Ruling Passions: Sexual Violence, Reputation and the Law

by Sue Lees

Explores the ways that power functions as a form of self surveillance and operates through institutional and social practices which serve to legitimate male violence, based on three research projects involving interviews and group discussion with adolescents, analysis of court transcripts of rape and murder trials, and the monitoring of rape trials undertaken for a UK television documentary. Topics include sexual reputation and the social control of girls, the representation of the body in rape trials, and male rape. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

211 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1996