Virgin or Vamp: How the Press Covers Sex Crimes

by Helen Benedict

In the last few years, the national press has lavished coverage on several major sex-related the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings, the William Kennedy Smith rape trial, and the Mike Tyson case. With each event came lurid stories pitting either a loose or virginal woman against an unwilling or monstrous man. Such extreme coverage, argues Helen Benedict, perpetuates myths that are harmful to victims of these crimes (and sometimes to the accused).
In Virgin or Vamp Benedict examines the press's treatment of four notorious sex crimes from the past decade--the Rideout marital rape trial in Oregon, the Big Dan's pool table gang rape in Massachusetts, the "Preppy Murder" in New York City, and the Central Park jogger case--and shows how victims are labelled either as virgins or vamps, a practice she condemns as misleading and harmful. Benedict also looks at other factors that perpetuate the misunderstanding of rape. For instance, she shows how the New York press presented the Central Park jogger rape case as motivated by racism because of its unwillingness to consider rape an issue of gender. She also addresses our inherent language bias, the press's tendency to use sexually suggestive language to describe crime victims, and its preference for crimes against whites. In conclusion, Benedict offers a number of solutions that will help reporters cover these increasingly common crimes without further harming the victims, the
defendants, or public understanding.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Journalism, Sexuality, Sociology

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Helen Benedict is an award-winning novelist and nonfiction writer, and a professor of journalism at Columbia University. Her latest novel, The Good Deed, is due out in April, 2024, and addresses refugees, the problem with white saviors, and the relations between mothers and daughters.

The Good Deed draws on much of the material Benedict explored in her recent nonfiction book, Map of Hope and Sorrow: Stories of Refugees Trapped in Greece (Footnote Press) which was released in the UK in June 2022 and in the US in October, 2022.

Kirkus Review called it, "A powerful collection of stories from refugees stuck in asylum limbo in Greece… Gut-wrenching and necessary, this book sharply depicts an escalating humanitarian crisis that shows few signs of slowing down…An important, deeply felt look at lives in constant peril."

Benedict's seventh and latest novel, Wolf Season (Bellevue Literary Press) in October, 2017.

The novel tells the story of how, after a hurricane devastates a small town in upstate New York, the lives of three women and their young children are irrevocably changed. Rin, an Iraq War veteran, tries to protect her daughter and the three wolves under her care. Naema, a widowed doctor who fled Iraq with her wounded son, faces life-threatening injuries and confusion about her feelings for Louis, a veteran and widower harboring his own secrets and guilt. Beth, who is raising a troubled son, waits out her marine husband’s deployment in Afghanistan, equally afraid of him coming home and of him never returning at all. As they struggle to maintain their humanity and find hope, their war-torn lives collide in a way that will affect their entire community.

“No one writes with more authority or cool-eyed compassion about the experience of women in war both on and off the battlefield than Helen Benedict. In Wolf Season, she shows us the complicated ways in which the lives of those who serve and those who don't intertwine and how—regardless of whether you are a soldier, the family of a soldier, or a refugee—the war follows you and your children for generations. Wolf Season is more than a novel for our times; it should be required reading.”
—ELISSA SCHAPPELL, author of Use Me and Blueprints for Building Better Girls

“Fierce and vivid and full of hope, this story of trauma and resilience, of love and family, of mutual aid and solidarity in the aftermath of a brutal war is nothing short of magic. Helen Benedict is the voice of an American conscience that has all too often been silenced. To read these pages is to be transported to a world beyond hype and propaganda to see the human cost of war up close. This is not a novel that allows you to walk away unchanged.”
—CARA HOFFMAN, author of Be Safe I Love You and Running

Benedict's previous novel, Sand Queen, was published by Soho Press in August, 2011. The novel tells the story of a young female soldier and an Iraqi woman caught up in the Iraq War.

“Benedict’s writing is impressive, passionate, and visceral. . . . Reading this book is the best literary path to understanding the particular challenges of being female in the military during warfare.” —Publishers Weekly “Best Contemporary War Novel” citation

Publisher’s Weekly also called Sand Queen “a thrilling and thoughtful new novel.” Booklist said, “Funny, shocking, painful, and, at times, deeply disturbing, Sand Queen takes readers beyond the news and onto the battlefield."

