{"product_id":"virgin-or-vamp-how-the-press-covers-sex-crimes-9780195086652","title":"Virgin or Vamp: How the Press Covers Sex Crimes","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the last few years  the national press has lavished coverage on several major sex-related scandals: the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings  the William Kennedy Smith rape trial  and the Mike Tyson case. With each event came lurid stories pitting either a loose or virginal woman against an unwilling or monstrous man. Such extreme coverage  argues Helen Benedict  perpetuates myths that are harmful to victims of these crimes (and sometimes to the accused). In Virgin or Vamp Benedict examines the presss treatment of four notorious sex crimes from the past decade--the Rideout marital rape trial in Oregon  the Big Dans pool table gang rape in Massachusetts  the \"Preppy Murder\" in New York City  and the Central Park jogger case--and shows how victims are labelled either as virgins or vamps  a practice she condemns as misleading and harmful. Benedict also looks at other factors that perpetuate the misunderstanding of rape. For instance  she shows how the New York press presented the Central Park jogger rape case as motivated by racism because of its unwillingness to consider rape an issue of gender. She also addresses our inherent language bias  the presss tendency to use sexually suggestive language to describe crime victims  and its preference for crimes against whites. In conclusion  Benedict offers a number of solutions that will help reporters cover these increasingly common crimes without further harming the victims  the defendants  or public understanding.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45646915207221,"sku":"ByrdShop_0195086651","price":26.83,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780195086652.jpg?v=1781681564","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/virgin-or-vamp-how-the-press-covers-sex-crimes-9780195086652","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}