The Media Loves a Damsel in Distress

Yesterday, one of my friends sent me an email with a link to a very brief write-up in the local paper, the Democrat and Chronicle, that reported (I use that term loosely) on Wednesday night's robbery. When I clicked on the link and read the paragraph, I felt a pretty serious degree of anger. According to the Democrat and Chronicle, the police officer retrieved my purse after "he spotted a man pulling a purse from a female victim." The newspaper also reported that "The man saw [Officer] Perez and tried to escape on a bicycle." In fact, the police officer didn't see the man steal my purse and he didn't arrive on the scene until after I had chased after the man for a half-block and I had retrieved my purse. I'm not sure who is responsible for the misrepresentation of the facts. The reporter? The police officer? Misrepresentation of facts aside, I found the report insulting for its problematic representation of the female "victim." The report paints me as a damsel in distress who stood by and waited for my male police-hero to apprehend the criminal and retrieve my stolen property. Screw the damsel-in-distress bullshit. Many women refuse to be passive victims, choosing instead to defend themselves and stand up to the men who try to victimize them. Media sources like the D & C need to recognize and represent this other image of women's response to crime.

I was angry enough to write a letter to the editor offering several corrections to their report. I'm guessing they won't print it. In fact, I anticipate them reading my letter and labeling me a crazy ranting feminist. Well, as I tell my students, we still need feminist rants to challenge such conservative representations: I will only become a post-feminist in the post-patriarchy. It seems to me that we still have a long way to go.