Abstract

Rape is an important issue in this country, with one in five women being sexually assaulted
or raped at some point in her life. The media plays a large role in influencing people to accept rape
myths, which are dangerous and damaging beliefs about rape that are not true. This is a qualitative
content analysis of three television show rape plotlines from Switched at Birth, The Newsroom and
Game of Thrones. This paper looks at what rape myths are present in these shows, whether they
are accepted, and if there are any other factors or complexities in this rape that make it different
from the way society traditionally views a situation of rape. The three television shows all had rape
myths present and while some addressed these myths and showed that they were false, some
were accepted. Gender stereotypes were also enforced and often the victim of rape was asked to
keep quiet about her experience, change her story, or the show gave no time to discuss the after
effects of the rape.
Introduction
Rape is a serious issue in our society and the acceptance of rape myths allows for this
issue to continue to negatively effect individuals. Rape myths are beliefs about rapists and victims
that are not true but are believed by society as a whole (Easton & Kahlor, 2002). These myths are
apparent in our culture indirectly and can inhibit an individuals desire to report an attack that was
committed on them. They can also keep a person from knowing that the way the act is sexual
situations could be damaging to the other person or qualify as rape.
The media and especially television shows perpetuate gender stereotypes that can add to
an acceptance of rape myths and rape culture (Kimmel & Messner, 2010). This paper examines
three television shows that have a rape plotline and looks at them for what rape myths are present,
if these myths are accepted by the characters, and whether there are any other complexities to the

situation that inhibit the victim from being able to understand that a crime was committed against
her or advocate for herself. Through applying finding from other studies and analyzing these shows
through content analysis, the issues with how the shows depict rape myths is observed and
critiqued.
Literature Review
Gender Stereotypes and Masculinity
Gender stereotypes are pervasive in the world today. Gender stereotypes are defined as
generalizations about people on the basis of their group membership (Donelson, 1999). Gender
stereotypes are built on social roles and existed long before mass media became a major part of
our culture. Social roles for men and women have changed over time because of the way society
has changed over the course of history. Some of the stereotypes are still held, however, in our
culture today and can lead to dangerous consequences.
The traditional gender roles remain due to many factors, one being the way binary gender
is so ingrained in our society (Lorber, 1993). Societies use gender to divide labor, allocate
resources, assign responsibility for certain tasks, etc., which is why defining gender in specific
ways is important (Lorber, 1993). Gender is assigned at birth along with sex (although the two are
not synonymous) and individuals grow up with specific gender norms that are assigned to them as
ways to fit and be accepted in a society (Lorber, 1993). The division of gender leads to two sets of
characteristics commonly ascribed to males and females respectively, becoming their gender roles.
These roles have been assigned to help society function and have led to the idea of a man who
provides and is the protector and a woman who is nurturing and emotional (Kane, 2006).
Traditional gender roles are that of a controlling, dominant male and gentle, submissive
female. These traditional gender roles place men as the ideal, and women are seen as the

supplementary to this ideal existence (Dozier, Horan, & Lauzen, 2008). Connell (1987) states that
although hegemonic masculinity changes over time, there is always one form of masculinity that is
praised as better than others, and all other forms of masculinity as well as femininity are
subordinate to it.
Men assert dominance through their physicality and force (Kimmel & Messner, 2010). This
physicality can be channeled in beneficial ways, like physical labor and sports, but it can also have
negative consequences. Forcefulness in men is praised and emotionality is punished, leading men
to believe that the only way to be accepted is to be dominant and controlling. Another major factor
in traditional masculinity is sexual prowess and having many sexual partners (Kimmel & Messner,
2010). This factor is a major contributor to the problem of rape, a crime of which the majority of
perpetrators are male (Hummer & Martin, 1989), and almost 99 percent of rape perpetrators are
male (Greenfeld, 1997).
Rape as a Social Issue
In America, one in five women will be raped at some point in her life (Donnerstein, et
al.1992). Rape is defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigations as penetration, no matter how
slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of
another person, without the consent of the victim (2014). Another definition, from the U.S. Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality (2003) provides more detail to the variation of acts that can
qualify as rape:
As a general matter, rape is a term that refers to forced or attempted sexual intercourse with
a male or female, by an offender that may be of the same sex or a different sex from the
victim. Sexual assault is usually defined to encompass rape, attempted rape, forced oral and
anal sex, penetration with objects, touching of intimate parts, and other types of threats or

