“Pretty Women” and “Lucky Blokes”: Unpacking Australian Social Media Responses to Female-Perpetrated Sexual Assault Against Men

Female-perpetrated sexual violence research in Australia and elsewhere has been limited, part of a less common and arguably contentious field of criminology. Because of gendered social and cultural stereotypes, female sexual offending is often perceived as harmless or too rare to warrant attention....

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Murphy, April (Author)
Contributors: Groves, Andrew
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2024
In: Journal of interpersonal violence
Year: 2024, Volume: 39, Issue: 21/22, Pages: 4498-4525
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
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Keywords:
female pariah
male victim-survivor
Sexual Violence
female sex offender
Social Media
Description
Summary:Female-perpetrated sexual violence research in Australia and elsewhere has been limited, part of a less common and arguably contentious field of criminology. Because of gendered social and cultural stereotypes, female sexual offending is often perceived as harmless or too rare to warrant attention. Utilizing Schippers’ pariah femininities, this paper presents a critical criminological exploration of social media users’ constructions of female sex offenders and their male victim-survivors. Examining 28 Facebook posts from 13 popular Australian newspapers, our findings identified social media users’ tendency to question offence severity and sexualize offenders based on appearance, revealing how offender legitimacy and conceptions of harm are shaped by gendered expectations of “pretty women” and “lucky blokes.” Conclusions suggest online discourse remains influenced by gendered stereotypes, though awareness of pariah femininities is growing, with further research needed worldwide to explore the impact of such social media attitudes and commentary on the incidence of and reactions to female sexual offending against men, including victim-survivors’ help-seeking behavior.
ISSN:1552-6518
DOI:10.1177/08862605241239446