Rape Culture and Social Reaction to Sex Offenses

• In Event: Rape in the Media and Responses

Abstract

This presentation explores media discourse at the intersection of rape culture and social reaction to sex offenses. In February 2016, alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos’ comments about his adolescent sexual experiences with an older man resulted in a firestorm of controversy, a cancelled CPAC appearance, and withdrawal of his six-figure book contract. Despite the increased attention among academics and the public toward the over-criminalization of sex offenses, this presentation shows how the “cultural scaffolding for rape” continues to inform our public perceptions and understandings of sexual violence (Gavey, 2005). This analysis explores how reactions to Yiannopoulos’ comments reveal the continuing conflation of pedophilia and sexual orientation and the limited possibilities for discourse around statutory rape in ways that are challenging to normative sexuality.

Author

• Nickie Phillips, St. Francis College