Stanford historian examines the politics of sexual violence

Through a study of the changing definitions of rape, Stanford professor Estelle Freedman finds that political power and social privilege create complex perceptions of sexual violence. By Justin Tackett - The Humanities at Stanford On Aug. Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri discussed "legitimate rape" during a television as part of his bid for Senate. The term ignited a political firestorm, inviting a denouncement from President Barack Obama, who declared that "rape is rape" and there was no need to "be parsing and qualifying and slicing" the term. But parsing, qualifying and slicing the term has been going on for a long time. It was only last year, for example, that the FBI broadened its narrow definition of rape for the first time since 1927, to include non-forcible rape and the rape of males.