highly impactful on perception. Alexandra Frazer and Michelle Miller noted in their article Double Standards in Sentence Structure: Passive Voice in Narratives Describing Domestic Violence,
Structuring sentences in a way that emphasizes women’s causal role in such violence, while deemphasizing men’s role, may be one of several mechanisms by which writers and speakers express their attitudes about gender, sex, and power. These mechanisms include the use of erotic rather than violent terminology in rape trials (Bavelas & Coates, 2001), passive-voice use in rape descriptions (Bohner, 2001; Henley et al., 1995), and victim-blaming language in descriptions of rape (Kanekar, Kolsawalla, & D’Souza, 1981). Such expressions may in turn shape whether readers and listeners interpret these acts as voluntary acts of violence against an undeserving victim or as unfortunate experiences that women—at least in part—bring on themselves. (Frazer & Miller, 2008, p.70)
Studies show that writers typically prefer the passive voice over active voice twice as often to describe male-on-female violence, …show more content…
Additionally, “attempted, unsuccessfully to penetrate her” is also accurate to the situation as it does not use language of consensual sex (Schanfran, 2013, p.26). “Instructed her to perform oral sex” is a poor choice of words, as it sanitizes the level of violence involved, and also wrongly uses language of consensual sex to describe an assaultive acts (Schanfran, 2013, p.26). Just like the previous statement, the phrasing “so he could have sex with her” also inappropriately uses the language of consensual sex to describe an assaultive act (Schanfran, 2013, p.26). In another case example from the National Judicial Education Program about sexual
Structuring sentences in a way that emphasizes women’s causal role in such violence, while deemphasizing men’s role, may be one of several mechanisms by which writers and speakers express their attitudes about gender, sex, and power. These mechanisms include the use of erotic rather than violent terminology in rape trials (Bavelas & Coates, 2001), passive-voice use in rape descriptions (Bohner, 2001; Henley et al., 1995), and victim-blaming language in descriptions of rape (Kanekar, Kolsawalla, & D’Souza, 1981). Such expressions may in turn shape whether readers and listeners interpret these acts as voluntary acts of violence against an undeserving victim or as unfortunate experiences that women—at least in part—bring on themselves. (Frazer & Miller, 2008, p.70)
Studies show that writers typically prefer the passive voice over active voice twice as often to describe male-on-female violence, …show more content…
Additionally, “attempted, unsuccessfully to penetrate her” is also accurate to the situation as it does not use language of consensual sex (Schanfran, 2013, p.26). “Instructed her to perform oral sex” is a poor choice of words, as it sanitizes the level of violence involved, and also wrongly uses language of consensual sex to describe an assaultive acts (Schanfran, 2013, p.26). Just like the previous statement, the phrasing “so he could have sex with her” also inappropriately uses the language of consensual sex to describe an assaultive act (Schanfran, 2013, p.26). In another case example from the National Judicial Education Program about sexual