Queering the Virgin/Whore Binary: The Virgin Mary, the Whore of Babylon, and Sexual Violence
| Main Author: | Wijaya Mulya, Teguh |
|---|---|
| Format: | BookSection PeerReviewed application/pdf |
| Terbitan: |
Palgrave Macmillan
, 2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
http://repository.ubaya.ac.id/33818/7/Queering%20Virgin_book%20chapter_Teguh%20Wijaya_2018.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70669-6_4 http://repository.ubaya.ac.id/33818/ |
Daftar Isi:
- In this chapter, I seek to problematize the virgin/whore binary which, I argue, has enabled, normalized, and sustained violence against women. This binary positions women into two opposing categories: virgins or “good” women are those who express their sexuality only within culturally sanctioned and patriarchally defined boundaries such as marriage; all other women who fail to conform to this ideal are considered whores—morally corrupt and dangerously concupiscent “bad” women (Gottschall et al. 2006). Previous studies have shown how this binary has been deployed to justify and perpetuate sexual violence against those who are labelled as whores or “sluts” (Asencio 1999; García 2006). The logic is that sexual violence against these women is deemed “acceptable” or “makes sense” because they have transgressed cultural norms around women’s purity and chastity. By being “promiscuous,” they are “asking for trouble”; it is therefore their own fault if they are sexually assaulted.