Victoria E. Collins

The consumption of patriarchy: commodification to facilitation and reification

Abstract There is an abundance of research from cultural, critical and feminist criminology that has recognized media as a vehicle to propagate various forms of gender inequality and violence against women. Likewise, there has been extensive research on how childhood products and toys replicate the patriarchal construction of gender. However, these bodies of research have been relatively silent on how the commodification of culture is consumed and reified by the very population it oppresses (i.e. women). Here, we argue that violence against women is commodified and eagerly consumed in an age of neo-liberalism, legitimizing the patriarchal power structures that subordinate women. Our goal is to begin a discussion of female consumption of the commodification that gives consent and facilitates the patriarchal perpetual power system. Using examples from media and the consumer market, we hope to begin a broader discussion of how patriarchy, gender roles and inequality are reinforced through everyday banal consumption by both sexes. However, this banal consumption by females not only lends to the legitimization of the heteronormative patriarchal status quo but also makes them active participants in the continuation of inequality and power structures inherent within this patriarchal society.

Does “Violent” Mean “Bad”? Individual Definitions of Violence

ABSTRACT People use the word “violent” to describe a wide range of behaviors. When referring to acts of force, however, past research indicates that people often reserve the word “violent” to refer to acts of force that they define as “bad.” In the current study we use vignettes to explore variation in people’s definitions of a particular instance of the use of force. The findings indicate support for the idea that people reserve the word “violent” to refer to acts of force they view as “bad.” Findings indicate there is variation in perceptions of the level of violence, and whether the incident was even violent. Characteristics of the incident as well as the gender of those involved account for the majority of the variance explained.

Consent and Consumption of Spectacle Power and Violence

This article focuses on the facilitation, consent and consumption of state violence, as an aspect of the state’s hegemonic control in the current stage of neoliberal capitalism. We suggest that the commoditized symbols of state violence are a part of everyday life for millions within the United States and are embedded within ideologies of nationalism–national security, supported and reinforced through consumerism. The consumption (figuratively and literally) within the confines of neoliberalism is disconnected from the actual course of state violence, facilitating their own pacification while giving consent to hegemonic control. In this sense, the population’s consumption becomes more than pacification and consent, but rather an active constituent in the production and reproduction of state violence: making it the accepted and banal violence of the spectacle.

“My pain grows as my life dwindles”*: Women, poetry, and resisting state violence in Afghanistan:

Western media reporting on the post-9/11 Taliban regime in Afghanistan propagated the image of Afghani women as being helpless, voiceless victims in desperate need of external intervention to rescue them from oppression—i.e. the faceless woman dressed in the all-encompassing blue burqa. Contrary to such symbolizing, and drawing on Hayward and Schuilenburg’s (2014) criteria for resistance, this article examines the longevity and endurance of Pashtun poetry as a vehicle of resistance for women and girls in their fight against state-sanctioned patriarchal oppression. Not only does this undermine the broader narrative of helplessness propagated by the West, but it illuminates the agency, resilience, and bravery of women who challenge the status quo and achieve greater participation in public and political life.

The invisible/visible claims to justice: sexual violence and the university camp(us)

ABSTRACT Legal responses to rape and sexual assault on university campuses are often framed as being protective of victim’s human rights but are only enacted when threats are made to masculine privilege. This is especially the case when gender identities and behaviors challenge or violate state- sanctioned institutionalized hetero-patriarchal gender norms. Building on Agamben’s Homer Sacer by examining the state of exclusion and abandonment within the context of sexual violence, the recent case of Brock Turner is analyzed as a starting point for a broader theoretical discussion of the treatment of rape and sexual assault on university campuses in the United States.