Nickie D Phillips, Behind blurred lines: Rape culture in popular media
| Author | Vicky Nagy |
| DOI | 10.1177/0004865818805608 |
| Published date | 01 September 2019 |
| Date | 01 September 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Book Reviews
Nickie D Phillips, Behind blurred lines: Rape culture in popular media. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield,
2017; 306 pp. ISBN 9781442246270, USD$40.00 (hbk)
Reviewed by: Vicky Nagy, Deakin University,Australia
The viral spread of the hashtag #MeToo in late 2017 was prompted by actor Alyssa
Milano who asked followers to reveal the extent to which sexual assault, harassment and
violence had affected people across the US (and the world); this came after the first
accusations of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment and assault on women were made.
But the phrase is much older. The first use of “Me Too” dates to 2006, when Tarana
Burke began using it to spread “empowerment through empathy” amongst women of
colour to support victims of sexual harassment and assault. It was between these two
periods, in 2013, that the term “rape culture” moved outside of feminist academic dis-
course and planted itself firmly into mainstream popular culture. Although no one
comprehensive definition exists, as Phillips notes in her text, feminist scholars from
the 1970s onwards have used the term to “describe how violence against women has
been normalized in our society through a process of linking sexuality to violent
aggression” (p. 5). Why 2013 was the year that broader society became aware of the
term is the focus of Phillips’ monograph as she explores how sexual assault and violence
was mainstreamed, is contested in popular culture, and how this impacts upon policy
making and the legal system.
Undertaking an examination of rape culture in the cultural landscape between the
years of 2012 and 2016, Phillips touches upon the events and discourse that unveiled
how rape and sexual harassment are perceived, articulated and enacted against women
and children. The 2012–2016 period provides numerous examples, but Phillips focuses
on a number of main cultural points: the news reporting of Jyoti Singh’s rape and
murder on a bus in New Delhi; the rape of Jane Doe in Steubenville; Robin Thicke’s
pop song “Blurred Lines”; the SlutWalk campaign; the Bill Cosby accusations; Game of
Thrones and the use of rape against female characters in television shows to advance
narrative; violence against and rape of female characters in video games, as well as the
threats made against female video game developers and critics as part of #GamerGate;
rape culture in comic books and rape culture on university campuses including Sabrina
Erdely’s now-infamous 2014 Rolling Stone article. While some events and actions were
unreported in mainstream media and would be of little interest to a large portion of the
community (for example, removing the rape of female comic book characters as
Australian & New Zealand Journal of
Criminology
2019, Vol. 52(3) 432–439
!The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0004865818805608
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