Happily Ever After: Myth, Rape, and Romance in the Mary K. Letourneau Case
Mary Kay Letourneau, a teacher who raped her 12-year-old student. We examined magazine coverage surrounding the event to determine what narratives were used to explain a crime that reversed the traditional roles of criminal and victim. We found that journalists relied on rape misconceptions and myths of proper (hetero)sexual roles, including the Good Mother and Princess in romantic fairy tales to tell the story.
The construction of this narrative erased the crime, turning rape into romance and (re)establishing masculine hegemony.
Co-author: Dr. Dustin Harp, University of Texas at Austin
Framing Private Lynch: Establishment and tenacity of the hero frame during war
Following the rescue of Jessica Lynch, a soldier captured during the invasion of Iraq, media outlets incorrectly sensationalized events surrounding her capture, imprisonment, and rescue.
Using Lule’s components of a hero, newspaper articles and news transcripts were analyzed for these attributes, and a Web forum was studied to gauge reaction.
A hero frame was present in the press and, for at least a portion of the population, the frame was a stubborn one.