Benedict is also the author of The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving Iraq (2009/10), and a play, The Lonely Soldier Monologues, which has been performed all over the US, and in France and the UK. In 2011, The Lonely Soldier inspired a class action suit against the Pentagon on behalf of military women and men who have been sexually assaulted while serving.

Her previous novels include The Edge of Eden, The Sailor’s Wife and Bad Angel.

Benedict’s books and articles have won the 2010 Exceptional Merit in

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

So just before I started this review, my local news reported on a bride-to-be that had an accident and was regaining her ability to walk prior to her wedding. Now, I wish her success, but I have to ask, if she wasn't pretty, would the news care? She wasn't a local girl, so why is she on my local news?

You might be thinking what does this have to do with a book about rape. Because it ties into how the press views women. If the bride to be wasn't pretty (and she was very pretty), I have a feeling the news wouldn't even care. Like about that girl who beat off her attacker - young, not good looking (plain looking), and a minority.

Which is what Benedict in part focuses on it in this book about how rape is reported by newspapers. The idea is that the news presents the vic either as a virgin (or good girl) or vamp (bad girl). It's hard to see how this is not still revelent today.

[Selena Pigoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not too fond of the news media's coverage of crimes against women. Now I have a book I can point to to voice "why."

This book should be read by all journalists, not just those covering sex crimes. It not only talks about the follies of the press but also gives tips at the end on how to rectify those issues.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book to read the story of John and Greta Rideout. I remember when it took place (1978), but I never knew how it turned out. John and Greta were mixed-up, backwoods youngsters in a stormy marriage. One year after Oregon made marital rape illegal, Greta had her husband prosecuted for rape. A high-powered defense attorney verbally attacked and humiliated Greta. The press did likewise. John was acquitted. But what came two weeks later shocked me senseless.

[Chris]

Not nearly as narrow as the title implies. ‘Virgin or Vamp’ has a precise thesis, but it also works as a general survey of the public perception of rape in the United States throughout the 20th century. And its assessments extend into contemporary media. These opinion columnists and shortcut journalists still dominant the public sphere, they’ve just migrated to smearing sexual assault victims online. (To show you how little has changed, Alan Dershowitz makes two skin-crawling cameos in separate chapters)

I expected the Central Park Jogger chapter to be a lot worse. Benedict scrutinizes the media coverage of the victim without being carceral towards the suspects. She even highlights the Village Voice’s (R.I.P.) reporting about the police’s coaxing of false confessions. Her analysis of the case of the Scottsboro Boys is thornier. And most outdated is the leitmotif of the Kitty Genovese murder and the since debunked legend of its apathetic bystanders. (Never believe the cops!)

Still, this is a really good book that has both journalistic acumen and a fiction writer’s touch. The five victims are never an afterthought, a necessary correction of how they were treated.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all have our cynicism about the media and their portrayals of criminals and victims. This book still proves to be extraordinarily eye-opening, as well as a fascinating read (even for those who don't typically read sociology or non-fiction). It's the best book I've read in years.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinarily eye-opening. It's amazing how the media is complicit in smearing rape victims in ways that it doesn't do to victims of any other crimes.

[Rachel Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half — or maybe two-thirds — of this book is excellent. It's fascinating to see where the media has made strides in covering rape and sexual assault, and where it hasn't.

Unfortunately, it does eventually get to the point where its publication date — more than two decades ago — is a weakness rather than a strength. The case study of the Central Park jogger case is problematic, of course (though still interesting), and I think some of the advice for covering sex assaults feels very outdated — particularly the concept of naming women who report sexual assaults. The book is written clearly from the perspective of covering criminal trials, and coverage of sexual assault has grown so much since then, and often takes a victim-first mentality — where the story is told very much from the perspective of the accuser and the ripple effect of trauma, and the wider context of the culture that fosters attitudes toward sex and women and gender violence.

[Priya Ele]

for class

[Jenine Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a difficult read at times, but very interesting. The author points out right attributes that determine whether the alleged victim of a rape will be portrayed as a virgin or vamp.
There are four stories to illustrate this point with generous heapings of actual news clips from the trials.
My only fault with the book is it is starting to be a bit dated, and I'm curious what changes the author would make today.

[liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a great overview of the topic. i would highly recommend this book.

[Stephanie McClure · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great just outdated