Good Girls Bad Girls: the Paradox of Femininity

SOCI0067: Crime and the Media Lecture 7Dr. L. Cho, PhDE-mail: Lifcho@gmail.com

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

Crime News a Staple Feature of News Media

Media scholars show high levels of interest in crime coverage

Studied crime from various angles

Studying gender of victims and criminals is often a secondary interest

Why Study Gender in Crime News

Systematically observe gender politics

Demonstrate power relations of various members of society

“Who gets away with what against whom”

Why Study Gender in Crime News

Crime coverage studied within patriarchal context in which it is produced and consumed

Where some images of crime and gender are selected over others Source: http://www.abc3340.com/news/stories/0209/593425.html

Media Portrayal of Women Compared to Men

Best to look at gender in relation to each other

Can understand one better when looking at the other

Women Over Represented as Victims of Crime

Women featured in news coverage of crime are typically over represented as victims of crime

Studies show that TV news and newspapers over-represent male criminality and victimization of women

Women in Crime News Mostly Appear as Victims Most studies concentrate on

portrayal of their victimization

Media construction: Male are aggressive, female are passive

Victimized women don’t pose a threat to patriarchal ideology

Reinforces hegemonic discourses of gender

HK Crime Stats

Over 90% of offenders identified were male

About 70% of victims were male

Source: Broadhurst (1999) as presented in http://www.crime.hku.hk/rb-homicide.htm

Sex of Offender and Victim

NEWS REPORTS

55.1% Female victim

47.3% Male victim

POLICE STATS

38.6% Female victim

61.4% Male victim

Source: Naylor, B. (2001). Reporting violence in the British print media: Gendered stories. The Howard Journal, 40/2. 180-194.

Construction of Female Victims

Their difference/ otherness takes centre stage

Contradiction: women likely to be blamed because they are victims and likely to be blamed because they are perpetrator

Women Bear Responsibility for the Act of Others

Blamed when child does wrong

Blamed for being too protective

Blamed for not paying enough attention

Blamed for being a bad example

Women Portrayed as Victims of Rape Crime

Media portrayal: characteristics

Cast women as being responsible for her own victimization

Consistent with broader social response

Jodie Foster playsSara Tobias who wasRaped by 3 men While male spectators Stood by and cheered

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo3XcNgYbTs

Classic Example of Rape Crime Coverage

Portrayal of Women Women provoked their

own rape Wearing sexy clothes Putting themselves at risk Went bar hopping and

other dangerous places

Portrayal of Men Men portrayed not as

average guy Portrayed as someone

mentally deranged or a monster, often a stranger

Thelma and Louise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRr0HY9MPZ0

Stranger Danger Myth

Research shows 1/3 sexual assaults in U.S. involves a stranger

2/3 involves someone they know

Homicide Registry in HK (1989 to 1997)

In Hong Kong over 1/3 homicide involve stranger

Nearly ½ involve someone they know

Source: Broadhurst (1999) as presented in http://www.crime.hku.hk/rb-homicide.htm

Rape Portrayed as Sexual Event Violence and coercion

typically minimized or ignored

Victim’s account usually not present, except that she misunderstood his friendliness

Offender portrayed as having misunderstood victim’s behaviour

Stereotypes of Women

Three basic types:

1. Hysterical

2. Promiscuous

3. Manipulative

Source: http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,595087821,00.html?pg=3

Acquittal Gets Headlines

Studies show: Acquittal of rape

charge attracts headlines

Conviction is buried in the paper

Unless, offender fits “stranger danger” stereotype

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-26-bachelor-acquitted_N.htm

News Report Language

Example 1:

In the U.S. a man rapes a woman every 6 minutes

How do these statements influence your perception of crime?

