[197]MTSU WOMEN’S RESEARCH LECTURE DISSECTS SEXISM IN ‘CSI’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 12, 2008EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

MTSU WOMEN’S RESEARCH LECTURE DISSECTS SEXISM IN ‘CSI’
Depictions of Female Victims Reinforce Myths about Women and Rape, Says Foss

(MURFREESBORO) - Dr. Katie Foss, assistant professor of journalism at MTSU, will speak on “Choice or Chance? : Gender, Victimization, and Responsibility in ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’” at 3 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 20, in the SunTrust Room of the Business and Aerospace Building. The latest presentation in the MTSU Women’s Studies Research Series, the discussion will focus on Foss’ research on representations of male and female victimization in the CBS television drama. “From studying five seasons of ‘CSI’ episodes, I found a vast discrepancy between male and female victimizations in that men become victims by chance, whereas carelessness and sexuality cause women to be victimized,” says Foss. “Furthermore, male victims die quickly, while female victims often suffer torture sexual assault prior to a long, painful death.
“By perpetuating the notion that female victims contributed to their attacks, while male victims were suggested to be innocent, these results reinforce existing rape myths and reinforce patriarchal hegemony.”
“The MTSU Women's Studies Research Series has something for everyone interested in women's experience,” says Dr. Jane Marcellus, professor of mass communication. “By bringing together scholars from across campus, we touch on a wide variety of feminist viewpoints in an informal monthly gathering.”
All lectures are free and open to the public. For more information on the Women’s Studies Research Series, contact Marcellus at 615-898-5282 or jmarcell@mtsu.edu.


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