Against our will: Men, women, and rape

Sexual violence, a prevalent problem in the spousal relationship, is closely related to the issue of female consciousness. In The Babysitter, Coover (1989) tells of a teenage girl babysitting two kids and a baby and of two of her male peers and the children’s father altogether exploring their obsession towards her and, moreover, traces the evaluation and devaluation of women to the presentation of TV exploring its influence on his heroines, namely Mrs. Tucker and the babysitter serving as victims of the patriarchal society. Through a close engagement with the sexual objectification theory, this paper analyzes in detail men’s aggressive oppressions upon women as well as women’s compromise and rebellion towards the sexual violence, and investigates that the awakening of female independent consciousness is a key factor in effectively helping women achieve the gender equality between sexes.

Shuang-shuang

Papers

The Babysitter： A Feminist Interpretation