coercion in which unwanted sexual contact is attempted or occurs between the victim and
offender.
It is also important to note that the age of consent in most U.S. states is 18, so children
under this age cannot give consent. Also, depending on the state, it is not possible to give consent
if someone has impaired judgment, such as mental disability or is under the influence of drugs or
alcohol (RAINN, 2009).
Understanding the definition of rape is important because acquaintance rape is also
frequent in the United States. Only one in five women who is raped are attacked by a stranger
(Donnerstein et al. 1992). Acquaintance rape is higher on college campuses as well, as this is a
place where there is a high concentration of people experiencing their first sexual encounters and
also who have a lack of supervision by other adults (Armstrong, Hamilton, & Sweeny, 2006).
Without the definition of rape is and how important consent is, there is a lot of room for
rape to occur without either party expressly being aware that was has occurred is wrong. A 1991
study found that 20 percent of women who were asked Have you ever said no and sex still took
place between you and your partner? responded yes, but would not say this was rape
(Yankelovich, Clancy, & Shulman, 1991).
The misinformation about rape and consent has contributed to many rape myths, that,
while untrue, are pervasive. Rape myths are the false but persistent beliefs and stereotypes
regarding forced sexual intercourse and the victims and perpetrators of such acts (Easton &
Kahlor, 2002). Rape myths include believing that a person is making up a story about being raped;
shouldnt have put themselves in a certain situation; that men who rape cant help themselves;
women who are raped have bad reputations; they may just be regretting having sex, etc. In one

study, 25 to 35 percent of respondents said they agreed with rape myths presented to them on a
survey (Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1994).
These rape myth beliefs are dangerous because they rely on the traditional gender role
belief that men are naturally dominant and women are naturally submissive, and that women must
hide their sexuality from men or suffer the consequences of unwanted sex (Tolman, 1994). Rape
myths not only hurt victims personally, but they give perpetrators more ability to continue
performing their crimes, and they shift the blame from the perpetrators to the victims (Lonsway &
Fitzgerald 1994).
Rape myths are generally accepted by people based on three factors: age, gender, and
whether someone knows a rape victim personally (Donnerstein et al.1992). Studies show that men
are more likely to believe rape myths than women; older people are more likely to believe them
than younger people; and knowing a victim of rape lowers your likelihood of believing these myths.
Rape myths, however, are widely accepted by our society, and that is due in part to their
prevalence in the media (Easton & Kahlor, 2002).
Media Influence on Rape Myth Beliefs
Media portrayals of women have generally been reviewed as consistent with the
stereotypical view of femininity in our culture (Bretl & Cantor, 1988). This means that the views on
how women and men should behave in society carry over into how they are portrayed in the media.
The fact that women make up only 27 percent of media creators on prime-time programs (Lauzen,
2014). These stereotypes are portrayed in several ways, including womens dependence on men,
womens incompetence, mens authority, and others that allow for a basis or justification for
violence against women (Wood, 1994).

