What It Feels Like (Paperback)

Stephanie R. Larson

ISBN 10: 0271091444 / ISBN 13: 9780271091440

Published by Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, 2022

About this Item

Paperback. What It Feels Like interrogates an underexamined reason for our failure to abolish rape in the United States: the way we communicate about it. Using affective and feminist materialist approaches to rhetorical criticism, Stephanie Larson examines how discourses about rape and sexual assault rely on strategies of containment, denying the felt experiences of victims and ultimately stalling broader claims for justice.Investigating anti-pornography debates from the 1980s, Violence Against Women Act advocacy materials, sexual assault forensic kits, public performances, and the #MeToo movement, Larson reveals how our language privileges male perspectives and, more deeply, how it is shaped by systems of powerpatriarchy, white supremacy, ableism, and heteronormativity. Interrogating how these systems work to propagate masculine commitments to science and hard evidence, Larson finds that US culture holds a general mistrust of testimony by women, stereotyping it as emotional. But she also gives us hope for change, arguing that testimonies grounded in the bodily, material expression of violation are necessary for giving voice to victims of sexual violence and presenting, accurately, the scale of these crimes. Larson makes a case for visceral rhetorics, theorizing them as powerful forms of communication and persuasion.Demonstrating the communicative power of bodily feeling, Larson challenges the long-held commitment to detached, distant, rationalized discourses of sexual harassment and rape. Timely and poignant, the book offers a much-needed corrective to our legal and political discourses. Investigates contemporary and historical rhetorics of rape culture within institutional, legal, cultural, and medical discourses. Examines how discourses about rape rely on strategies of containment and deny the felt experiences of victims, ultimately stalling broader claims for justice in the United States. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780271091440

Bibliographic Details

• Title: What It Feels Like (Paperback)
• Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0271091444
• ISBN 13: 9780271091440
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

What It Feels Like interrogates an underexamined reason for our failure to abolish rape in the United States: the way we communicate about it. Using affective and feminist materialist approaches to rhetorical criticism, Stephanie Larson examines how discourses about rape and sexual assault rely on strategies of containment, denying the felt experiences of victims and ultimately stalling broader claims for justice.

Investigating anti-pornography debates from the 1980s, Violence Against Women Act advocacy materials, sexual assault forensic kits, public performances, and the #MeToo movement, Larson reveals how our language privileges male perspectives and, more deeply, how it is shaped by systems of power―patriarchy, white supremacy, ableism, and heteronormativity. Interrogating how these systems work to propagate masculine commitments to “science” and “hard evidence,” Larson finds that US culture holds a general mistrust of testimony by women, stereotyping it as “emotional.” But she also gives us hope for change, arguing that testimonies grounded in the bodily, material expression of violation are necessary for giving voice to victims of sexual violence and presenting, accurately, the scale of these crimes. Larson makes a case for visceral rhetorics, theorizing them as powerful forms of communication and persuasion.

Demonstrating the communicative power of bodily feeling, Larson challenges the long-held commitment to detached, distant, rationalized discourses of sexual harassment and rape. Timely and poignant, the book offers a much-needed corrective to our legal and political discourses.

About the Author

Stephanie R. Larson is Assistant Professor of Rhetoric at Carnegie Mellon University.