Reproducing Rape: Domination through Talk in the Courtroom (Chicago Series in Law and Society)

Matoesian, Gregory M.

ISBN 10: 0226510808 / ISBN 13: 9780226510804

Published by University of Chicago Press, 1993

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Reproducing Rape: Domination through Talk in the Courtroom (Chicago Series in Law and Society)
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226510808
• ISBN 13: 9780226510804
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

Gregory M. Matoesian is assistant professor of social science at Fontbonne College, St. Louis.