What's in a name? Theorising the Inter-relationships of gender and violence

Bibliographic Data

ID4367491
AuthorsKaren Boyle (0000-0003-0162-2656, University of Strathclyde, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume20
Issue1
Pages19-36
Publication date2019-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFeminist Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-7001 • E-ISSN: 1741-2773
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1464700118754957
OpenAlexW2788521998
LanguageEN
Citations received81
References cited32

This article explores the representational practices of feminist theorising around gender and violence. Adapting Liz Kelly's notion of the continuum of women's experiences of sexual violence, I argue that 'continuum thinking' can offer important interventions which unsettle binaries, recognise grey areas in women's experiences and avoid 'othering' specific communities. Continuum thinking allows us to understand connections whilst nevertheless maintaining distinctions that are important conceptually, politically and legally. However, this is dependent upon recognising the multiplicity of continuums in feminist theorising - as well as in policy contexts - and the different ways in which they operate. A discussion of contemporary theory and policy suggests that this multiplicity is not always recognised, resulting in a flattening of distinctions which can make it difficult to recognise the specifically gendered patterns of violence and experience. I conclude by considering how focusing on men's behaviour might offer one way of unsettling the contemporary orthodoxy which equates gender-based violence and violence against women

Criminology · Epistemology · Orthodoxy · Sexual violence · Sociology · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Philosophy

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