Sexual Violence in Popular Media

Abstract

This entry surveys the literature on representations of rape and sexual violence in film and television. It covers the critical analysis of threats and/or practices of sexual violence as a plot device as well as its heavily gendered dimensions—that is, as acts typically involving a male perpetrator and a female victim. Acts that deviate from this understanding tend to be comparatively underrepresented in academic and popular media domains. Particular attention is paid to how sexual violence and consent are framed within popular media and how these are complicated by science fiction and fantasy plots that portray supernatural violations of consent as well as characters who represent intersectional identities.