From Patriarchy to Gender: Feminist Theory, Criminology and the Challenge of Diversity (From International Feminist Perspectives in Criminology: Engendering a Discipline, P 167-188, 1995, Nicole H Rafter and Frances Heidensohn, eds. -- See NCJ- 158792)

• NCJ Number: 158801
• Author(s): J W Messerschmidt
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 22 pages
• Sale Source: Open University Press
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Certain feminist perspectives have attracted the attention of feminist criminologists, particularly feminist theories that focus on patriarchal sex differences and female involvement in street gangs.

Abstract

Gender power is viewed as patriarchy, a form of social organization in which females are controlled by males. Men and women are trained under patriarchy to accept a social system that is grounded in unequal power relationships and divided into male and female spheres. A major result of the feminist concentration on male-female differences has been to direct theory away from issues that serious complicate such differences, including race, age, and female involvement in crime. Gender is viewed as a structured action by some researchers, based on the recognition that women are positioned differently throughout society. For some, joining a youth gang represents an idealized collective solution to the lived experience of class and race powerlessness. Diversity in the way gangs construct heterosexual meanings are examined, the involvement of youth gangs in "male" and "female" crimes is discussed, and gender is considered to be a situated accomplishment in which individuals behave in a way that is seen by others as either masculine or feminine. 48 references and 6 notes