We know that audiences are not completely passive in their consumption of media due to
the many critiques of various communication models that would state people are blank slates
(Chandler, 1994). Basic communication models operate on the assumption that people internalize
media messages without thinking critically about what they are seeing, which is not accepted today
because we know individual experience changes our reactions to certain messages. Media today,
however, are so influential part of our culture that they have some effect on us as a society,
specifically when looking at in terms of rape myth acceptance (Easton & Kahlor, 2002). Reinforcing
these stereotypes and myths in the media can influence the thought processes of many people
(Kahlor & Morrison, 2007).
Brinson (1992) analyzed 26 prime-time television storylines involving rape and found that
all had at least one reference to a rape myth. Of these storylines, 42 percent hinted that the victim
wanted to be raped, 38 percent that the victim lied about assault, and 46 percent that the victim
was to blame for the attack (Brinson, 1992).
There is not a lot of scholarly research on at how rape myths are portrayed on television
shows (Kahlor & Morrison, 2007). This lack of research does not mean, however, that shows arent
tackling these storylines. Ten percent of all dialogue on television is about sex-related crime
(Kunkel, Biely, Eyal, Cope-Farrar, Donnerstein, & Fandrich, 2003). One study indicates that over 15
years, television shows have included rape myths in their rape storylines, although there is
increasingly more attention paid to rape and the ambiguity that surrounds this topic (Cuklanz,
1999). The complexities included are more references to date and acquaintance rape, stronger
female characters and less emphasis on stranger rape. Complexities, as they will be referred to in
this paper, mean the differences and nuances of specific rape situations. Due to the nature and

severity of this crime there are many factors that need to be taken into account when looking at
each individual case of rape.
Other studies that have looked at the influence of rape plotlines on television shows
include that by Donnerstein et al. (1992), who looked at the impact of a television movie on a
closed group of test subjects, having some watch the film, titled She Said No about acquaintance
rape, while others were not required to watch the film. 1,038 randomly selected and nationally
representative adults, both male and female, took part in the study. After half of the participants
watched the film a survey was administered asking about rape myths. The study found that men
were more likely to agree with these myths than women, which the researchers attributed to the
level of emotional involvement with the program, because women typically become more involved
emotionally with the television shows they watch. Participants were also asked if they believed that
rape is a serious problem in the United States, and those who had viewed the movie were more
likely to say that it was. This may be because 80 percent of the audience believed the film was
based on a real story, which gave it more salience for them. This fits with the agenda-setting theory
of mass communication: When people are told about a problem through the media, even if it is not
a news story, they will believe it has more importance (Iyengar & Kinder, 1987). This is important
because if people are exposed to rape myths, they are more likely to believe them, but if they are
exposed to informative plotlines about date and acquaintance rape, they are also more likely to
understand that it is a serious problem.
Kahlor and Easton (2011) examined soap operas and crime dramas and how they
perpetuate rape myths. They found that soap operas led people to overestimate the number of
rape claims that are false, and that television viewing in general contributes toward a belief in rape
myths. For this study 2,179 participants from a pool of 20,000 responded to an online survey, and

the data was pulled from the 1,064 people who were in the highest and lowest quartiles for
believing in rape myths. About 65 percent of the sample was female and the ages ranged from 18
to 81. Participants were asked about their daily hours of television viewing, how much they
watched crime shows and soap operas, what percentage of rape accusations they believed were
false, and a series of questions about rape myths. The researchers admit that while correlation is
not causation, there was a strong link between those who watched more than eight hours of
television on a weekday and believing in rape myths. There was also a link between heavy soap
opera viewing and a belief that rape accusations were false, with one in four respondents believing
that it was more then 30 percent. One in eight respondents correctly responded that it was five
percent (Kahlor & Easton, 2011). The researchers believe that for future studies television should
be taken into account, among other factors, when studying belief in rape myths.
In 2007 Kahlor and Morrison conducted a study of college-aged women and found a
correlation between general, everyday television consumption and a belief that rape accusations
are false. 96 undergraduate women at a large university in the Midwest ages 18 to 21 were
sampled. One in five college women and one in 16 college men have reported being sexually
assaulted during college and more than 90 percent of sexual assault victims on college campuses
do not report the assault (National Sexual Assault Research Center, 2012). This means
understanding how college-aged people view sexual assault is important, because they make up a
large percentage of people who are sexually assaulted. The participants were asked about their
daily television use, cultural identity and political beliefs, and then a series of questions about rape
myths. Participants were asked, on a scale of 0 to 100, how relevant they thought the topic of rape
was to them personally and the mean answer was 60.4 percent. They were also asked if they or
anyone they knew had at one time been too intoxicated to give consent and had intercourse

