NCJ Number
198002
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 8 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2002 Pages: 1271-1300
Date Published
November 2002
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This article examines how stereotypes of women that continue to permeate American society foster the cultural discourses that people in power and in the general population use to talk about women and their violent behavior.
Abstract
The author first reviews the implications of the social construction of gender-related behavior that encompasses violence. Issues addressed are gender construction itself, the resulting differences between male and female aggression and why some women become violent, and additional causes and consequences of gender polarity. This discussion is followed by an overview of some of the assumptions, myths, and stereotypes about feared violent women, both historically and currently, and the attempts to explain such behavior. The latter include the "blame-it-on feminism" theory, beliefs based on popular assumptions about the violent lesbian, and increasingly popular images of the "tough girl." Throughout these discussions, the author maintains that society's stereotypical views of what a woman should be and how she should act help create the discourses that perpetuate the simplistic and dangerous stereotypes of women who behave violently. These stereotypical perspectives of women and their behavior infuse social policy and the way women are treated in the criminal justice system. The author advises that a multilayered discourse about women and violence must be developed, so as to allow women to speak for themselves in portraying the complexities and dynamics of their lives, their circumstances, and their behaviors. 11 notes and 70 references