Skip to main content

Who Is the “Real” Victim? Race and Gender in the Trial of an Elite Australian Footballer

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Rape Narratives in Motion

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Crime, Media and Culture ((PSCMC))

Abstract

As a topic that hits all the news values of “sex”, crime and sport, sexual assault cases involving athletes are almost invariably media events. When a black (or other “othered”) man is the one accused of sexual violence, sexist and racist stereotypes collide, and these men are often demonised in the media because of their racial heritage.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anderson, Paul. 2011a. I am not a racist, model tells court/alleged rape victim thought she was dreaming. Herald Sun, July 14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, Paul. 2011b. Lovett rape trial told: Race card played. Herald Sun, July 21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Australian Press Council. 2001. Advisory guideline: Reporting of ‘race’ Sydney. Australian Press Council. http://www.presscouncil.org.au/document-search/guideline-reporting-of-race/?LocatorGroupID=662&LocatorFormID=677&FromSearch=1. Accessed 10 December 2018.

  • Awkward, Michael. 1995. Negotiating Difference: Race, Gender, and the Politics of Positionality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baird, Barbara. 2009. Morality and patriarchal White sovereignty. International Feminist Journal of Politics 11 (3): 372–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benedict, Helen. 1992. Virgin or Vamp: How the Press Covers Sex Crimes. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bielefeld, Shelley. 2012. Compulsory income management and indigenous Australians: Delivering social justice or furthering colonial domination? UNSW Law Journal 35 (2): 522–562.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blow, Charles M. 2015. Stop playing the “race card” card. New York Times, March 19. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/19/opinion/charles-blow-stop-playing-the-race-card-card.html?mcubz=1. Accessed 10 December 2018.

  • Bonnes, Stephanie. 2013. Gender and racial stereotyping in rape coverage. Feminist Media Studies 13 (2): 208–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coram, Stella. 2007. Race formations (evolutionary hegemony) and the ‘aping’ of the Australian indigenous athlete. International Review for the Sociology of Sport 42 (4): 391–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crothers, Joanna. 2017. Yahoo7 fined, journalist Krystal Johnson given good behaviour bond over court report. ABC, February 17. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-17/yahoo-7-fined-for-contempt-murder-trial/8279452. Accessed 10 December 2018.

  • Cuklanz, Lisa. 1996. Rape on Trial: How the Mass Media Construct Legal Reform and Social Change. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Finch, Emily, and Vanessa E. Munro. 2006. Breaking boundaries? Sexual consent in the jury room. Legal Studies 26 (3): 303–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franiuk, Renae, Jennifer L. Seefelt, and Joseph A. Vandello. 2008a. Prevalence of rape myths in headlines and their effects on attitudes toward rape. Sex Roles 58 (11–12): 790–801.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franiuk, Renae, Jennifer L. Seefelt, Sandy L. Cepress, and Joseph A. Vandello. 2008b. Prevalence and effects of rape myths in print journalism: The Kobe Bryant Case. Violence Against Women 14 (3): 287–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, Venessa. 2012. Constructing and reconstructing female sexual assault victims within the media. In The Harms of Crime Media: Essays on the Perpetuation of Racism, Sexism and Class Stereotypes, ed. Denise L. Bisser and Joan L. Conners, 18–38. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, Peter. 2005. Court Reporting in Australia. Port Melbourne, VIC: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hallinan, Chris, and Barry Judd. 2009. Race relations, Indigenous Australia and the social impact of professional Australian football. Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics 12 (9): 1220–1235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hildebrand, Meagen M., and Cynthia J. Najdowski. 2015. The potential impact of rape culture on juror decision making: Implications for wrongful acquittals in sexual assault trials. Albany Law Review 78 (3): 1059–1086.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, Miriam E., and Martha Augoustinos. 2001. Stereotype change and prejudice reduction: Short- and long-term evaluation of a cross-cultural awareness programme. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology 11: 243–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hollinsworth, David. 2006. Race and Racism in Australia. South Melbourne: Social Science Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • hooks, bell. 1991. Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics. London: Turnaround.