involuntarily and 52 percent said they had. There was a significant correlation between higher
television watching and belief in both rape myths and that higher percentages of rape accusations
were false.
Following these studies, my research will look qualitatively at three television shows for the
presence and acceptance of rape myths. My research questions will be:
RQ1: Are there rape myths present in the plotline?
1a: Are rape myths accepted by the characters?
1b: Which characters accept these myths?
RQ2: How are the complexities of rape portrayed in the plotline?
2a: Is date rape or rape by an intimate partner a theme in the plot?
2b: Are alcohol or other illegal substances consumed by both the attacker and the victim?
2c: Is the character of the victim or attacker called into question as a contributing factor of
the rape?
2d: Is a victim of rape asked to change her beliefs or behaviors in relation to how she feels
about her rape?
Methods
This study analyzes three television show plotlines concerning rape and rape myths. It
examines and analyzes these shows based on the research findings of the other studies
mentioned earlier. It will look at the presence of rape myths, the acceptance by characters of these
myths or how these myths are confronted, and the complexities of rape introduced in the plotlines.
Rape myths can affect the significance people assign to the issue of rape in our society, a problem
that affects both women, men and children (Kahlor & Morrison, 2007).

The focus of this paper is on three rape plotlines where a woman is the victim because
proportionately women are much more likely to be raped than men; about one in five women are
raped in their lifetime versus one in 33 men (RAINN, 2009). This focus is not intended to downplay
the significance of rapes where men are victims, but there are few examples of television shows
tackling this issue. Similarly, this paper does not handle rapes of children, although about 15
percent of sexual assaults occur to children 12 years old or younger (RAINN, 2009). Sexual assault
and rape of children are serious crimes, with elements similar to the rape of adult women and men,
but deserve their own separate research study due to the differences and complexities of that
issue.
These three television shows represent different kinds of programming and how each
genre deals with the issue of rape. Switched at Birth, ABC Familys highest-rated series debut and
won an honorary Peabody Award in 2013. It is a teen drama in its fourth season. It also tackles the
social issue of being deaf in a hearing world and issues of socio-economic inequality. The
Newsroom, an HBO series, is a political drama written by award-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin
that ran for three seasons. This show followed fictional events at a made-up news studio based on
some real world news stories and targeted an older audience that was more politically aware and
interested in hard-news events. The third show is Game of Thrones, also from HBO and targeting a
more mature audience, but a fantasy series based on the novels of George R. R. Martin. The show
deals with political and interpersonal scandal in a fantasy world set in an era similar to the Middle
Ages, but with magical elements mixed in. The show is critically acclaimed, currently in its fifth
season and has a large, international fan base. Rape and assault are common on Game of
Thrones because it takes place in a time and world where consent was not a factor in sexual
situations.

Due to the controversies surrounding these episodes and the varying ways they tackle the
issue of rape, they provide a variety of approaches to rape plotlines on television shows. They
reach large and diverse audiences, they handle real world issues, and they have helped to create a
dialogue about what is rape and how is it handled in our society.
These three rape plotlines also stimulated news media coverage and opinion pieces due to
how the issue of rape was handled and audience reactions. Switched at Birth was applauded for
being a teen drama that handled the issue of date rape. The Newsroom came out after the scandal
with the Rolling Stone rape articles and echoed several elements of that scandal (Coronell, Coll, &
Kravitz, 2015). The rape of Cersei by Jamie in Game of Thrones came under controversy as well
when several people connected to the show, including the producers, some actors and the director
of the episode, said that the scene did not depict a rape.
The first element analyzed in these television shows is how they handle rape myths,
specifically that rape accusations are false, that men cannot help themselves, that express verbal
consent is not mandatory, that a woman cannot be raped by someone she has been intimate with
before and that women who dress or act provocatively are automatically consenting to sex (Easton
& Kahlor, 2002). The gender of the characters will also play an important role and the views of
these characters in relation to their gender will be addressed. Through content analysis I will look
at rape myths and their acceptance in specific plotlines on these television shows. I will not be
looking at whole seasons or but only the few episodes in which the rape narrative occurs and
influences the characters.
This project is limited in that there is no data from a participant group to see how these
rape myths affect audiences. The analysis of these plotlines, however, grounded in research about
what rape myths are pervasive on television and how seeing these myths in a fictional format may

