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Dissertation Information for Maria R. Bevacqua

NAME:
- Maria R. Bevacqua

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Women's Studies

SCHOOL:
- Emory University (USA) (1997)

ADVISORS:
- Karen O'Connor

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Beverly Guy-Sheftall
- Regina E. Werum

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: Rape on the Public Agenda: Feminist Consciousness and the Politics of Sexual Assault

Abstract: Few scholars dispute the contention that second-wave feminism has had a profound impact on political life in the United States. During the early years of this mobilization, the issue of rape arrived on the feminist agenda. It was articulated as a major problem facing women, rooted in male dominance, and reinforced by existing laws, attitudes, and behaviors. The purpose of this dissertation is to conduct an inquiry into the history, development, and impact of the feminist anti-rape movement. It traces the issue of rape as an item on the feminist agenda from 1970, investigates the various feminist anti-rape strategies, and describes the movement of the rape issue to the public agenda.

This study employs a multiple methods approach, using content analysis of archival data and other print media coupled with in-depth interviews of key players in the anti-rape movement. It draws on, and contributes to, the fields of women's studies, history, political science, and sociology.

The central argument of this dissertation is that feminists were indeed successful in devising strategies to address the problem of rape and in moving the issue from the feminist agenda to the public policy agenda. In the 1970s, anti-rape strategies such as rape crisis centers and rape law reform mushroomed, drew public attention to the anti-rape cause, and effected lasting reforms. This study finds that diverse groups of feminists--liberal, radical, and black feminists--cooperated on anti-rape strategies to a greater extent than the literature of the women's movement reveals. Moreover, feminists of color participated in nearly all forms of anti-rape organizing, even as black women have issued critiques of the majority-white movement's failure to theorize black women's differing rape experiences.

This study further finds that much of the anti-rape movement's success in effecting changes in public policy was enabled by a political system driven by a law and order agenda. This agenda differed sharply from feminists' framing of the rape problem as grounded in male dominance and women's socialized passivity. Thus, major policy changes on the rape issue often represent compromises with this dominant political agenda.

MPACT Scores for Maria R. Bevacqua

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-02-02 19:36:42

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