Classic guide to data, NOT a personal guide to recovery
February 27, 2010
This book will be perfectly suited to readers seeking a particular resource--namely, data pertaining to rape rates, reporting, and historic sociological/legal research--but would not be the book of choice for someone looking for a resource for personal guidance through rape recovery. As long as this distinction is clear, readers will be pleased to find an academic text, and not a self-help guide, workbook, or recovery support. This book remains a classic, although readers should be aware that this is a current edition of a book that explores the implications of studies from a couple of decades ago. The relevance, then, is that it reveals how epidemic rape has been for a long time, not that it offers cutting-edge recent academic data.
I never called it rape
May 17, 2009
There is another review in here that says it really well and I don't feel a need to repeat the same story as the girl who never identified it until 4 years later. I can relate with her story and I found the same things when I read this book. This book was really helpful for me in that it made me feel more normal because it explained many of the feelings I was having and how many women responded in a similar fashion. This book is a great read for anyone who has been a victim of acquaintance or date rape.
"I Never Called It Rape"
March 29, 2009
Having been raped myself; this book was essential in my recovery. Since I was raped by a now-ex-boyfriend in my teenage years, I didn't see what happened to me as rape until 4 years after the fact. I think that one of the girls in the book in the teenage chapter described my situation the best when she said, "I never told anyone I was raped. I would not have thought that was what it was. It was unwilling sex. I just didn't want to and he did. Today, I know that it was rape" on p. 120. I felt violated and as if I had been raped after it happened to me, but I didn't realize that that was actually what had happened.
Since I had read several other stories like this and reading statistics throughout this book, it really helped reassure me that I was not alone. I had not faced my experience or called it by its name until recently, and when I read this book, I felt as if I was really conversing with these women. In fact, I might even go as far to say that this book is responsible for my recovery. This book helped me more than any therapist or friends ever could. These women "got" it.
A few months ago, I was finally able to grieve for what I had lost. Having been a virgin when it happened to me, I walked into a local crisis center and later fell into a depression that got worse by the day. Later, I was recommended this book.
Reading the chapter about "Why Women are Safe Victims" really helped me to understand the feelings I was having about the incident, and what had actually happened.
This book is well written and the author seems to be driven to write it based on the fact that she too had been raped by someone she knew. I think that one thing that makes this book unique is that it is written by someone who has experienced similar feelings as the other women in this book, as opposed to a counselor who thinks that they understand just because they read something about rape in a textbook somewhere.
Reading this helped me to understand that my experience was not one-of-a-kind. It was similar to many other date rapes in numerous respects. Other women married their attackers to make their experience "seem okay", I knew my attacker, and it happened in an isolated room.
This book has the ability to help rape victims realize that others can believe them. Because of how informative it is, it is used by sexuality and rape classes in campuses across the United States. It has a chart in it about the myths vrs. realities about rape, which can help people better understand what rape is and get rid of what society has to say about it.
The best part is chapter 14 in which it outlines what to do if you are raped by someone you know. I wish that I had known what I know now about date rape and had had a copy of this chapter with me. However it will help me if I ever help a friend who has been through a similar situation.
I Never Called It Rape
September 15, 2008
The book came in no time. Got a really reasonable price for the book but shipping was alittle pricey. overall very satisfied with the book
Terrific book but time for a new edition
(2 of 2 Found this Helpful)
October 28, 2007
I Never Called it Rape is a classic book integrating research and womens survivor stories that really helps women to understand about how rape occurs, what it really means, and how to go about recovering for it. Based on the most comprensive study about rape to date, done in the 1980s, Warshaw weaves in the stories of survivors in a poetic an poignant way throught this masterpiece. My only criticism is that the statistics are now 20 years old and it is clearly time for a new edition, or similar book like it, to be written.