affect audiences. This article will not look at the effects on audiences, but simply the presence and
nature of these myths that are detrimental to understanding the issue of rape. It will also look at the
complexities presented in these episodes surrounding rape and the cultural impact of these shows
in news and public opinion after they aired.
Analysis
Switched at Birth
Switched at Birth is a teen drama in its fourth season on ABC Family, and has a 1.0 rating
for audiences ages 18 to 49 (Ng, 2012). This series premiere actually set record rating for ABC
Family, attracting 3.3 million viewers. It is also the number one show for females age 12 to 34 on
Monday nights (Seidman, 2011). This information is important because it demonstrates the shows
appeal to a key demographic of young women, often the victims of sexual assault and rape. A rape
plot line on this show, especially ones with rape myths and the acceptance of rape myths, are
reaching an instrumental group who need to understand what rape culture is and how it effects
them.
The show focuses on two main characters, Bay and Daphne, two girls switched at birth in
an accident at the hospital where they were born and thus have grown up living with the other girls
family. Daphne is deaf and grew up in a single parent home with her mother, Regina, who is Bays
biological mother. Bay grew up in an affluent family with Daphnes biological family. The two girls
discover that they were switched at birth in the first season and the show deals with the issues of
identity, family ties, socio-economic differences and deafness. By season three Bay has dated and
broken up with a character names Tank and is now dating a character named Emmett, who is deaf
as well. To avoid confusion I will refer to these five characters by name going forward, and all
others by their titles or relationship to these characters.

The basic rape plotline begins with a fight between Bay and her boyfriend Emmett. Emmett
is going to school in a different state and Bay decides to attend a party that night to take her mind
off the fight. Tank is there, as well as Daphne, who decides to leave the party early. The events of
the night become obscure at that point as Bay drinks a lot of alcohol and hangs out with Tank as
friends. The next morning Bay wakes up naked in bed with Tank with no memory of what happened
but has a feeling that something is wrong or something bad happened.
The first research question I will address is are there rape myths present in the plotline?
Rape myths are a set of beliefs that a society holds about the act of rape, perpetrators and victims
(Easton & Kahlor, 2002). The first rape myth that emerges in the show is from Bay herself, saying
that she should not have had so much alcohol and forgotten the night before. A common rape myth
is that a woman was inviting an assault from the way she acts, dresses, or what she drinks. As
discussed earlier in this paper, a person is unable to give consent if they have been drinking
alcohol or taken any other drugs, so both Bay and Tank in this situation were unable to give their
consent (RAINN, 2009). Bay tells a female friend about what happened to her and the friend
remarks that these things happen, showing the belief of the dominant culture that a woman is
responsible for her own rape based on what she has done and not because a man chose to rape
her. When later Bay tells this story to her biological mother, Regina, she is informed that some
people may believe that what happened to her is rape.
Another rape myth is that men are not responsible for their actions because they simply
cannot control their urges. This myth is challenged in an interesting way because Tank is actually
held responsible by Bays father for his actions. Bays father confronts Tank upon hearing of the
incident, reacting in the typically violent way that has been associated with male behavior on
television (Wood, 1994). He tells Tank that it is because he is a man he is responsible for stopping

an assault. Although this is a patriarchal view of male behavior and presumes that men ultimately
have control in all sexual situations, it does challenge the rape myth that men are free to act
however they want, regardless of consent from the woman.
A third rape myth comes from an acquaintance and another person at the party. This male
character makes an allusion to the fact that Bay is making up what happened to her after a
university investigation is launched to look into what happened at the party. The comment is made
to a male friend of Bays who then punches the other character, again reinforcing male violence on
television. The belief that most rapes are false is a common rape myth, with a survey showing that
people believe 30 percent of rapes claims are false, while in reality only five percent are (Kahlor &
Easton, 2011). This myth is obviously not accepted by the male friend, but instead of explaining this
fact or trying to address this issue, he reacts with violence and thus the show loses an opportunity
to inform viewers.
The second research question I will address here is if there are any complexities that differ
this rape plot from the stereotypical view of rape as a stranger sneaking up on a woman and violent
attacking her (Rape Crisis, 2015). One such complexity the show introduces is the fact that Tank
and Bay were boyfriend and girlfriend in the past, making this rape comparable to date rape. Date
rape is an issue many people do not recognize as a legitimate form of rape because the person
who is raped knows her attacker and has possibly been intimate with them before. Just because
consent is given once or has been given in the past does not mean that it is automatic for all future
encounters between two individuals. Consent is necessary during any sexual interaction and can
be withdrawn at any time. Tank and Bay had been intimate before and so he believed that consent
was there, but express, verbal consent is necessary in every situation, and the show makes a point
to emphasize this.

