Queering the Virgin/Whore Binary: The Virgin Mary, the Whore of Babylon, and Sexual Violence

Mulya, Teguh Wijaya (2018) Queering the Virgin/Whore Binary: The Virgin Mary, the Whore of Babylon, and Sexual Violence. In: Rape cultere, gender violence, and religion: Biblical perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, Switzerland, pp. 51-65. ISBN 978-3-319-70668-9; eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-70669-6

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Official URL / DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70669-6_4

Abstract

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.

Item Type: Book Section
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion
Divisions: Faculty of Psychology > Department of Psychology
Depositing User: Teguh Wijaya Mulya205905
Date Deposited: 09 Nov 2018 03:53
Last Modified: 04 May 2020 09:50
URI: http://repository.ubaya.ac.id/id/eprint/33818

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