Nonfiction

Transforming a Rape Culture

“Compassionate and constructive.” —NEW YORK TIMES
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Originally published in 1993, this pioneering anthology is a powerful polemic for fundamental cultural change: the transformation of basic attitudes about power, gender, race, and sexuality. This edition adds new pieces on the Internet, the role of sports in sexual violence, and rape as a calculated instrument of war. The diverse contributors—which include bell hooks, Andrea Dworkin, Michael Messner, Yvette Flores, and Ntozake Shange—are activists, opinion leaders, theologians, policymakers, educators, and authors of both genders who tackle such hot-button issues as pornography and the intersection of race and rape.

The book’s statistics have been thoroughly updated, as have essays about sexual violence in K–12 schools and in the church. New pieces from within America’s immigrant communities depict struggles with domestic violence, sexual harassment, and community stigmas against reporting rape. This violence, not limited to one race, creed, or nationality, has its roots in cultural biases that are still much in need of change.

ISBN
9781571312693
Publish Date
Pages
448
Dimensions
6 × 9 × 1.13 in
Weight
27.7 oz
Author

Emilie Buchwald

Emilie Buchwald has worked as an editor, poet, teacher, and award-winning children’s author. She is the co-founder and former publisher of Milkweed Editions. Buchwald has been honored with the prestigious McKnight Distinguished Artist Award, the Kay Sexton Award, and the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, given by the National Book Critics Circle

Author

Pamela Fletcher

Pamela Fletcher has taught at the University of Minnesota, Carleton College, and the Loft Literary Center. Her essays have appeared in The Utne Reader, Colors, and The Hungry Mind Review.

Author

Martha Roth

Martha Roth is the author of Arousal and co-editor of Transforming a Rape Culture (both published by Milkweed Editions). Her other books include Mother Journeys: Feminists Write about Mothering, and the critically-acclaimed novel Goodness.

Praise and Prizes

  • “Compassionate, constructive, and non-polarizing proposals for changing a society that … accepts and fosters sexual violence and fear of violence.”

    New York Times
  • “Well-edited, worthy compendium of writings about sex and violence in our culture … An impressive collection on a subject that should be of wider interest and concern.”

    Kirkus
  • “Groundbreaking … A manifesto and blueprint for change that must take place at the bedrock of American society.”

    Saint Paul Pioneer Press
  • “The overall emphasis on a different and better future, and on the practical means to getting there is a first in the library of ‘rape studies.’ Transforming a Rape Culture moves quickly past description in order to get to solutions.”

    Women’s Review of Books
  • “A most important contribution to … making the essential personal individual changes necessary for establishing gender equality in America… . This book will provoke and enlighten and disturb everyone who reads it, and it is must reading of a very high order.”

    Hungry Mind Review