The right amount of panic : how women trade freedom for safety / F. Vera-Gray.
Publisher: Bristol : Policy Press, 2018Description: viii, 182 pages ; 22 cmContent type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volume001: BDZ0035832844ISBN: 9781447342298 (pbk.) :Subject(s): Sexual harassment of women | Public safety | Public spaces -- Social aspects | Sex crimes -- Prevention | Women -- Crimes against -- Prevention | Blaming the victim | Society | Society & culture: general | Violence in society | Gender studies: women & girls | Sociology | Sexual abuse & harassment | Gender studies, gender groups | Feminism & feminist theoryDDC classification: 305.42 LOC classification: HQ1237 | .V4 2018| Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | MAIN LIBRARY Book | 305.42 VER (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 114046 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Have you ever thought about how much energy goes into avoiding sexual violence? The work that goes into feeling safe goes largely unnoticed by the women doing it and by the wider world, and yet women and girls are the first to be blamed the inevitable times when it fails. We need to change the story on rape prevention and 'well-meaning' safety advice, because this makes it harder for women and girls to speak out, and hides the amount of work they are already doing trying to decipher 'the right amount of panic'. With real-life accounts of women's experiences, and based on the author's original research on the impact of sexual harassment in public, this book challenges victim-blaming and highlights the need to show women as capable, powerful and skilful in their everyday resistance to harassment and sexual violence.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction; -- Women, fear, and crime; -- It's all part of growing up; -- The work of creating safety; -- The right amount of panic; -- Ordinary resistance.
With real-life accounts of women's experiences, and based on the author's original research, this book challenges the culture of victim-blaming and shows how much energy women put into avoiding sexual violence in public spaces. Have you ever thought about how much energy goes into avoiding sexual violence? The work that goes into feeling safe goes largely unnoticed by the women doing it and by the wider world, and yet women and girls are the first to be blamed the inevitable times when it fails. We need to change the story on rape prevention and `well-meaning' safety advice, because this makes it harder for women and girls to speak out, and hides the amount of work they are already doing trying to decipher `the right amount of panic'. With real-life accounts of women's experiences, and based on the author's original research on the impact of sexual harassment in public, this book challenges victim-blaming and highlights the need to show women as capable, powerful and skilful in their everyday resistance to harassment and sexual violence.
Table of contents provided by Syndetics
- Acknowledgements (p. vii)
- 1 Introduction (p. 1)
- Do you remember the first time? (p. 1)
- The problem with no name (p. 7)
- Understanding safety work (p. 11)
- Structure and contents (p. 16)
- 2 Women, fear and crime (p. 19)
- A paradox? (p. 19)
- Gender roles and the role of gender (p. 21)
- The female fear (p. 27)
- What counts as criminal? (p. 32)
- What counts as success? (p. 40)
- 3 It's all part of growing up (p. 45)
- Senseless and responsible (p. 45)
- Girl, interrupted (p. 53)
- Teenagers taking control (p. 62)
- Nothing bad happens to good girls (p. 69)
- Learning to stay silent (p. 74)
- 4 The work of creating safety (p. 79)
- Invisible work (p. 79)
- Moving (p. 85)
- Clothing (p. 90)
- Reducing (p. 94)
- Being (p. 99)
- 5 The right amount of panic (p. 107)
- Force of habit (p. 107)
- The escalation calculation (p. 113)
- A catch-22 (p. 121)
- Trading freedom for safety (p. 127)
- 6 Ordinary resistance (p. 135)
- Public space as space for action (p. 135)
- It's not you - it's him (p. 140)
- Seeing our success (p. 147)
- Feminist self-defence: learning to unlearn (p. 150)
- Participant list (p. 157)
- Notes (p. 159)
- References (p. 169)
- Index (p. 179)
Reviews provided by Syndetics
CHOICE Review
Vera-Gray (Durham Univ., UK) presents an accessible account of narratives showcasing the different forms of fear of sexual violence in the lives of women and girls. The work juxtaposes the ways that popular culture circulates fears, and works with cultural gender norms to shape an expectation of gender-based violence. Rooted in the stories of assault for differently raced women in the UK, Vera-Gray argues that becoming a woman includes an acceptance that potential, if not actual, sexual violence shapes a woman's sense of self. The women whose stories are featured in The Right Amount of Panic show us that actual and expected sexual violence determines behaviors such as avoidance of "risky" circumstances, self-empowerment strategies aimed at curtailing possible assaults, and particular moral frameworks assumed to ensure safety in the erroneous belief that assault can be partially explained by the character of the "victim." Importantly for audiences new to the topic of sexual violence, Vera-Gray points to the role that habituation plays in the naturalization of sexual violence in our society and suggests that limiting our freedoms in exchange for ever elusive forms of safety is for naught. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --M. Gabriela Torres, Wheaton College, MAThere are no comments on this title.