Abstract
With the emergence of the Me Too Movement, sexual assault survivor stories among female celebrities and women in the general public have gained increased mainstream media attention. However, despite the fact that men are also sexually assaulted at high rates, their stories are often silenced and rarely make it into media headlines. This oversight is largely due to male “victimhood” commonly being stigmatized because of cultural misperceptions about men who are sexually assaulted. In order to increase public awareness about the crime of sexual assault and to challenge misunderstandings about male victims/survivors, advocacy organizations and campaigns have made, and distributed via mass media, informational content such as public service announcements. Using Goffman’s (1963) Stigma Theory, this thesis seeks to explore how men who are sexual-assault survivors are portrayed in media campaign materials, which have the ability to impact public attitudes, beliefs, and awareness of this often hidden social problem. A content analysis was conducted on four of the most nationally recognized sexual assault campaign websites that deliver public service announcements and disseminate information to the general public about sexual assault. Within these websites, 31 survivor-story narratives were examined to understand how surviving men are portrayed. I coded for variables such as the race of the survivor, gender of the perpetrator, and social setting of where the sexual misconduct occurred. I found that while the websites aim to portray a positive image of survivors, the websites often lack inclusivity and range of diversity among the highlighted survivors. In addition, the websites offer few resources for men as compared to women. Further, I discovered that some media content is likely, albeit unintentionally, to perpetuate rape myths, stereotypes, and cultural misperceptions about men who experience sexual violence. The impact of media portrayals can and does limit the resources available to men who seek help after a sexually violent incident, possibly due to circulating stereotypes about the issue. Ultimately, a generalized lack of understanding of the social problem of male sexual assault may lead to deficient funding for necessary services, which I contend means that advocacy organizations and campaigns can improve their efforts to portray and help all sexual assault survivors.