Law and Gender Commons^™

The Article proceeds as follows. Part I explores the primary legal frameworks for understanding rape law over time. It traces the origins of rape as a sometimes civil, sometimes criminal, wrong—through the patriarchal view of rape as a property crime, to the feminist (and liberal) remake of rape into an individual criminal injury to autonomy. It then briefly discusses recent rejections of the liberal/feminist position. Parts II–IV explore the three major impediments to effective norm change in more detail. Part V, after explaining why the recent proposed revisions to the Model Penal Code are not likely to overcome the problems …

This article explores how shame sanctions may be able to change the social meaning and decrease the prevalence of date rape. Arguing that men's tendency to date rape is fostered by social norms that treat sex as an accomplishment and, importantly, an accomplishment that enhances a man's masculinity status, the article suggests that one way to curb date rape is to curb the extent to which it is associated with masculine behavior. This strategy is necessary because the high premium society places on masculinity and the cultural confusion about when date rape is morally wrong and how it is different …