NCJ Number
128861
Date Published
1990
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This chapter critiques mainstream films that portray male rape, molestation of male children, and intercourse between teenage boys and adult women.
Abstract
The films reviewed present a distorted view of the emotional reactions of male victims of rape or sexual abuse. In none of the films does the victim have more than a brief emotional reaction to the sexual abuse or rape. Where the victim's emotional reactions are portrayed, they typically fail to fit the emotional-response patterns reported in clinical works. Some films present positive emotional reactions to abuse. One of the most striking omissions from the films is the pathology of females who seek gratification with younger men. Perhaps this is understandable, because most of the films present the sexual abuse and rape as normal behavior, and there can be no perpetrator if the behavior is normal. Some of the films legitimize issues in the struggles of female adult survivors of child sexual abuse, but none of the films legitimize the struggles faced by male adult survivors of sexual abuse. There is thus a gender bias in attention to the emotional impacts of child sexual abuse. The clinical community must teach male victims of sexual abuse to challenge these insensitive and distorted portrayals of male sexual abuse victims. 10 references, 15-item bibliography, and a 42-item filmography