“I Never Told My Story”: An Analysis of Stalking in Women’s Memoirs

Abstract

Abstract One in six women and one in 19 men in the USA experience stalking. The vast majority of stalkers are men. Popular culture and media coverage tend to offer a distorted image of stalking or ignore it completely. Women who have survived a stalker are often victim-blamed and made to feel shame. In this context of doubting women, this article analyzes three women’s memoirs—Kate Brennan’s In His Sights (2008), Jane Jeong Trenka’s The Language of Blood (2003), and Belle Yang’s Forget Sorrow (2010)—that create awareness about stalking. My discussion suggests that women skillfully use memoir’s flexibility to portray the intersections of various forms of oppression that nourish stalking; their testimonies craft community among survivors, provide advice about how to negotiate a legal system that ignores women’s experiences, and promote empathy.