Constructing sexual victimization: a thematic analysis of reader responses to a literary female-on-male rape story on Goodreads

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Abstract

Τhe aim of this study was to provide a detailed understanding of unprompted audience responses to a literary story of female-on-male rape on Goodreads. Thematic analysis of 429 reviews revealed 6 key themes and 12 sub-themes, which evolved around appraising the social function of the book, evaluating its literary features, assessing the depiction of female-on-male rape especially in terms of its perceived realism, as well as around a variety of explicitly emotional and cognitive responses. The aesthetic features of the story proved to be of particular importance for shaping reader engagement. Reflective elaborations on the female rapist were found to constitute a marginal response pattern. Findings identified the existence of an overarching cognitive schema that construes sexual victimization as feminized and is linked to a tripartite pattern of comprehending female on- male rape (female-focused, gender-inclusive, gender-neutral). The study highlights the persistence of gendered rape myths structured around an "ideal victim" - "ideal offender" paradigm, which however co-exist with alternative responses oriented towards de-gendering sexual victimization. These findings suggest the importance of addressing audience responses in future investigations of female sexual violence (hands-on and hands-off behaviors) and pursuing an interventional agenda of more inclusive conceptualizations of victimization.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)374-388
Number of pages15
JournalThe Journal of Sex Research
Volume61
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Funding

This study is part of the project FEMOFFENCE – The myth of innocence: A mixed methods approach towards the understanding of female sexual offending behavior (PTDC/PSI-GER/28097/2017), supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through national funds granted to the Principal Investigator Joana Carvalho.

FundersFunder number
FCTPTDC/PSI-GER/28097/2017

    Keywords

    • COMMUNICATION
    • SEXUALITY
    • EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
    • SEXUAL ABUSE
    • EMOTIONAL ABUSE
    • PREVENTION OF ABUSE
    • VICTIMISATION

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