Background
Benedict, Helen Came to the United States, 1978.
(In the last few years, the national press has lavished co...)
In the last few years, the national press has lavished coverage on several major sex-related scandals: the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings, the William Kennedy Smith rape trial, and the Mike Tyson case. With each event came lurid stories pitting either a loose or virginal woman against an unwilling or monstrous man. Such extreme coverage, argues Helen Benedict, perpetuates myths that are harmful to victims of these crimes (and sometimes to the accused). In Virgin or Vamp Benedict examines the press's treatment of four notorious sex crimes from the past decade--the Rideout marital rape trial in Oregon, the Big Dan's pool table gang rape in Massachusetts, the "Preppy Murder" in New York City, and the Central Park jogger case--and shows how victims are labelled either as virgins or vamps, a practice she condemns as misleading and harmful. Benedict also looks at other factors that perpetuate the misunderstanding of rape. For instance, she shows how the New York press presented the Central Park jogger rape case as motivated by racism because of its unwillingness to consider rape an issue of gender. She also addresses our inherent language bias, the press's tendency to use sexually suggestive language to describe crime victims, and its preference for crimes against whites. In conclusion, Benedict offers a number of solutions that will help reporters cover these increasingly common crimes without further harming the victims, the defendants, or public understanding.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195086651/?tag=2022091-20
( The journalistic profile is one of the most popular, wi...)
The journalistic profile is one of the most popular, widely read types of magazine feature writing. Helen Benedict, a master of the genre, has collected for Portraits in Print nine of her best pieces, and provided a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the art of portrait journalism. Among the persons profiled here are Joseph Brodsky, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Susan Sontag, Paule Marshall, Bernard Malamud, and Beverly Sills. In a general introduction and in lively discussions after each profile, Helen Benedict describes how she selected the subjects, got them to agree to be interviewed, convinced the magazines' editor's to assign her the pieces, prepared for the interviews, and set about writing each one after the research and interviewing were complete. Benedict also discusses how much confidence to betray, how personal to get, what to leave out, and the writer's power over the profile subject. This is fascinating reading, especially for aspiring writers who hope to learn more about the skills and practices of this popular genre. Portraits in Print concludes with an Afterward by the famous muckraker and author of The American Way of Death, Jessica Mitford. Mitford takes the opposite tack, in an amusing essay about what it is like to be an interviewee.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0231072260/?tag=2022091-20
(Told in shifting first-person narratives, this compelling...)
Told in shifting first-person narratives, this compelling novel vividly evokes the the lives of the women and children in one of New York City's toughest barrios, showcasing a variety of memorable characters. "An authentic account of hardship and faith".--"The New York Times Book Review".
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452275865/?tag=2022091-20
(Single disbound illustration from a 1937 art catalog. Ver...)
Single disbound illustration from a 1937 art catalog. Verso is blank. Including margins the total size is approximately 8 1/2 by 11 inches. Vintage print, not a modern reproduction. Printed on ivory paper
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F2IE24A/?tag=2022091-20
Benedict, Helen Came to the United States, 1978.
Bachelor, University Sussex, England, 1975. Master of Arts, University California, Berkeley, 1979.
Reporter The Independent, Richmond, California, 1979-1980. Freelance reporter New York City, 1981-1986. Professor Columbia University, since 1986.
(Told in shifting first-person narratives, this compelling...)
(In the last few years, the national press has lavished co...)
( The journalistic profile is one of the most popular, wi...)
(Single disbound illustration from a 1937 art catalog. Ver...)
Member Poets, Essayists, Novelists.