Description
Book Synopsis2023 Honorable Mention for Outstanding Book Award from the Society for the Study of Social Problems Despite rising attention to sexual assault and sexual violence, queer men have been largely excluded from the discussion. Violent Differences is the first book of its kind to focus specifically on queer male survivors and to devote particular attention to Black queer men. Whereas previous scholarship on male survivors has emphasized the role of masculinity, Doug Meyer shows that race and sexuality should be regarded as equally foundational as gender. Instead of analyzing sexual assault against queer men in the abstract, this book draws attention to survivors' lived experiences. Meyer examines interview data from sixty queer men who have suffered sexual assault, highlighting their interactions with the police and their encounters with victim blaming. Violent Differences expands approaches to studying sexual assault by considering a new group of survivors and by revealing that race, gender, and sexuality all remain essential for understanding how this violence is experienced.
Trade Review"Makes a tremendous contribution to the interdisciplinary scholarship on gender-based violence, a field that still suffers from lack of engagement with queer life and queer questions. Meyer’s work should give us hope that we can reimagine the field from a rigorously intersectional ground." * Social Forces *
"
Violent Differences provides an insightful examination of the unique experiences of queer men of color who have experienced sexual victimization." * Gender & Society *
"The reader who is interested in better understanding the nuanced nature of violence against the LGBTQIA + community will not be disappointed in the skillful and thoughtful way Meyer presents his findings while defining and elaborating on the nomenclature associated with this issue." * Criminal Justice Review *
Table of ContentsContents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Understanding Sexual Assault against Queer Men through the Lens of
Intersectionality
1 “Why Didn’t You Fight Back?”: Black Queer Male Survivors and Discourses of Blame
2 Queer Male Survivors and Police Interactions
3 Survivors’ Self-Blame and Differences within the Queer Umbrella
4 Racial Differences Regarding Emasculation
5 Constructing Hierarchies of Victimhood
6 Outing, Disclosing Marginalized Identities, and Navigating Multiple Stigmas
Conclusion: Future Challenges and Possibilities
Appendix: Methods
Notes
References
Index