    Google Scholar 

  • hooks, bell. 1994. We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahlor, Leeann, and Matthew S. Eastin. 2011. Television’s role in the culture of violence toward women: A study of television viewing and the cultivation of rape myth acceptance in the United States. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 55 (2): 215–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kearney, Amanda. 2012. Indigeneity and the performance of corporeal masculinities in the Australian Football League. Sport in Society 15 (7): 936–951.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, Helena. 2005. Eve Was Framed: Women and British Justice. London: Chatto & Windus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitzinger, Jenny. 2009. Rape in the media. In Rape: Challenging Contemporary Thinking, ed. Miranda Horvath and Jennifer Brown, 74–98. London: Willan Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korn, Alina, and Sivan Efrat. 2004. The coverage of rape in the Israeli popular press. Violence Against Women 10 (9): 1056–1074.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, Charles R. 1999. The message of the verdict: A three-act morality play starring Clarence Thomas, Willie Smith, and Mike Tyson. In Black Men on Race, Gender and Sexuality: A Critical Reader, ed. Devon Carbado, 212–236. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe, Adrian. 2011a. No means no: Woman denies sex with AFL player was consensual. Age, July 14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe, Adrian. 2011b. Rape trial told Lovett felt entitled. Age, July 21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcus, Sharon. 1992. Fighting bodies, fighting words: A theory and politics of rape prevention. In Feminists Theorize the Political, ed. Judith Butler and Joan W. Scott, 385–403. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Markovitz, Jonathan. 2006. Anatomy of a spectacle: Race, gender, and memory in the Kobe Bryant rape case. Sociology of Sport Journal 23 (4): 396–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moorti, Sujata. 2002. Color of Rape: Gender and Race in Television’s Public Spheres. New York: State University of New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreton-Robinson, Aileen. 2000. Talkin’ Up to the White Woman: Indigenous Women and Feminism. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norton, Michael I., and Samuel R. Sommers. 2011. Whites see racism as a zero-sum game that they are now losing. Perspectives on Psychological Science 6 (3): 215–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Philadelphoff-Puren, Nina. 2004. Dereliction: Women, rape and football. Australian Feminist Law Journal 21 (1): 35–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell-Brown, Katheryn. 2009. The Color of Crime. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smallacombe, Sonia. 2004. Speaking positions on Indigenous violence. Hecate 30 (1): 47–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Temkin, Jennifer. 2000. Prosecuting and defending rape: Perspectives from the bar. Journal of Law and Society 27 (2): 219–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toffoletti, Kim. 2007. How is gender-based violence covered in the sporting news? An account of the Australian Football League scandal. Women’s Studies International Forum 30: 427–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waterhouse-Watson, Deb. 2009. Playing defence in a sexual assault ‘trial by media’: The male footballer’s imaginary body. Australian Feminist Law Journal 30: 109–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waterhouse-Watson, Deb. 2013. Athletes, Sexual Assault and “Trials by Media”: Narrative Immunity. New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Waterhouse-Watson, Deb. 2015. Why White Australia got so upset about an imaginary spear. The Allrounder, July 9. http://theallrounder.co/2015/07/09/why-white-australia-got-so-upset-about-an-imaginary-spear/.

  • Waterhouse-Watson, Deb. 2016a. It’s more than a job: Discourse and the treatment of elite footballers accused of sexual violence. Media International Australia 161: 68–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waterhouse-Watson, Deb. 2016b. News media on trial: Towards a feminist ethics of reporting footballer sexual assault trials. Feminist Media Studies 16 (6): 952–967.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, Linda. 2001. Playing the Race Card: Melodramas of Black and White from Uncle Tom to OJ Simpson. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Waterhouse-Watson, D. (2019). Who Is the “Real” Victim? Race and Gender in the Trial of an Elite Australian Footballer. In: Andersson, U., Edgren, M., Karlsson, L., Nilsson, G. (eds) Rape Narratives in Motion. Palgrave Studies in Crime, Media and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13852-3_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13852-3_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-13851-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-13852-3

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics