The Persistence of Patriarchal Discourses: A Study of Celebrity Victims of Image-Based Sexual Abuse

Abstract

This thesis investigates young peoples’ meaning-making around celebrity victims of image-based sexual abuse, utilising semi-structured focus group interviews with 13 women (aged 18-25) and 4 men (aged 20-27). Image-based sexual abuse covers a range of behaviours in which nude, sexual or intimate images are non-consensually shared, regardless of the nature and context of their creation. The term is used as a replacement for the mainstream misnomer ‘revenge pornography’. This study found meaning-making of image-based sexual abuse indicated some variation in accepted definitions of violence, with women generally constructing image-based sexual abuse as a form of sexual violence and men constructing a narrow understanding of violence and harm, in terms of physicality, that precludes an understanding of imagebased sexual abuse as violence or abuse. Further, focus group data suggested female victims’ sexual status (based on sexual history, reputation and sexualised appearance) had more of an effect, than celebrity status, on participants’ constructions of undeserving and deserving victims. These hegemonic patriarchal constructions of femininity support rape myths that deny victimisation of some women. Female participants constructed a continuum of risky behaviour, through the discussion of celebrity and non-celebrity victims. This suggests a convergence of responsibilisation and heteronormative femininity, ultimately demonstrating the prevalence of victim-blaming rhetoric. The male participants did not discuss risk, however their constructions of male (hetero)sexuality supported the young women’s perception of the ever-present possibility of abuse and the need for women to manage risk. Conversely, in discussions surrounding why men engage in both non-consensually sharing and the viewing of such images, female and male participants relied on a naturalisation of the differences between male and female (hetero)sexualities, essentially excusing illegal, immoral and unethical male behaviour. Overall, this thesis provides insight into how young people negotiate and adopt available patriarchal discourses that support victim-blaming attitudes and rape myths.