“Wife takes public revenge on the men who ‘raped her every night on husband’s orders’,” “Lethbridge mother who failed to report violent abuse of infant gets 2 year jail sentence,” “Marion County deputies searching for boyfriend of 17-year-old girl found shot to death.” Yes, these are all real article titles. Notice a common factor between them? In every article, the women featured in the title unfairly take the front of the blame, regardless if they are at fault.
In the first headline, Gisele Pelicot’s pursuit of justice for her sexual assault at the hands of her husband and his friends is described as “revenge.” Although Pelicot, clearly the victim, faced horrible injustice at the hands of her husband, the media painted her actions as a sort of petty revenge instead of an attempt to prevent similar cruelty from reoccurring in the future. This title undermines the horrors Pelicot faced, and allows Pelicot’s husband, and the many men who sexually assaulted Pelicot, to evade responsibility.
This headline manipulation in the media further appears in the second title: “Lethbridge mother who failed to report violent abuse of infant gets 2 year jail sentence.” Despite the mother’s involvement in the crime as a bystander, the fault for her child’s abuse does not, and should not, fall on her. Even though the mother lacked involvement as a perpetrator, the headline blames the abuse of her child on her, describing her actions as a “failure” on her part, and never once mentioning the actual perpetrator: the father. Often, the media exploits diction in order to compel readers to disregard the seriousness of the crimes men commit, and to shift the blame onto the women, who are often the victims.
Furthermore, besides the manipulation of terminology, many headlines also capitalize on passive voice in order to shift the blame of the crime onto the women or simply away from the male perpetrator, as can be seen in the third headline: “Marion County deputies searching for boyfriend of 17-year-old girl found shot to death.” Although the boyfriend shot the victim, the headline never explicitly states who committed the crime, and instead focuses on how the victim died, almost blaming the gun for her death. Why? To obscure the blame from the boy.
This misogynistic manipulation of headlines pertaining to crimes against women remains a prevalent issue in the media, and needs to stop. When you read the news, take a second look at the headline, as many, if not all headlines, find some way to blame women.
Click here to learn more about the words commonly used in headlines pertaining to women.
“Wife takes public revenge on the men who ‘raped her every night on husband’s orders’” (article taken down by original site)
“Lethbridge mother who failed to report violent abuse of infant gets 2 year jail sentence”
“Marion County deputies searching for boyfriend of 17-year-old girl found shot to death”