Women and Sexual Assault in the United States, 1900–1940

In the United States, the history of sexual assault in the first half of the 20th century involves multiple contradictions between the ordinary, almost invisible accounts of women of all colors who were raped by fathers, husbands, neighbors, boarders, bosses, hired hands, and other known individuals versus the sensational myths that involved rapacious black men, sly white slavers, libertine elites, and virginal white female victims.

Much of the debate about sexual assault revolved around the “unwritten law” that justified “honorable” white men avenging the “defilement” of their women. Both North and South, white people defended lynching and the murder of presumed rapists as “honor killings.” In courtrooms, defense attorneys linked the unwritten law to insanity pleas, arguing that after hearing women tell about their assault, husbands and fathers experienced an irresistible compulsion to avenge the rape of their women.

Over time, however, notorious court cases from New York to San Francisco, Indianapolis and Honolulu, to Scottsboro, Alabama, shifted the discourse away from the unwritten law and extralegal “justice” to a more complicated script that demonized unreliable women and absolved imperfect men. National coverage of these cases, made possible by wire services and the Hearst newspaper empire, spurred heated debates concerning the proper roles of men and women.

Blockbuster movies like The Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind and Book of the Month Club selections such as John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and Richard Wright’s Native Son joined the sensationalized media coverage of high-profile court cases to create new national stereotypes about sexual violence and its causes and culprits.

During the 1930s, journalists, novelists, playwrights, and moviemakers increasingly emphasized the culpability of women who, according to this narrative, made themselves vulnerable to assault by stepping outside of their appropriate sphere and tempting men into harming them.


The atomic bombing of Nagasaki

The atomic bombing of Nagasaki

In 1945, in the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, a 10-year-old Japanese boy stood in attention at a…

Read More


It’s been more than 50 years since the Vietnam War ended.

It’s been more than 50 years since the Vietnam War ended.

But for the combat nurses who served there, the details remain as sharp in their minds as the needles they…

Read More


the partial remains of Andrew Comyn “Sandy”

the partial remains of Andrew Comyn “Sandy”

After 100 years of speculation surrounding his fate, the partial remains of Andrew Comyn “Sandy” Irvine are believed to have…

Read More


Atlantic slave trade.

Atlantic slave trade.

The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people to the…

Read More


barbaric” mob attack in Nigeria’s southern town of Uromi, in Edo state

barbaric” mob attack in Nigeria’s southern town of Uromi, in Edo state

ABUJA, March 28 (Reuters) – At least seven suspected kidnappers were set ablaze and killed in a “barbaric” mob attack…

Read More


The Holocaust (1933-1945)

The Holocaust (1933-1945)

The Holocaust A genocide during World War II, where six million Jews and millions of others were systematically murdered by…

Read More


The Black Death: The Greatest Catastrophe Ever

Ole J Benedictow describes how he calculated that the Black Death killed 50 million people in the 14th century, or 60…

Read More


The BLACK DEATH: 1346-1353 epidemic

The BLACK DEATH: 1346-1353 epidemic

The estimated number of deaths ranges from 75 million to 200 million, or between 30 percent and 50 percent of…

Read More


Part 3. Cannibalism in the Chinese great famine 1959.

Part 3. Cannibalism in the Chinese great famine 1959.

There are widespread oral reports, though little official documentation, of human cannibalism being practiced in various forms as a result…

Read More


Part2. Death toll The Great Chinese Famine

Part2. Death toll The Great Chinese Famine

The excess mortality associated with the famine has been estimated by former CCP officials and international experts, with most giving…

Read More

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *