Asking for It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture--and What We Can Do about It [Paperback]

In the era of #metoo, a clear-eyed, sharp look at rape culture, sexual assault, harassment and violence against women--and what we can do about it.

A timely and brilliant book. (Jessica Valenti)

Every seven minutes, someone in America commits a rape. And whether that's a football star, beloved celebrity, elected official, member of the clergy, or just an average Joe (or Joanna), there's probably a community eager to make excuses for that person.

InAsking for It, Kate Harding combines in-depth research with a frank, no-holds-barred voice to make the case that twenty-first-century America supports rapists more effectively than it supports victims. From institutional failures in higher education to real-world examples of rape culture, Harding offers ideas and suggestions for how we, as a society, can take sexual violence much more seriously without compromising the rights of the accused.
Kate Hardingis the coeditor ofNasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America, coauthor ofLessons from the Fat-o-Sphereand a contributor toThe Book of Jezebel. The cohost of the Feminasty podcast, she lives in Florida.
AV Club, 8/19/15
It's less depressing than it might sound, in part because of Harding's funny and occasionally sarcastic style, and for something so full of facts and figures, it's a pretty enthralling read. This book probably isn't going to get through the thick skulls of true rape apologists, but it is a good read if you keep hearing the term “rape culture” and don't really know what it means, or if you're enraged by the media that calls Patrick Kane a 'target' of a rape investigation instead of a 'subject' of one.

Bitch Magazine, 9/2/15
“Asking For Itoffers a smart, concise, and surprisingly funny contribution to the dialogue on patriarchy, misogyny, and rape.”

Library Journal