Is a victim who fights back still a victim?

Abstract

This article aims to analyze and problematize the construction of "Higui's' figure based on the treatment of her case in some portals of the Argentinean hegemonic digital press in June 2017. The corpus we will work with consists of two articles, one from Página/12 and another from Infobae, published after Higui's release from prison. We consider that Higui's case, as a woman who defended herself and killed one of her attackers, breaks with the prototypical representation of a rape victim. We intend to analyze the representation of Higui in the media, focusing on her prominent features, sexual orientation, and the lexico-grammatical processes in which she participates. In addition, the Critical and Feminist Discourse Analysis approach is used to examine issues of ideology and gender power in the construction of Higui as a participant.