been predominantly the case in the 1970’s, when the
movement first developed.
Impact The 1980’s was a time of great social change
in attitudes toward rape. As the decade continued,
victims received better care, and rapists were dealt
stronger penalties. By the end of the 1980’s, rape
within marriage was viewed as inappropriate, both
culturally and legally, which was a major step for-
ward in human rights for women in the United
States.
Further Reading
Ahrens, Courtney E. “Being Silenced: The Impact of
Negative Social Reactions on the Disclosure of
Rape.”American Journal of Community Psychology
38, nos. 3/4 (December, 2006): 263-274. Consid-
eration of the role of responders to rape victims.
Finkelhor, David, and Kersti Yllo.License to Rape: Sex-
ual Abuse of Wives.New York: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, 1985. A highly influential publication
by two renowned academics covering the issue of
marital rape, focusing on the United States.
Gornick, Janet, et al. “Structure and Activities of
Rape Crisis Centers in the Early 1980’s.”Crime and
Delinquency31, no. 2 (April, 1985): 247-268. Com-
prehensive coverage of the variety of rape crisis
centers in the United States based on a represen-
tative sample of fifty.
Kimmel, Michael S.The Gendered Society.3d ed. New
York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Insightful
consideration of gender’s role in American life,
with an excellent chapter about gendered vio-
lence, including rape.
MacKinnon, Catharine A. “Genocide’s Sexuality.” In
Are Women Human? And Other International Dia-
logues.Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Har-
vard University Press, 2006. Analysis of wartime
rapes when genocide is the goal, by a renowned
feminist lawyer.
Russell, Diana E. H.Rape in Marriage.1982. 2d ed. In-
dianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1990. The
first publication written in English about marital
rape, focusing on domestic sexual assault in San
Francisco. Based on a random sample.
Sebold, Alice.Lucky.Boston: Back Bay Books, 1999.
Autobiographical account of the novelist’s trau-
matic rape at the age of eighteen, when she was a
college student.
Yllo, Kersti, and Michele Bograd, eds.Feminist Per-
spectives on Wife Abuse.Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage,
- Academic and community activists consider
domestic violence, including rape.
Susan J. Wurtzburg
See also Abortion; Brawley, Tawana; Central Park
jogger case;Color Purple, The; Crime; Domestic vio-
lence; École Polytechnique massacre;Fatal Attrac-
tion; Feminism; McMartin Preschool trials;sex, lies,
and videotape; Women’s rights.Rather, Dan
Identification Anchor of theCBS Evening News,
1981-2005
Born October 31, 1931; Wharton, Texas
Rather was the first television anchor to emerge as a celebrity
in his own right as measured by a multimillion-dollar con-
tract.
As a boy, Dan Rather listened to the World War II ra-
dio broadcasts of Columbia Broadcasting System
(CBS) news reporter Edward R. Murrow, who vividly
described bombings of London and who, in 1954, ef-
fectively denounced anti-Communist zealot Senator798 Rather, Dan The Eighties in America
NewCBS Evening Newsanchor Dan Rather, left, shakes hands
with outgoing anchor Walter Cronkite in March of 1981.(CBS/
Landov)