Title: "The war against women". Media representations of men's violence against women in Australia.

POPLINE Document Number: 142093

Author(s):

Howe A

Source citation:

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, 1997 Feb;3(1):59-75.

Abstract:

This article analyzes how a newspaper in Victoria, Australia, represented violence against women in a special series entitled, "The War Against Women." True to the series title, the series appropriated all of the metaphors of war and dealt with violence against women in much the same fashion as it would report a war, speculating as to its causes, mapping its prevalence, reporting deaths, and referring to "explosions" of violence. As in war coverage, the series included findings of a poll of public opinion, told a story of contrition from an enemy who surrendered (a man in counseling), and offered editorials. While it drew attention to one of society's most pressing and intractable social problems, the paper ignored its own previous reports on domestic violence to gain the shock value of the "new" and, therefore, perpetuated a pattern of "discovery, forgetting, and rediscovery" of violence against women. The paper also failed to apply the feminist notion of a continuum of male violence or to breach the chasm between feminist and public understanding of male violence. Finally, the paper used editorial disclaimers to minimalize men's responsibility and distance itself from feminists. Thus, it placed its critique of men's pervasive violence against women within the hegemonic narratives of gender relations, which hold that women acquiesce in domestic violence, feminists vilify men, and men are a much-maligned group not responsible for the bad behavior of a minority. The paper, thus, conveys that idea that this war will not be won.

Keywords:

Australia
Critique
Violence
Women
Rape
Newspapers
Developed Countries
Oceania
Behavior
Demographic Factors
Population
Crime
Social Problems
Printed Media
Mass Media
Communication