While details of sexual violence are not discussed, this blog post may not be for everyone.
As an author, my mantra is to tell challenging stories and minimize harm. The major failing I see with sexual violence in many media forms is where the point of view and gaze fall. Particularly in western media, that gaze is often heterosexual masculine. That means sexual violence comes from that same perspective, and makes grotesque GoT Sansa scenes where her rape is all about the men (either perpetrator or witness). The violence is there to horrify and titillate the viewer. We should be horrified. We should never be titillated. Respect for the survivor is missing in these situations. I could break down where this failing is in a lot of media, but I don’t think that is the most important conversation to have. I think the more important questions are: 1) should sexual violence be included in stories for shock value, and 2) how can sexual violence be written.
To point 1, let’s define what shock value is. Shock value is the inclusion of something to surprise and upset people. When it comes to story crafting, that means the primary purpose of the shock value event is to be shocking in and of itself (I’m sure you’re all shocked by this revelation). It’s not something where the primary purpose is to serve the story. So shocking events and events that are included for shock value are two different things. With that defined, my answer to “Should sexual violence be included in stories for shock value?” is an unequivocal no.
Violence that causes long term harm, physical and psychological, shouldn’t be placed within a story for shock value. Shock value is an intrinsically short-term effect (ex: a jump scare), and when we see violence added just for shock value it becomes something shrugged off with little character change or long-term story impact. That is extraordinarily unrealistic, and undermines the argument that sexual violence needs to be included for realism…
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“Write with intention. Write moments and scenes that serve your characters and your stories. Shock value is the realm of the self-indulgent ego. You can write better than that.”