Australian Left Review
Article Title
Male Order
Abstract
Sexual violence is back on the agenda, reports Ros Mills. Sexual violence is on the public agenda. Not so long ago only feminists, and radical ones at that, spoke out publicly about the prevalence of male violence. Issues concerning male sexual practices which were previously shrouded in secrecy are now part of mediaspeak and government policy. Jan Breckenridge and Rosemary Berreen note J udith Allen’s comment that 'domestic violence’ is “a practice without a history”. Writing on incest they suggest that “the effectiveness of an incest taboo is not evidenced inacapacity to prohibit the occurrence of incest. Rather its effectiveness is best witnessed in the capacity to inhibit public discussion and acknowledgment of the nature and extent of the problem”. Feminists have achieved what previously seemed impossible: public discussion of men’s sexual violence against women and children in the home.