Innocence, anger, and excess: constraining and restricting female victims of intimate partner violence

Innocence, anger, and excess: constraining and restricting female victims of intimate partner violence Public Deposited

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Creator

Bodey, Katrina Renae
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Communication

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the tension between two dominant stereotypes of female victims of intimate partner violence: an innocent victim, or an assertive survivor. 10 female and 10 male participants listened to one of two audio recordings of a woman's experience with intimate partner violence and participated in an interview regarding what they heard. The participants in this study were quite aware of the dominant stereotypes and suggested that women who have been targets of intimate partner violence should not be too much of either. Also, their understandings of intimate partner violence often supported common myths about intimate partner violence. Ultimately, this study has suggested that women who are victims of violence are often constrained by narrow definitions of acceptable feminine behavior and that deviations from those norms has serious consequences for female victims of violence.

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