Example 2:

In the U.S., a woman is raped by a man every 6 minutes

Passive Voice

Example 2: In the U.S., a woman is raped by a man every 6 minutes

Tendency for men (but not women) to attribute less harm to the victim and less responsibility to the perpetrator of violence against a woman

Passive voice more often used in stories about violence against woman

“Right Sort” of Female Victim Victims who lend

themselves to construction of innocent and vulnerability (e.g. Susan Smith, middle-class, white, mother of two)

Marginal groups (low income, racial minorities) are difficult to be portrayed as blameless or pure

Receive less coverage and less sympathy

“Right Sort” of Female Offender Offenders more easily

constructed as “marginal” More news worthy Women who commit serious

offense is rare Rarity is important news

value Women even more

newsworthy when marginalized by reference to their sexuality

HK “The Milkshake Murder”: Nancy Kissel

Woman Who Commit Violent Crimes

Portrayed as one or another extreme of our cultural understanding of femininity

Violent women are rare

Therefore, more fascinating and evil

They are the “other”

HK Women in Crime Stats

Women generally do not commit crime

More rare involve in violent crime like killing strangers or serial murders

In 2002, 13% of all violent crimes allegedly committed by women (arrest data)

2007 HK Murder Offenders: Female 4 (16%) / Male 21(84%)

Source: http://www.police.gov.hk/review/2005/pdf/appendix_7.pdf

Sex of Offenders

NEWS REPORTS

72.9% male offender

21.3% female offender

POLICE STATS

Homicide

88.8% Male Offender

11.2% Female Offenders

Guilty or cautioned for indictable offences of violence

85.5% Male offender

14.5% Female offenders

Source: Naylor (2001)

Media Portrayal of Female Offenders

Sexually promiscuous (vamp)

Sexually inexperienced (virgin)

Different Standards Applied

Young Boys Normal delinquency

Young Girls Amoral and wayward Offense is over

dramatized Non-criminal behaviour

such as perceived sexual misconduct more likely to result in punishment for a girl

News Media Portrayals of Physical Attractiveness of Offenders

Male Few details

Female Featured in high profile

cases Unnatural, large, stocky,

heavy built, Demure, pretty, attractive

Source: Content analysis of UK media (news & film) from 1945 to 1990 (Reiner 1997)

News Media Portrayal: Domestic Violence Case

Male Rarely a moral implication Evaluated in relation to

how well he fits into conventional masculine role

Motivate related to jealousy, depression, her “nagging” personality

Female Bad wife Not conforming to

traditional feminine notions

Kills husband because of his abusiveness

Portrayed as having provoked his abusiveness

Source: Content analysis of UK media (news & film) from 1945 to 1990 (Reiner 1997)

News Media Portrayal: Child Abuse Cases

Male Rarely portrayed as “bad

dad” Even when men abuse

children, mother is blamed for not taking control

Research shows she too is a victim of abuse

Female Likely portrayed as “bad

mom” Violation of conventional

gender role as caregiver Considered a “monster”

in cases involving death of child

Source: Content analysis of UK media (news & film) from 1945 to 1990 (Reiner 1997)

News Media Portrayal:Child Abuse Cases

Male Criminals Men’s violence explained away

as: Depressed by unemployment Work stress Challenge to honor Mediated by alcohol Moral implications are often

omitted We are not exceptionally

shocked by male aggression or question masculinity

Female Criminals More in need of “explanation” Radically challenge traditional

conceptions of women Portrayed as bad, mad, wicked

or weak Cast outside of realm of

normalcy

Female Violent Criminal

Not conforming to traditional feminine notions

Violation of conventional gender role as caregiver

Radically challenge traditional conceptions of women

News Media Portrayal:Child Abuse Cases

Male Criminals Men’s violence explained away

as: Depressed by unemployment Work stress Challenge to honor Mediated by alcohol Moral implications are often

omitted We are not exceptionally

shocked by male aggression or question masculinity

Female Criminals More in need of “explanation” Radically challenge traditional

conceptions of women Portrayed as bad, mad, wicked

or weak Cast outside of realm of

normalcy

Female Violent Offenders

Rare, unnatural, ‘doubly deviant’

Not only broken law but transgressed norms of acceptable feminine behaviour

Rarity encourages sensational reporting

Dominant Discourse: “Bad” or “Mad”

Madness Discourse Women at mercy of hormones

or biology (PMS) Victims of tragedy or trauma

Badness Discourse Evil creature Anti-thesis to ‘normal women’

“Bad”: Susan Smith October 25, 1994 reported to police

she was carjacked by a black man who drove away with her sons still in the car.

