Gendered Public Support for Criminalizing "Revenge Porn". (December 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lageson, Sarah Esther; McElrath, Suzy; Palmer, Krissinda Ellen
• Is Part Of: Feminist criminology. Volume 14:Number 5(2019)
• Page Start: 560
• Page End: 583
• Publication Date: 2019-12
• Subjects: pornography -- revenge porn -- criminal law -- public opinion -- victimization; Feminist criminology -- Periodicals; Female offenders -- Periodicals; 364.37405
• DOI: 10.1177/1557085118773398
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1557-0851

Abstract

Many states have criminalized "revenge porn, " an increasingly common form of online sexual abuse. Yet, we know little regarding attitudes toward these laws. Through an original survey of nearly 500 U.S. residents, we find widespread public support for criminalization, but support varies by respondent's self-identified gender and revenge porn type. Women favor criminalization more than men, but support falls among women and men when the subject created the media, colloquially known as "selfies" or "noodz." Results suggest that women expressing their sexuality are deemed less deserving of protection, reinforcing feminist legal critiques of criminal law as insufficient to prevent sexual abuse.