{"id":3050,"date":"2025-02-26T05:45:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T10:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/?p=3050"},"modified":"2025-02-26T05:45:02","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T10:45:02","slug":"book-review-know-my-name-a-memoir-by-chanel-miller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/2025\/02\/26\/book-review-know-my-name-a-memoir-by-chanel-miller\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: \u201cKnow My Name: A Memoir\u201d by Chanel Miller"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy name is Chanel. I am a victim, I<\/span> have no qualms with this world, only with the idea that it is all <\/span>that I<\/span> am.\u201d (Miller, 2019). <\/span><\/p>\n

In January 2015, Chanel Miller was sexually assaulted behind a dumpster near a fraternity on Stanford University\u2019s campus. Miller woke up in a hospital with no recollection of the event and was given little to no explanation of what had happened. It wasn\u2019t until she came across a news headline stating that a man named Brock Turner had been caught sexually assaulting an unconscious, intoxicated woman. Miller began to piece together that she was the woman in the headline and discovered the details of her own sexual assault at the same time as the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

Turner was initially charged<\/span> with five felony counts: <\/span>rape of an intoxicated person, rape of an unconscious person, sexual penetration by a foreign object of an unconscious woman, and assault with intent to commit rape (Miller, 2019). Had <\/span>he been<\/span> convicted on all counts, he would have faced a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and would have been required to register as a sex offender (Knowles, 2016). However, the five felony counts were reduced<\/span> to three and Turner was sentenced to six months in county jail, serving only three months before his release. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During the trial, Miller was publicly known as \u201cEmily Doe\u201d to protect her identity. She wrote an impact statement in the sentencing phase of the trial, which was later published on BuzzFeed (with her permission) with her name replaced as \u201cEmily Doe\u201d. The 7,000-word statement immediately went viral and was viewed by fifteen million people within the span of<\/span> a week (Liu, 2019). Miller\u2019s statement led to changes in California state law resulting in more stringent sexual assault sentences and also contributed to the recall of Judge Aaron Persky from the bench (BBC, 2019). <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWriting is the way<\/span> I process the world.\u201d (Miller, 2019, p. 315). This poignant memoir explores trauma, healing, and resilience, as Miller reflects on the culture surrounding sexual assault and how the criminal justice system treats individuals who have experienced sexual assault. “If they explained what I was consenting to, it was lost on me. Papers and papers, all different colors, light purple, yellow, tangerine. No one explained why my underwear was gone, why my hands were bleeding, why my hair was dirty, why I was dressed in funny pants, but things seemed to be moving right along, and I figured if I kept signing and nodding, I would come out of this place cleaned up and set right again.” (Miller, 2019, p. 9). Although the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) kit is one of the most effective tools for convicting a perpetrator of rape, it can also be one of the most traumatizing experiences for survivors to endure (Rousseau, 2025).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In her memoir, Miller reclaims her identity and gives silenced voices recognition, \u201cThe saddest things about these cases, beyond the crimes themselves, are the degrading things the victim begins to believe about her being. My hope is to undo these beliefs. I say <\/span>her<\/span><\/em>, but whether you are a man, transgender, gender-nonconforming, however you choose to identify and exist in this world, if your life has <\/span>been touched<\/span> by sexual violence, I seek to protect you.\u201d (Miller, 2019). I first read this memoir on November 6, 2021, and although I have only read it once, its impact will stay with me forever.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Know<\/p>\n

References:<\/p>\n

BBC. (2019). Stanford Sexual Assault: Chanel Miller reveals her identity. BBC News. https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-49583310<\/a><\/p>\n

Liu, R. (2019). Know My Name by Chanel Miller review \u2013 memoir of a sexual assault. The Guardian. https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/2019\/sep\/25\/know-my-name-by-chanel-miller-review<\/a><\/p>\n

Miller, C. (2019).\u00a0Know my name: a memoir.<\/em>\u00a0[New York], Viking.<\/p>\n

Knowles, H. (2016). Brock Turner found guilty on three felony counts. The Stanford Daily. https:\/\/stanforddaily.com\/2016\/03\/30\/brock-turner-found-guilty-on-three-felony-counts\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Rousseau, D. (2025). Module 5: Special Populations. Online Class. Boston University Metropolitan College.\u00a0https:\/\/alt-5deff46c33361.blackboard.com\/bbcswebdav\/courses\/25sprgmetcj725_o1\/course\/w5\/metcj725_ALL_W5.html?one_hash=972FE4B49A4CDD2D8DC867520B1C2BA6&f_hash=DA6451E61222D56A8F5BFA4FED95064B<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy name is Chanel. I am a victim, I have no qualms with this world, only with the idea that it is all that I am.\u201d (Miller, 2019). In January 2015, Chanel Miller was sexually assaulted behind a dumpster near a fraternity on Stanford University\u2019s campus. Miller woke up in a hospital with no recollection […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24692,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3050"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24692"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3053,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3050\/revisions\/3053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}