Gender and Violence Conceptualization of gender and violence Gender patterns and violence - Perpetrators; victims - Culture of violent

masculinity: legitimization of certain types of gendered violence - Discomfort re: female violence - Women are more likely to be victims of violence at the hand of someone that they know - Men are more likely to be perpetrators of violence but also they are more likely to be victims of violence overall - Difference in the experience of violence - Canada didnt allow women in combat roles in the armed forces until 1999, still not allowed combat roles in US Historical views on violence - Social construction of violence o Different meanings over time region, culture o Suggesting that violence is socially constructed o Values of those holding power (what they think is and isnt worth prosecuting) o Dominant expectations of sexual conduct and gender relations A Private Issue? - Doctrine of marital unity - Violence seen as private o Issues that werent very important to the public o One legal identity: husband the legal head of household Correction and discipline - Moderate correction: reasonable force: women, children Ownership of female body - Mid 1920spolice and courts dont really get involved in domestic violence unless there is extensive amounts of injuries - Unlimited access (sex) - Cant steal own property - No such thing as rape during marriage because the woman becomes the property of her husband Feminist views on violence - Power and control - Rooted in culture of male dominance - Right to use force - Public: unequal power relations - Seen as legitimate to use force - Same group of scholars made the argument that violence is not a private thing - Feminists make the argument that violence is a public issue & the only way to solve it is to publicize it

Rape as a War Crime - High incidence in war zones - Weapon: terrorize, humiliate - UN war crimes tribunals Economics - Women as property o A material thing that is worth something economically to her husband or her father - Economic dependence - Difficult to leave abusive relationships - Eg: aboriginal women, violence, over-representation Gender binaries: culture of violence - Those who dont fit gender binaries: seen as deviant - Also seen as targets of harassment, intimidation, assault - Hate crimes: racism, religious bigotry/gender orientation - Sociologists: sports nexus: industry of players, mass media, corporations, fans - Celebrates idealized male body: violent, aggressive, tough vs. feminized other bodies: weak - Impact: injury; abuse - Response: NHL & concussions; you can play - More self-reflective about these issues - Ongoing concern of the impact of concussions Rape Culture - A term that starts being used during the second wave of feminism o New York Radical Feminists o Susan Brownmiller - Used to define and identify how intersections of SOCIETY, STRUCTURE, and INSTITUTION come together to control, oppress, and subjugate women through the ever-present threat of rape or sexual violence, as well as the acts of violence themselves Key Components - Women seen/constructed as commodities o This includes the literal commodification of their sexuality and sex in general o Women are disposable - The onus is located within the woman who has been attacked. o Victim blaming and slut shaming o Men are not held accountable for their actions The idea that we dont teach dont rape but dont get raped - This happens in institutional as well-individual situations o At an institutional level this looks like police refusing the bring charges. Courts (judges and juries) believing that real rape victims are good girls Justice Dewar - Myth that men are hyper-sexual and they cant stop once theyve started because theyre animals

Only pretty girls are raped AKA rape is about sex, desire, and pleasure Rape, assault, unwanted sexual comments/touching are a compliment The idea that real rape only happens between strangers