Later, Smith confessed to letting her car roll into nearby lake drowning her children inside.

Many people across the US and around the world felt deeply betrayed

Aggravated by the fact that she had attempted to falsely blame a black man, making the case racially sensitive.

Her alleged motive for the murders was to have a relationship with a wealthy local man

“Bad”: Susan Smith

Portrayed by the media as “selfish” woman

Social factors (e.g. sexual abuse) were down played

She committed a crime that threaten patriarchal ideology that mothers should be caregivers

“Mad”: Sanna Sillanpaa

Late Feb 1999 in Finland

Sillanpaa attacked a shooting club in a suburb of Helsinki, Finland

Killed 3 men and injured a 4th man

“Mad”: Sanna Sillanpaa Sanna refused to talk (to

both police and in court) Police and press interviewed

relatives who has known her Media constructs her as sick

rather than evil October 2000 established

she was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia

Female Criminality in the Media Few studies on media’s

construction of female criminality

Question: Do female criminals who violate gender norms and challenge patriarchy receive the same media treatment as their male counter parts?

Methodology

Six months study (Nov 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002)

The Herald Times (Indiana)

2,281 crime stories 179 editions

Source: Grabe, M. E., Trager, K. , Lear, M. and Rauch, J. , (2004)

Gender in Crime News: a case study test of the chivalry hypothesis

Chivalry Hypothesis:

Female criminals received more lenient treatment in criminal justice system and in news coverage of their crimes than their male counter part

Chivalry Hypothesis

Asserts: Because women are viewed as weak and irrational, law enforcers and criminal justice system treat them more leniently

Some studies offer partial support for the chivalry hypothesis

Others challenged the idea

Some pointed out chivalry is not equally bestowed on all female criminals

Chivalry Hypothesis Depends on type of offense

rather than severity of offense

Female criminals treated more severity than male criminals if commit unfeminine acts (e.g. violent behaviour, victimize children)

Compared to illegal activity that conform to standards of womanhood (e.g. stealing food to feed the family)

Petty crime committed are often overlooked

Violent women are punished and publically demonized as a cautionary tale to women about risks associated with strategies of male violence

This reinforces stereotypical female sex roles that perpetuate patriarchy

Media Treatment of Female Criminals

Follow the same pattern

Type of crime women committed significantly affect how they were treated in the news

Findings: Women who commit

violent crimes received prominent journalistic treatment in the Herald Times than women who committed non-violent crimes

More days of coverage, headlines longer, font size of headlines

9 times more likely to appear on front page news of newspapers

Women Committed Crime Against Children

Received harsher treatment in the media than women who committed violent and non-violent crime (prominent coverage)

Harsher Treatment More likely as

framed as self-interested criminals

28% of violent crimes journalistically framed as individual-level impetus (greed, revenge, substance abuse, psychologically instability)

5.9% non-violent crimes in this frame

Women Commit Violent Crime Treated More Harshly By Media

Women who commit violent crimes and crimes against children will receive harsher media treatment (prominent coverage, behaviour framed as result of individual flaws than male counterpart

Crimes Against Children

Women who commit crimes against children (51%) more likely to be explained as having a cause than crimes against adult victims (20.9%)

Particularly because it violated gender expectations

Gender Stereotyping

Male Criminal Less likely to be framed

as acting in self-interest (15.7%)

