Word: raped
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...surprisingly, Gordon and Riger found that the women who were most afraid of being raped were those who lived in lower-income neighborhoods. However, the areas that were cited as most dangerous were not always the areas with the highest incidences of rape...
...authors feel that fear of rape is imposed upon women by a male-dominated society. They attribute much of women's fear to media sensationalism and limited knowledge about the realities of rape. As support for their theory, Gordon and Riger point to the media's tendency to "blame the victim" and to the widespread belief that provocatively-dressed women are some-how "asking" to be raped...
While this argument is convincing, at times the authors seem to imply that society is intentionally perpetuating female terror. They fail to show how the fear of rape could benefit society in a way that would justify its perpetuation...
Gordon and Riger criticize the media on seemingly contradictory grounds. The authors claim that "the media exaggerate both the prevalence and the seriousness" of crime, leading women to believe that rape is more common and violent than is actually true. But they later point to the lack of coverage of what are deemed "typical" rapes, giving the impression that more coverage would heighten women's knowledge of rape...
...authors acknowledge that rape is difficult to define. Each respondent was asked whether they defined various activities, ranging from forced sexual intercourse to verbal harassment, as rape. Gordon and Riger keep these broad definitions throughout the book and are careful not to generalize...