From invisible to incorrigible: The demonization of marginalized women and girls

Abstract

Two disturbing recent trends in the media and popular constructions of girls, women, and aggression are analyzed in this article: the media attention to ‘aggression’ and ‘violence’ of girls with the subsequent tendency to arrest and incarcerate girls, particularly those of color, and the depiction of lesbians as criminals, particularly as violent predators. Both of these trends are related to gender stereotypes about femininity and masculinity, and the increased power and visibility of women in contemporary society. Also interrogated in both these discussions is the complicity of some academics with the ‘masculinization’ of certain girls and women, thereby lending a certain legitimacy to their punishment, incarceration, and execution. The latter factor has resulted in significant backlash against women, as witnessed by the explosion in arrest rates and incarceration of girls and women in spite of decreases in violent crime. Women, particularly marginalized women, continue to be harshly judged for any departure from traditional feminine ideals.

Pequeñas conquistas en la adversidad: posibilidades de agencia de mujeres que usan la violencia en Buenos Aires y trabajadoras sexuales en la frontera sur de México

“…La revisión de literatura sobre violencia (y delitos) cometida por mujeres muestra que ésta puede presentarse en distintos contextos y clases sociales (véase Batchelor, 2005;Campbell, 1999; Chesney-Lind y Eliason, 2006;Wesely, 2006). Los barrios populares no son un lugar exclusivo de su manifestación y se les reconoce como lugares donde no sólo se presentan la violencia, sino también la criminalidad, la pobreza, ruptura de lazos sociales, fragmentación, abandono institucional, e incluso, abuso policial (Puex, 2003).…”

Cultural Perspectives on Youth Justice

“…the 'baby-faced butcher' of Central Park) were eff ectively contrasted with hegemonic gender expectations to present girls as violent marauders (Evans 1999 ;Ryder 2013 ). Racialised images of violent girls merged with stories of battles over drug turf wars to construct an urban (Black) female 'gangsta' (Boulahanis and Heltsley 2004 ;Chesney-Lind and Eliason 2006 ). Th e fervour surrounding 'girls gone wild' gradually subsided as the juvenile arrest rate reached its peak in 1996 and then decreased substantially (for both males and females), but not before a number of consequential punitive strategies were enacted.…”

When Beauty Brings Out the Beast: Female Comparisons and the Feminine Rivalry

“…Emphasis on women's undermining nature is exemplified through popular cultural representations of women as ''catty'' or having a ''mean girl nature'' [11]. In everyday lexicon, one may hear of how men will put other men before women, but that such a 'code' does not exist amongst women [28].…”