‘So they hit each other’: Gendered constructions of domestic abuse in the YouTube commentary of the Depp v Heard Trial

Reidy, Kerry and Abbott, Keeley and Parker, Sam (2023) ‘So they hit each other’: Gendered constructions of domestic abuse in the YouTube commentary of the Depp v Heard Trial. Critical Discourse Studies. ISSN 1740-5904

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Abstract

This study presents a critical discourse analysis of YouTube comments below five videos of the Johnny Depp v Amber Heard trial, which was live streamed by the platform in April and May 2022. The analysis examines the discursive resources used by commenters to construct domestic abuse. Commenters draw on three interpretive repertoires: ‘Perfect Victim’, ‘Mutual Abuse’ and ‘Dangerous Women’. The analysis explores the way these repertoires are used to rebut Heard’s allegations of abuse by mobilising the perfect victim repertoire to refute any claim she has to this experience, and the mutual abuse repertoire to implicate Heard in the abuse and minimise blame for Depp. Through establishing gender-symmetry in domestic abuse and drawing on traditional gender norms for each party, commenters construct the dangerous women repertoire to depict Heard as crazy, pathological and violent. The key implication of this study is that public constructions of domestic abuse can directly impact the attitudes and treatment of both victims and perpetrators. In this instance, they serve to maintain the oppression and control of women within anti-feminist narratives of female dominance, currently led by men’s rights activists and conservative outlets.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.1080/17405904.2023.2291130
Dates:	Date Event 30 November 2023 Accepted 12 December 2023 Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Gender, domestic abuse, Heard, Depp, Discursive Psychology
Subjects:	CAH04 - psychology > CAH04-01 - psychology > CAH04-01-02 - applied psychology
Divisions:	Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences > College of Psychology
Depositing User:	Keeley (staff) Abbott
Date Deposited:	19 Dec 2023 09:37
Last Modified:	11 Jun 2024 13:02
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/15061

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