Every Breath You Take: Stalking Narratives and the Law [Hardcover]

Orit Kamir (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2001

Every Breath You Take traces the evolution of notions of stalking and stalkers from ancient mythology through medieval folklore and nineteenth-century literature to contemporary film and social science. Critically analyzing stories of stalking within a wide range of historical and cultural discourses, the book suggests that such stories serve social functions, enforcing traditional gender roles within the patriarchal social order. It reveals how stories of stalking have facilitated moral panics that have fueled the persecution of "stalkers" as social deviants. It argues that a contemporary "stalking moral panic" led to America's anti-stalking laws, laws that actually address mythological images and stereotypes and are therefore inadequate in their treatment of the actual social phenomenon of stalking. It concludes by suggesting an alternative legal treatment of stalking, one that relies on an informed, critical reading of both moral panics and culture.

The study shows how Lilith--Jewish mythology's Queen of Demons--as Western culture's archetypal female stalker, eventually inspired the construction of the images of the medieval witch and nineteenth-century prostitute. Similarly, the vampire--our culture's archetypal male stalker--can be seen in Frankenstein's creature, in Mr. Hyde, and in Dracula, as well as in more contemporary images of male stalkers (such as Robert DeNiro's taxi driver and Halloween's Michael). Orit Kamir posits that in the twentieth century, film was the major force in developing images of male and female stalkers, leading to a moral panic that resulted in the 1980s anti-stalking laws. Careful reading of these laws reveals that they address cultural images of archetypal stalkers rather than the actual social phenomenon of stalking, which involves ordinary men and women, not mythological monsters.

The book is unusual in its combination of cultural studies with a sociological perspective and legal analysis. It argues that legal analysis can be greatly informed by close, critical textual reading of both relevant stories and social phenomena. It will be of keen interest to those in critical legal studies as well as scholars in film, literature, and folklore.

Orit Kamir is Professor of Law, Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This combination of profound, broad-based, original, cliche-free analysis and a real gift for [storytelling] is an achievement worth noting." -- Zvi Triger, Haaretz (Israel)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press (February 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0472110896
• ISBN-13: 978-0472110896
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,338,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maintenance of Cultural Myths: The Case of Stalking, November 21, 2001

By 

Cam Gleadow (Ottawa, Ontario) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Every Breath You Take: Stalking Narratives and the Law (Hardcover)

Book Review

Maintenance of Cultural Myths: The Case of Stalking
Every Breath You Take: Stalking Narratives and the Law. Orit Kamir, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2000.

I believe in vampires. There is no empirical data which I can use to prove their existence, but proof is unnecessary: what is important is that I believe. But how is it that an otherwise rational person harbors such a superstition? Those who snicker may ask why they are afraid of the dark, or sense icy digits brushing their necks when alone. Orit Kamir in Every Breath You Take, points to collective culture as the villain in such manifestations of the unconscious. Her subject is those who stalk, in a work which "... does not aim to define human categories or defeciences, but merely to better understand the social phenomenon as it is conceived"(2).
What is fascinating is the method she adopts to expose the phenomenon of stalking. Drawing from Sumerian and Hebrew myth, nineteenth-century English literature, and a century of film, Kamir works in a linear fashion and effectively demonstrates the cyclical and repetitive nature of the themes and motifs of stalking. She concludes, in a somewhat hasty manner, with a critique of the current California anti-stalking law, maintaining that what has occurred is a fusion of image with law.
Collective culture, states Kamir, creates and sustains the myths and dreams which, "like ghosts ... haunt our lives and alter our behaviour"(3). And although social behaviour is malleable, those shifting winds are drawn into a vortex by periods of moral panic: a public pre-occupation with a social phenomenon that is irrationally perceived as extremely threatening. These periods are unstable and impulsive, and prone to misconceptions, so that today "[by] addressing mythological images rather than social reality, the legislature did not adequately conceptualize the prohibited behaviour, and the `panicky' drafting rendered an imperfect law"(175). This is Kamir's conclusion, and the answer to her unstated question: how do our cultural constructs work upon us? What she reveals is the considerable gap between a fear of stalking constructed in the media and the reality of stalking such that the modern legal response is lacking in many respects.
With the fear of stalking comes the elements of social control derived from myth to validate oppression. So when Kamir discusses female then male stalking, there are striking contrasts. Kamir's central female subject is Lilit - counterpoint to Eve - who "subverts patriarchal sexual norms"(41) is feared and hated, yet secretly desired as she is both sexually independent and dangerous. By characterizing female stalking as dangerous, Lilit's independence, like the "witches" of Europe, is a rallying point, "which society and patriarchy could, and can, bank on when necessary to establish solidarity among men"(42). Apparently, what frustrates and elicits this reaction is the fact that Lilit never lets men control and objectify her - the hallmarks of male stalking.
Kamir asserts that male stalking is nourished to service the social order while female stalking is used both in dangerous times of social instability. In this light, male stalking or the unseen eye (appropriated from Lilit) is operating at all times and therefore in constant need of justification. Accordingly, most stalking narratives are structured by a patriarchal framework: first there is the strond, sexually initiating women who stalks a man (both Lilit and Alex in Fatal Attraction); second, a "Jack the Ripper" type serial killer who stalks a sexual, evil women whose moral vacancy invites punishment; and third, a monstrous male (Frankenstein, Dracula) stalks a weak, domestic Eve who is saved only if she is revealed to be a Virgin Mary type character. Themes in hand, men can remain wary of Lilit, destroying her mortal counterparts for moral failings, or reward chastity by driving of the beast. Yet though our cultural discourse is replete with these themes, in general, they have very little bearing on the type of stalking that occurs today.
Perhaps that is an inaccurate statement. When Kamir outlines the shortcomings of the current legislation in California, the prejudices mentioned above are readily apparent. To begin, there is the requirement that a threat be made against the complainant intended to place the target in "reasonable" fear of death or great bodily harm. This definition does not capture the type of stalking practiced by Ted Bundy or Allan Dershowitz who did not threaten, merely watched, or chose their victims without announcing their presence. Further, the adoption of an objective standard (the mythical "reasonable person") leads Kamir to state that once the prohibited behaviour is exhibited, "the victim's subjective feelings should make no difference and there seems to be no rational need to inspect them"(188). Presumably women can not sense danger in repeated, persistent attempts by men to invade their personal space; or may not realize that this behaviour may be permissible as part of the biological imperative. To solidify her criticism, and as a wonderful device to unite the work, Kamir quotes Nancy Ehreneich's determination that the "reasonable person" is a device for "importing a pre-existing societal consensus into the law"(191). Confusion and duplication in the current legal response to stalking thus reflects deeply imbedded cultural myths that women should be vulnerable to the male gaze, and should anticipate their fates as the logical conclusion of their promiscuous and non-male sanctioned behaviour.
Dislodging the dictates of the unconscious can not occur without an understanding how those images were formed - layer upon layer of myth and speculation - an Kamir is convincing in her treatment of stalking while pointing out that a critical analysis free from moral panic is crucial. But it will be an uphill battle, and while my crucifix reposes at home, I do occasionally carry garlic.

Cameron Gleadow