The research combined quantitative and qualitative approaches to study media presentation of rape/sexual assault and media construction of both women and the feminist movement. Feminist criticism of the media's overconcentration on sexual aggression by psychopathic strangers might have prompted a shift toward more coverage of so-called acquaintance rape. However, this has led to the portrayal of rape as an ambiguous interaction that has more to do with sex than violence. By departing from the pure rape scheme that matches the ideal subject/object relation, the reporting on acquaintance sexual assault treats the complainant as a partner rather than a victim. In sexual assault stories, this peculiar construction of women as subjects can only be achieved through their vilification and the denial of an historical social context in which the perilous interaction takes place. Tables, figure, notes, references, appendix