Abstract
Chris Greenough’s book finds itself at the forefront of emerging scholarship concerning masculinities, sexual violence and the Bible. It is the first of its kind to discuss the intersection between these themes, as well as their contemporary relevance for the impact of religious thinking in wider cultural (mis)conceptions and myths surrounding sexual abuse and rape culture. With such a wide scope of relevance, this book holds importance for those working in the fields of theological and biblical studies, but also those researching in the more secular areas of masculinities and feminist studies.
Primarily, Greenough’s aim is to dispel the myths of men and sexual violence that exist in modern society through a rereading of biblical texts. These falsities include the notion that sexual violence against men must include penetration (p. 9), the assumption that male rape is an encounter that must include some sense of homosexual desire (p. 10) and that the perpetrator of such violence can only be other men, rather than a woman (pp. 9–10). Greenough is also chiefly concerned with the damaging impact of the ‘toxic trio’ (p. 25) of patriarchy, misogyny and heteronormativity in upholding hegemonic masculinity. It is the lens of hegemonic masculinity with which Greenough views these issues, for the idealisation of a ‘real man’ causes a sense of femininised inadequacy of lost manhood for those who experience sexual violence.
In order to evidence the proposition that the Bible and religious thinking has had much to do with the reification of these myths in modern society, Greenough devotes the main body of the book to looking closely at biblical texts that either exhibit or elude to sexual violence against men. For example, he discusses the common misinterpretations of familiar texts, such as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1–29), as well as uncovering stories of sexual violence against men that have been worryingly largely unnoticed, such as the unwanted sexual advances and false allegations of Potiphar’s wife towards Joseph (Genesis 39), the grooming and metaphorical penetration of Sisera by Jael (Judges 4), and the forced nudity of Jesus at his crucifixion. It is this last example where Greenough’s work reaches the climax of its poignancy. The identification of Jesus as a victim of sexual violence is entirely convincing and holds importance for Christians who can resonate with such experiences, even if there are limitations with such an approach which Greenough acknowledges (p. 69). Nevertheless, these fresh interpretations and interrogations of these scriptural passages from Greenough are urgently welcome, although they may seem controversial and unsolicited to those who wish to be blind to the fact that such pressing issues are sitting idle in scripture.
Rightly, Greenough pre-empts criticisms of anachronism in his work. To talk of hegemonic masculinity and sexual violence against biblical men could easily be understood as imposing modern terminology onto ancient literature. Would men of the ancient world have recognised that the events recorded (or devised) in the Bible were sexually violent? Greenough argues that it is actually quite fitting to talk of hegemonic masculinity and sexual violence against men in the Bible for it is as much at play in the biblical texts as it is in modern society today (p. 35). For example, there is a prowess of sexuality and masculinity when a man is voluntarily naked in the Bible, but involuntary nakedness is a shameful and vulnerable existence seen by the likes of prophets (pp. 35–39). Likewise, there was a power associated with penetration in the ancient world (p. 24) which I suspect still lingers in more implicit forms today. Greenough uses these examples as a defence of using the term hegemonic masculinity for ancient and modern cultures. As such, he rightly demonstrates that these terms of modern masculinity studies still hold great relevance for ancient biblical texts, rendering them even more poignant for religious readers of scripture today who have experienced sexual violence.
The interdisciplinary methodology employed by Greenough result in an effective ‘holistic’ (p. 3) approach to these issues, where a breadth of material including theological interpretations, social and psychological findings, and national statistics and laws are used. As such, this book is essential reading not only for all those working in the fields of biblical and theological masculinity studies, but also those committed to studying rape and sexual violence in society.
With profound theological sensitivity and insight, as well as contemporary relevance for modern social and cultural thinking, Greenough’s work should be of interest to many. He offers recognition of the infused cultural impact of religious and biblical thinking and how it has shaped our perceptions of sexual violence against men. Most importantly, however, this book becomes an invaluable resource for how we might unlearn such misconceptions for the sake of all people, including men and women.