I watch a lot of TV shows that I hate, like Dr. Phil. And I actually really enjoy watching them. I think the enjoyment comes from the level of rage that they incite in me. It is actually the reason that I started this blog; I needed an outlet (other than my personal blog) for my anger.
Last night I watched two episodes of Law and Order: SVU. I do not know why I enjoy this program but I can say that it never ceases to upset me. The entire premise of SVU is sexual assault in its many forms. It is an excellent platform for politicizing institutionalized abuse of women but is used instead as a cheap ploy to attract and retain viewers. The show is far from challenging or even remotely political.
Many, if not most, of the episodes of this show that I have seen paint women as lairs who manufacture stories about rape for their own selfish benefit. The episode I watched last night, entitled "Design," was about a young women who date-raped men to 'steal' and sell their sperm and then told police that she was raped. The audience sympathy for the rape victim shifts to the poor male victims in an instant.
If you are reading this blog, I do not need to tell you about the absurdity of the premise. Rape is a very real crime that disproportionately affects women. According to RAINN, nine out of ten victims of rape are women. This reality is not reflected on Law and Order: SVU. I do not have exact percentages but I have watched the show enough to tell you that many of their cases end up painting women (particularly adult women) as bitches who set the poor guy up. Another common theme is child sexual predation. This is certainly a problem but I wonder what the ratio of child predation is to instances of sexual violence against women. I imagine sexual violence against women and girls is MUCH more common. Ignoring these realities must make viewers (and therefore, advertisers) feel more comfortable or it would not be so prevalent.
As for depoliticization, shows with neat clean happy endings, that do not challenge prescribed notions of gender, sell more products by making consumers feel safe and comfortable. Who wants to buy an iPod after discovering that rapist are very unlikely to be brought to justice and that vicitms are not always cute little white girls?
The rapists and other assorted criminals are almost always brought to justice on Law and Order: SVU. I have already argued that this does not represent reality at all. But it is also problematic in that it does not challenge institutionalized patriarchy. We all go to bed easily after seeing the evil child molester brought to justice. But how often to we ask why child molesters exist, or why rape is such a prevalent and socially acceptable (treatment of rapists and victims in this country reflects this truth) crime?
Law and Order: SVU would not be a show if we did not live in a patriarchy, yet the show never acknowledges the prevalence of patriarchal ideology. In fact, I would argue that it contributes to patriarchal hegemony by presenting rape victims and rapists very narrowly.
And finally, the popularity of this show certainly raises the question: why are we so fascinated by sex crimes? The delight that viewers get from watching child rapists and deserving bitches get theirs is very telling.
5 comments:
Thank you. I know I have tried to watch the show several times thinking I'll give it one more try and it's the same thing over and over again.
Last night I watched one - a young woman pregnent from rape and then it turns into she is collecting photos of rich men to accuse and get money from. I did not continue watching.
This annoys me to no end. They act like the show is so enlightened and bringing justice yet it just seems to trick plots into there is no rape only scheming women. What is the problem with these people.
I'm so glad there was just someone else out here complaining about this stupid show.
I watched that one last night again too! I totally forgot that I already wrote about it but it made me so angry that I was about ready to make a new post about it. I was considering this as a research project for my thesis but quite a bit of feminist research has been done in the area. It is just so frustrating and counter to reality. Isn't it bad enough that women's stories are hardly ever told and when they are it is completely counter to most women's lived experiences. I get that "women as victim" is also dangerous and strips women of agency but I don't get why sexual violence, domination and submission are so damn erotic. It seems too controlling to be an accident. You might be interested in reading Patricia Hill Collins' "Mammies, Matriarch and Other Controlling Images" in her book Black Feminist Thought.
Maybe you haven't watched every episode, but I have, and that show never blames the woman. It really takes the suspense out of the show, when
i)every male suspect they bring in turns out to be guilty
ii)every suspect, no matter how innocent, will eventually be found guilty.
It makes CSI look like the boy scouts.
I also enjoy the show, but personally I am irked by the fact that there are mainly only female victims. I think the show should have a couple of women who were able to successfully defend themselves. Your statistic is most likely only counting male rape victims who have admitted to being raped.
So funny, I was just watching Law and Order SVU with my mom (my first time watching) and naturally, it was a rape case... A girl was disheveled and blamed a man for raping her who was actually trying to help her. I found myself getting frustrated with the girl, caught myself mid frustration and realized how much the show manipulated me into seeing her as "hysterical" - there could not have been a better example of a "hysterical" female and I thought, this is really fucking absurd. This must be written by a group of conservative male MEN about such a sensitive topic as female rape. It is an INSANELY low number of rape cases when girls 'cry rape' and this show is perpetuating the belief of not identifying or being able to trust a victim and to relate to the male characters. I looked up 'sexist law and order svu" online and found this article. Ridiculous to read about other episodes of the show that perpetuate eerily similar stereotypes. Fuck you law and order svu for being so damn shitty, and thank you for your thoughtfully written article.
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