I have already explained earlier in this section that both Tank and Bay were drinking the
night of the party, and, therefore, neither could give consent. This is expressly stated for Bay by
other characters, but Tanks impaired judgment is less of a concern, with other characters feeling
he was responsible for Bay and her safety. Another male friend who was at the party also feels
responsible for what happened to Bay. This reinforces the cultural stereotype that men should be in
control and women are in some ways subordinate to and dependent on them.
In conclusion this show addresses a few rape myths and aims to show why they are false.
It does not accept that Bay is responsible for what happened to her, that women who act a certain
way or drink too much are asking for sex, or that women who say they are raped are making it up.
It does, however, reinforce the stereotypes of male and female characters, showing men reacting
in violent ways and presuming that they are responsible for female characters, while the female
characters are often shown as having no options and being helpless to the situations they are put
in.
The Newsroom
The Newsroom is an HBO series written by Aaron Sorkin, famous for his work with The
West Wing. This show was on for three seasons, with season three getting an average rating of .52
among adults ages 18 to 49. Although this show was not as popular as the other two examples
discussed in this paper, it is important because it reaches an audience who is interested in cultural
issues and issues concerning the media. Rape is a huge problem in this country and, therefore, a
major cultural issue and viewers of this show might be more aware of this.
The Newsroom is about a fictional television news room that handles issues of how to
keep the integrity of news-reporting in a world that is increasingly focused on the internet, citizen
journalism and sensationalizing news to build a wider audience base. There are several central

characters who work together in the newsroom but for the purposes of this paper I will only explain
a few characters and provide background for them. Charlie is the director for the newsroom and is
increasingly feeling pressure from the new owner of the station to increase the audience base by
prioritizing pop culture stories. He tells executive producer Don Keefer to find a female student
from Princeton, Mary, who created a website where victims of rape can post about their
experiences and to bring her and one of her accused rapists onto the show he works for to be
interviewed together. Don is hesitant to do this but is pressured into finding Mary and conducting a
pre-interview with her, which is where most of the material for this analysis is found.
This episode also aired just before a massive scandal involving news reporting of a
campus rape by Rolling Stone magazine, which had many factual errors (Coronell, Coll, & Kravitz,
2015). These errors made it impossible to distinguish if the woman who said she was the victim of
rape was lying or if she had PTSD and could not remember things clearly. The importance of this
article and episode coming out at the same time is that it shows how prevalent it is in our culture to
not believe the victims of rape are telling the truth, and it shows how rapes are not given the
importance and care they deserve by the news media. Rape is an important social issue and not
something that can be covered quickly and carelessly, but warrants time and attention from people
with the influence to grant it.
The first rape myth present in the episode is that rape victims are liars. When Don goes to
talk to the Princeton student in her dorm room he initially suggests they go somewhere else to talk,
like a coffee shop or the library. She later asks him if he wanted to change the location of the
interview because he was afraid if he was alone with her she would say he raped her. Viewing rape
victims as liars is a dangerous rape myth because it devalues the experiences of that person and
makes other victims of rape less likely to come forward for fear of being accused of lying as well.

