Rape Culture, Gender Violence, and Religion: Biblical Perspectives

Description

This book explores the Bible’s ongoing relevance in contemporary discussions around rape culture and gender violence. Each chapter considers the ways that biblical texts and themes engage with various forms of gender violence, including the subjective, physical violence of rape, the symbolic violence of misogynistic and heteronormative discourses, and the structural violence of patriarchal power systems. The authors within this volume attempt to name (and shame) the multiple forms of gender violence present within the biblical traditions, contesting the erasure of this violence within both the biblical texts themselves and their interpretive traditions. They also consider the complex connections between biblical gender violence and the perpetuation and validation of rape culture in contemporary popular culture. This volume invites new and ongoing conversations about the Bible’s complicity in rape-supportive cultures and practices, challenging readers to read these texts in light of the global crisis of gender violence. Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction (Caroline Blyth, Emily Colgan, Katie B. Edwards)....Pages 1-11 For Precious Girls Everywhere: Lamentations, HIV, and Precious (Lu Skerratt)....Pages 13-30 Brother, Sister, Rape: The Hebrew Bible and Popular Culture (Johanna Stiebert)....Pages 31-50 Queering the Virgin/Whore Binary: The Virgin Mary, the Whore of Babylon, and Sexual Violence (Teguh Wijaya Mulya)....Pages 51-65 Rape Culture Discourse and Female Impurity: Genesis 34 as a Case Study (Jessica M. Keady)....Pages 67-82 Andrea Dworkin on the Biblical Foundations of Violence Against Women (Julie Kelso)....Pages 83-101 Twelve Steps to the Tent of Zimri: An Imaginarium (Yael Klangwisan)....Pages 103-115 Abandonment, Rape, and Second Abandonment: Hannah Baker in 13 Reasons Why and the Royal Concubines in 2 Samuel 15–20 (David Tombs)....Pages 117-141 “To Ransom a Man’s Soul”: Male Rape and Gender Identity in Outlander and “The Suffering Man” of Lamentations 3 (Emma Nagouse)....Pages 143-158 Homophobia and Rape Culture in the Narratives of Early Israel (James E. Harding)....Pages 159-178 Marriage, Love, or Consensual Sex? Feminist Engagements with Biblical Rape Texts in Light of Title IX (Susanne Scholz)....Pages 179-199 Tough Conversations: Teaching Biblical Gender Violence in Aotearoa New Zealand (Emily Colgan, Caroline Blyth)....Pages 201-207 Back Matter ....Pages 209-220