Telling stories of rape, revenge and redemption in the age of the TED talk

Abstract

The last few years have witnessed increasing discussion of sexual violence in the mainstream media and public debate in North America and elsewhere, especially with the most recent wave of sexual assault and harassment allegations in entertainment, media and public institutions, called the #MeToo campaign. Despite the view that men must be engaged in this conversation in order to be effective at preventing violence and changing deep-seated patriarchal attitudes, the place of male voices in this ongoing conversation is hotly in question. This article analyzes an unusual and controversial project by Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger, who, 20 years after Stranger raped Elva, produced a TED talk (2016) watched by over 3 million people, and a jointly written book, South of Forgiveness (Elva and Stranger, 2017), detailing their story of forgiveness and redemption. The first part of this article situates this unprecedented victim-rapist enterprise within the history of feminist anti-rape politics and men’s involvement in that politics, arguing that this project both instantiates, and critiques, an appeal to the ‘good man’. The second part analyzes the book South of Forgiveness as a survivor story that is more complex than the highly reductive format of a TED talk allows, and shows how its uneasy fit within the putative frameworks of ‘restorative’ or informal justice (as Elva and others claim it to be) is a function of the unacknowledged dimension to the performance in the form of revenge. The third part of the article turns to Elva’s and Stranger’s public performances that began with the TED talk and book tour, which we attended, to show how this function of revenge played out theatrically and implicates the spectator as bystander and witness. We conclude by reflecting upon the implications of listening to male perpetrators speak against sexual violence against women and our responsibility towards these questions as feminist legal academics.

Online disclosure, a mechanism for seeking informal justice?

“…According to Crawley and Simic (2019: 259), the alternative forms of justice all serve the purpose of ‘feel[ing] heard and seek[ing] an acknowledgment of the harm caused’. This in return leads to an ‘hashtag activism’ across the globe, where women share their experiences of gender-based violence.…”

Do Environmental Cues to Discovery Influence the Likelihood to Rape?

“…Within cooperative groups, exploiting others for resources comes with potential costs. The target of exploitation, including their social allies and kin, may retaliate or seek revenge ( Ahrens & Campbell, 2000 ; Crawely & Simic, 2019 ; Elva & Stranger, 2017 ; Figueredo et al, 2001 ). Local norms or laws may also be tailored to punish those who are caught exploiting others ( Buss & Duntley, 2008 ).…”

‘I Am That Girl’: Media reportage, anonymous victims and symbolic annihilation in the aftermath of sexual assault

“…After all, it remains to be seen what impact – if any – yet another inquiry into sexual assault law will have. 5 Crawley and Simic (2019) suggest that the media’s preoccupation with singular instances of sexual violence serves to individualise the issue, divorcing it from broader social and structural dynamics. The framing of Mullins’ experience as a hero’s journey serves a similar effect.…”