Violent Differences: The Importance of Race in Sexual Assault Against Queer Men - Paperback

by Doug Meyer (Author)

2023 Honorable Mention for Outstanding Book Award from the Society for the Study of Social Problems

Despite rising attention to sexual assault and sexual violence, queer men have been largely excluded from the discussion. Violent Differences is the first book of its kind to focus specifically on queer male survivors and to devote particular attention to Black queer men. Whereas previous scholarship on male survivors has emphasized the role of masculinity, Doug Meyer shows that race and sexuality should be regarded as equally foundational as gender.

Instead of analyzing sexual assault against queer men in the abstract, this book draws attention to survivors' lived experiences. Meyer examines interview data from sixty queer men who have suffered sexual assault, highlighting their interactions with the police and their encounters with victim blaming. Violent Differences expands approaches to studying sexual assault by considering a new group of survivors and by revealing that race, gender, and sexuality all remain essential for understanding how this violence is experienced.

Back Jacket

This is the book that scholars of sexual violence have been waiting for--an incisive and devastating account of the way white supremacy, police violence, and heteropatriarchy shape how Black gay men survive sexual assault. A much-needed intervention into whitewashed #MeToo narratives.--Jane Ward, Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies, University of California, Riverside

"In giving voice to queer people's sexually assaultive experiences, broadening and deepening intersectional analyses, and emphasizing the importance of anticarceral and antiracist responses to sexual assault, this work is a tour de force. Written with admirable sensitivity and analytic aplomb, it encourages us to think about the workings of racism, heteronormativity, and victim blaming in new ways--ways that can explain more, serve as points of intervention, and support those who survive sexual assault."--Valerie Jenness, Distinguished Professor of Law and Society, University of California, Irvine

"Timely, essential, and accessible. Violent Differences centers the voices of queer men, especially queer men of color, to expand feminist understandings of sexual violence. Grounded in an intersectional analysis, this book complicates our taken-for-granted ideas about sexual assault. In doing so, Doug Meyer presents a path forward for thinking about transformative approaches in addressing this violence today."--Brandon Andrew Robinson, author of Coming Out to the Streets: LGBTQ Youth Experiencing Homelessness

"Voices of queer men, especially Black queer men, get little research attention despite high rates of sexual violence. Accounting for the intersectional experiences of survivors is vital to our understanding of assault. Attuned to multiple power structures and mainstream discourses, this book is necessary reading for inclusively reimagining harm and healing."--Heather R. Hlavka, Associate Professor, Marquette University

"The central contribution of this book is the focus on queer men, especially Black men and other men of color. The content is not just unique but represents quite a methodological feat--there is nothing quite as intersectional, nuanced, rich in detail, and in-depth as this work."--Xavier L. Guadalupe-Diaz, author of Transgressed: Intimate Partner Violence in Transgender Lives

"Violent Differences is a powerful text with an intersectional focus that thoughtfully engages with experiences of sexual assault among queer men."--Tanya Golash-Boza, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Merced

Author Biography

Doug Meyer is Assistant Professor of Women, Gender & Sexuality at the University of Virginia and author of Violence against Queer People: Race, Class, Gender, and the Persistence of Anti-LGBT Discrimination.