Violent behaviour more often received societal-level explanation (2.1%)

77.8% of stories did not offer reason for violent act

Female Criminal More prominent coverage Almost twice as likely as

men to be framed as acting in self-interest (25%)

Violent behaviour less often received societal level explanation (1.1%)

64.5% of stories did not explain reason for violent crime

Crimes Against Children

Male Perpetrator 4.3% of stories appear on

front page 1.9% lead story 14.9% of stories have

photo accompanying story

16.1% framed as individually motivated rather than societal factors

Female Perpetrator 7.2% of stories appear on

front page 3.6% lead story 21.8% of stories have

photo accompanying story

41.8% framed as individually motivated rather than societal factors

Bonnie and Clyde Effect Stories of men and

women collaborating in crime received more sensational coverage

Sensational: Appear in the main section, on front page, lead story, accompany with photo, larger font size, more words in headline, more days of coverage, more graphic description of crime

In Sum:Public Interest and Profit Despite serving the public

interest, news media are business ventures

Goal: Maximize profit! Public’s “right to know” is often

weighed against some newspaper’s habitual publication of ‘soft’ porn dressed up as ‘news’

Example: Edison Chan nude photo incident

Source: Berrington, E. and P. Honkatukia. (2002). An Evil Monster and a Poor Thing: Female Violence in the Media. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention. 3:50-72.

Media Construction of Gender Journalist work within norms

and conventions of industry and society

Conformity to certain ideological pressure is expected and at times required

Produce stories with established frames and templates

Patriarchal cultural constructions of gender continues to underpin press accounts

Routinization

Journalism is largely formulaic, routinized, and standardized

Their work is often guided by precedent

Personal values and social background of reporters may have some influence

Forensic Journalism

Describes a routinized style of crime reporting

Focus on details of individual crimes

Focus on situational dynamics within which the crime takes place

Tells readers about more and more about less and less

Sharper the focus More Details Less we learn about

larger issues and patterns

Source: Websdale, N. and A. Alvarez. (1998). Forensic Journalism as Patriarchal Ideology: The Newspaper Construction of Homicide-Suicide. In Popular Culture, Crime and Justice, (Eds.) F. Bailey and D. Hale. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Pp. 123-141.

Forensic Journalism

Not referring to reporting of crime or criminologically oriented stories

Term refers to style of newspaper reporting that focus on the minutiae of the crime scene rather than social context the crime is embedded

Stylistic coveergae of violent crime that relies on “objectively” describing situational details of crime scene

Just like the “irrefutable” logic and meticulousness of forensic science

“Objective” reporting of the facts imparts a sense of credibility to crime reporting

Forensic Journalism

Account for factual aspects of the crime

Age Sex Race of offender

and victim Relationship

between the parties

Explain violence t the level of individual participants

Reporters select materials from police source

Three Interrelated Characteristics of Forensic Journalism

1. Situational based explanation

Irrefutable facts Facts readers can

identify Age, sex, relationship

type, weapons used No social structural

context

2. Situationally based dramaturgical representation

Horrific final moments described in detail

Dramatic imagery Blood, gore (e.g. shot

in the face with 12-gauge shot gun, stabbed in the neck 10 times)

Hyper-fascination with weapons used

“Tainting” offenders (as opposed to demonizing them)

Constrained sensationalism

Gory details focuses readers on individual responsibility as oppose to discuss structural/social causes

3. Internal Myopia

Disregard for patterns of reporting previously

Thus disregarding structural explanations (e.g. ignoring systematic violence against women, history of domestic violence)

Findings

Significant difference in portrayal of female perpetrator and male perpetrator

Homicide suicide reports reenforce patriarchal ideology

Patriarchal ideology: a system of beliefs and ideas that justify or legitimate the power of men over women

Expresses this relationship as natural and inevitable

Recommendations

News coverage should include more social structure context

Address systematic violence against women

History of domestic violence and women abuse