The Accidental Radical

The most dominant stereotype of rape is that of an unknown man, often Black, jumping out of an alley and assaulting a White, middle-class, conservatively dressed woman. The woman has not consumed alcohol or engaged in any other “suspect” behaviors. She resists him by kicking, grabbing, scratching, and screaming, but her attempts to get away fail. He rapes her. This common stereotype is often viewed as the only situation in which the victim is blameless, or “legitimate.” When rapes do not fit this stereotype - for example, if the man is White, if the woman is a member of an ethnic minority group, if the man is at the woman’s home, if the woman has been drinking, if the woman does not physically resist after telling the man “no” - the rape is often seen as not being a “real” rape. The rape and its victim are not deemed legitimate.

The circulation of women among men is what establishes the operations of society.