“The survivor — or pop culture’s fantasy of her — now cuts a distinctive silhouette: She’s damaged, but never so much as to be a figure of pity or revulsion; her wound makes her interesting, even alluring”

The survivor — or pop culture’s fantasy of her — now cuts a distinctive silhouette: She’s damaged, but never so much as to be a figure of pity or revulsion; her wound makes her interesting, even alluring. Where the victim was abject, a figure of shame and isolation, the survivor is lithe and frequently well armed. She is a little scary and a little sexy, and her rage feels divinely sanctioned.

Parul Sehgal, “Hero Worship”, The New York Times Magazine (8 May 2016), 15.