GIRLS PLAY DEAD

Trying to understand trauma.

With an immense capacity for empathy and nuance, journalist and author Percy (Demon Camp, 2014) examines the challenging subjects of rape and sexual assault. It’s only now, as accounts of women’s experiences of sexual harm are beginning to be told—if still not always believed—that the field of analysis can begin to be explored with any great depth. Stories of rapes and assaults have long been out there, as Percy shows, from Ovid to The Exorcist. Today, though, sexual violence is analyzed collectively and understood as a pattern. Percy deserves kudos for not shying away from even the most complex and controversial subjects, including the ways in which cut-and-dried prosecution and policing are in disharmony with the often confusing reactions that a person might have during an assault. “A lawyer had once told me that a majority of sexual assaults are not initiated by an attacker forcing somebody to acquiesce,” she writes. “And she wondered, how are they able to do it? Why aren’t we getting up and walking out? This was another question that troubled me. A question that contained my own passivity or, at least, accusations of passivity.” In compelling, strong writing, Percy demands that we look at assault as a complex, multifaceted issue, one that stems from women’s patriarchal conditioning—“we sometimes learn that pleasing is the best way to react.” If the book falters, it might be in trying to be so comprehensive. A survey approach at times denies a degree of depth to subjects or creates disjointed elements. Nonetheless, Percy has done an excellent job of discussing an essential topic with understanding and sensitivity. The openness and willingness to consider the most difficult aspects of an already difficult subject are remarkable, as are the research and the understanding needed to tell these critical stories.

A compassionate exploration of the history of assault against women.