 22 23:01:46 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Aug 05 11:29:01 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 05 11:29:01 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri May 22 13:01:52 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 13:01:52 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue May 12 08:31:02 -0700 2009 Tue May 12 08:31:02 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri May 08 16:29:23 -0700 2009 Fri May 08 16:29:23 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed May 06 00:32:07 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 00:32:07 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Apr 18 01:28:49 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 28 04:59:16 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Mar 29 11:53:21 -0700 2009 Thu Nov 19 03:58:23 -0800 2009 2 0 false false Sun Mar 15 16:26:43 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 15 16:26:43 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Mar 11 11:33:33 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 11 11:33:33 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Mar 07 09:45:31 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 07 09:45:34 -0800 2009 2 0 false false Fri Feb 27 10:17:06 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 10:17:06 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Feb 25 15:11:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 25 15:11:00 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Thu Jan 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 03:16:01 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 03:16:30 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=741459