A Zoo of Lust...a Harem of Fondled Hatreds: An Historical Interrogation of Sexual Violence Against Women in Film

'A Zoo of Lusts...A Harem of Fondled Hatred: A Historical Interrogation of Sexual Violence against Women in Film' explores the pernicious nature of rape in films from the silent era to the 21st century. This book addresses three major questions: why does rape persist as a recurring theme in film, how is this subject manifested in film and what does this manifestation say about the act of rape itself, its victims, its perpetrators and our culture? Rape is a sexual manifestation of aggression with the purpose to overpower, humiliate, and hurt its victim. Investigating the media has revealed that before the onset of feminist film theorists and the dismissal of the Production Code, the rape victim in films usually fit into one 'neat' set of criteria (e.g., young, white, single, middle class, heterosexual). When the victim's physical makeup deviated from this particular set of criteria (e.g., a child, a mature person of color, married, or homosexual), the rape appeared as being more violent. My research dwells on the portrayal of the latter type of victims because their sexual violations evoke an absorbing commentary on society's reaction toward those who do not easily fit into the status quo. What is it about the makeup of these victims that make their violations more horrific?