This episode faces that rape myth head on and attacks it for being dismissive of rape victims
experiences. Later in the episode Don admits that Mary has every reason to be telling the truth.
This is true because often rape victims are ostracized for telling the truth about what happened to
them.
Another rape myth addressed is that respectable, good people do not rape and are not the
victims of rape. Princeton is an Ivy League school known for academic and athletic success. A rape
by two male students on a female student does not fit with the rape myth that good things happen
to good people and bad things happen to bad people. The truth is that one in five college women is
assaulted at some point during her time at school, and this means that even well-educated people
are the victims and perpetrators of rape (National Sexual Assault Research Center, 2012).
The second research questions asks how complexities of rape are presented in the
plotline. Mary admits to there being alcohol, marijuana and cocaine at the party and to taking
anything that someone gave her. This means that her character and her version of events is
scrutinized because she might have been so much under the influence that she isnt remembering
things clearly.
The idea of the interview having her and one of her accused rapists on the air at the same
time makes it a he said, she said situation in which the character of both her and her accused
attacker are questioned. This is definitely not the appropriate way to talk about rape, as it
sensationalizes the issue instead of providing room for understanding the complexities of the
situation, but as Mary says in the episode, there will never be a court case for her attack because
there is little evidence, as is the case with many rapes.
This does not mean, however, that the issue should be avoided because it is too difficult to
discuss. Don tells Mary that he does not want her to do the interview and asks her to stop the

website because it will never bring her justice. He does not, however, offer any alternatives for her.
He is asking her to keep quiet, change her beliefs and behaviors because rape is too difficult to talk
about. The fact that rape is a complex issue does not mean it should be ignored or pushed aside,
and people with powerful influence and access to large groups of people should give issues of rape
the time and care they deserve.
In conclusion the episode addresses a few rape myths as false but accepts that rape is too
complicated an issue to give any real care or attention to. The episode ends with Don lying to
Charlie and telling him he couldnt find Mary and thus never conducted the interview. The blatant
disregard for the truth here is in complete contrast with one of the main themes of the show: that
journalists should have integrity. This plot line also reinforces that women should remain quiet
about attacks against them for fear of being called a liar. This is an element to the rape myth that
women lie about attacks against them, and the show does not advocate for challenging that rape
myth in any way.
Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones is a fantasy drama based on the novels of George R.R. Martin currently
in its fifth season on HBO. The show consistently rates well with audiences ages 18 to 49 and its
season five premiere brought the highest ratings yet of 4.19 (Kissell, 2015). This show is popular
and reaches an international audience base, and although it is another HBO show, like The
Newsroom, I feel that both shows offer a unique look at the issue of rape and especially the
different relationships a rapist can have with their victim.
The storyline that is important for this paper in Game of Thrones is that of Cersei and
Jamie, a brother and sister who have had an incestuous affair for most of their lives. Cerseis three
children are believed to be children of her and the former king but are in fact biologically Jamies

children. Cersei is a pragmatic and cruel character in contrast with Jamie, who the audience has
come to understand more and sympathize with over the seasons. Cerseis son and the current
king, Joffery, has just been poisoned to death when the rape plotline occurs. The two characters
are in the room where Jofferys body is being held.
It is important to note that in Game of Thrones rape is a common occurrence and women
in this world are subordinate to men. The structure of this world is much like the Middle Ages, but
with magical elements added. Often there are scenes depicting rape or rape is used as a threat
against female characters. The show is incredibly violent and rape is just another violent act, but
the fact that it happened to such a central and powerful character as Cersei, and by someone who
loves her, makes this rape plotline different from the others in its importance to the show.
The rape myth present is that if a woman has been intimate with a man before or is in a
relationship with him she automatically consents to having sex any time. Cersei is visibly upset and
looks to Jamie for comfort, but it is clear that once his advances become sexual she withdraws her
consent, verbally saying things like no and stop it. There is no mistaking that she does not want
this to occur, and for him to continue after she withdraws consent makes this a rape scene.
The second research question asks about the complexities of the situation, and the main
one is that Cersei is to be seen by the audience as a bad character and Jamie as a good
character. Cersei is manipulative and has done awful things up to this point in the series and
although Jamie has done bad things he has been on a path of redemption and has even saved
other characters from death. He is in love with Cersei even though she is bad and has always
been kind to her. His sudden change, therefore, is shocking and does not fit with the cultural idea
of who a rapist is. This complicates the issue of whether the scene was intended to be a rape. The
actors and show creators have all stated that it was not intended to be a rape scene, further

complicating the issue (Romano, 2014). The scene is by definition rape, but because audiences
are meant to sympathize with Jamie and hate Cersei it may be seen as her being deserving of
rape. Jamie even says during the scene why did the gods make me love a hateful woman? This
makes it seem as though Cersei invited this attack on her because of her character, and takes the
blame off of Jamie for his actions.
This episode includes a rape myth and does not try to challenge it. It also does not
challenge the idea that some people are bad and deserving of rape because of their actions. A
rape plotline like this, one that is so damaging and seen by so many people is only reinforcing
stereotypes about rape in our culture that are dangerous in the real world. There is also no talk
about what occurred after between the characters and there is no resolution from this violent act.
This trivializes the rape and makes the experience seem inconsequential to the characters and
there lives, even though violent rape is not something that can be so easily forgotten in reality.
Discussion
The ultimate findings of my analysis show that while some rape myths are addressed head
on and the reason they are untrue is explained, often the explanation is not clear or complete
enough to make an impact. There are explicit rape myths in these shows that are completely
ignored and even the act of rape at some times is ignored because the issue is too complicated for
the show to address properly and give adequate time and explanation to. Other stereotypes, such
as the male protector and submissive female, a woman needing to hide what happened to her so
as not to be called a liar, and a woman inviting rape because of her actions and character are
present in these shows. All of these issues reinforce the gender stereotypes and rape myths that a
prevalent in our culture and are believed more by people who watch more television.

This study could be improved upon and there is still much to explore on this topic. The list
of three television shows was manageable for a study of this size, but there are many more
examples of rape on television, especially in crime dramas and soap operas, which were not
explored here. Looking into other shows and different genres could provide insights into more ways
that television either reinforces or challenges rape myths. Another way to improve this study is to
look at multiple shows for one specific rape myth and go more into detail on how that rape myth
differs between the shows, comparing them. This could demonstrate how some shows handle
these issues better than others and how that effects the different audiences.
Another area which would be interesting to study is how the rape myths from these
television shows actually influence audiences. Taking this analysis and applying it to test groups
who have seen the shows, then asking them their thoughts relating to certain rape myths and if
they feel they were present in the episode would be helpful in understanding how much of an
influence these shows have on the public.
Conclusion
In conclusion, gender stereotypes are apparent in the media we watch in American culture
(Bretl & Cantor, 1988). Much of the stereotypes we believe about men and women in society are
clearly visible in the media we look at and largely influenced by our already-existing cultural beliefs
(Donelson, 1999). Viewing men as authoritative, violent and in control while women are
subordinate, nurturing and in need of protecting leads to a culture where rape has become a major
issue. One in five women will be raped at some point in her lifetime (Donnerstein, et al.1992). Rape
myths and the complexities surrounding rape make it less likely that women will report an attack
against them or, if they do, unlikely that it will get the time or attention it deserves from the justice
system or news sources.

The media play an active role in influencing people, especially when it comes to rape myth
acceptance. Studies show that people who watch more television are more likely to believe rape
myths and that victims of rape lie about their experiences (Kahlor & Easton, 2011). Television
plotlines about rape, therefore, have the power to try and inform audiences about rape myths,
consent, and stereotypes.
The three rape plotlines analyzed here have some discussion about why some rape myths
are false and prove them to be untrue, but they also accept some rape myths without challenging
them, which is dangerous when the people watching these shows believe them in their daily lives.
The media have powerful influence as a constant and pervasive source of information for our
culture and because of this media content creators need to be more thoughtful about how they
represent rape and the possible repercussions of their decisions. Verbal consent must be
emphasized, as well as the fact that consent is needed every time and can be revoked at any time.
Rape myths will continue to plague our society until we start to change the conversation about
rape. Instead of hiding it as a social issue we need to embrace that it effects many people and
warrants more of our attention.