Law and Order: SVU (Special Victims Unit) and Bones were the two shows I decided to watch for analyzing content. The reason more than one show was picked was because I wanted a little variety in the information and data I was receiving. Different shows are going to provide different information and provide different data. These two shows covered a wide spectrum of crime shows and would be helpful in providing variety in the data collection process. My topic of choice was gender and how gender roles are portrayed in these television shows. I chose Law and Order: SVU and Bones because they portray two very different versions of crime shows. Law and Order: SVU is a crime show that shows the police side of the crime process. This show deals specifically with the arrest, fact-finding process, and trial process of a crime. It does not deal with the scientific aspect of determining how victims were killed or hurt. Bones in contrast, is not entirely focused on the arrest and trial process but more specifically focuses on the scientific and anthropological aspect of determining facts in a crime scenario. Although the show does have some of the police actions involved, its main focus is on science. In conjunction with this idea, I find these two shows the most enjoyable to watch and was curious about how they portrayed gender roles. The question was whether they would be similar or not.
For Law and Order: SVU, I chose to watch two very different episodes. I had seen these episodes in the past and knew that the stories presented different representations of victims and perpetrators. The first episode "Twenty-Five Acts," had an almost equal representation of men and women with the episode having eight women (53% of the total) and 7 men (47% ...
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...e different manner in which the deceased (or victim) was represented. I realize not every episode is similar, but in comparison to the other two, male and female victims are portrayed very differently. Only women were portrayed as victims of crimes.
These crime shows reinforced the notions that women are victims and men are perpetrators. In the one episode where a man was the deceased, he was not a victim of a crime but rather an unfortunate accident. Both Law and Order episodes reinforced the stereotype of male aggression and that women are victims of sex crimes. Both episodes did show the strength of female victims of sex crimes but still overly sexualized them as objects due to the types of books they published and because they were impoverished or considered low class. In terms of power-positions, men and women were represented relatively evenly in both shows.
Across the country the ratio of male inmates to women is huge. According to “Criminal Justice a brief introduction” by Frank Schmalleger It states that the ratio that for every 15 male inmates there is only one female. But that doesn’t mean that the number of female inmates aren’t rapidly increasing. Even though there are similarities within both men and women’s prisons they are still in ways different.
In most horror films women seem to be slower, less powerful, and simply less dominant. Men in the same films are going to die too, but are not shown as being so defenseless. Females are commonly shown getting killed slowly and getting carried off into the night screaming. On the other hand males will be killed quickly with fewer struggles. For example in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre when the men go into the house where the butcher lives, they are killed with one smash of a sledge hammer with the camera at a distance. Where as, when the first girl goes in she is seen grabbed and put on the shoulder of the butch and carried off kicking her legs and screaming. She is then hung on a butchers hook and is forced to watch her boyfriend get sawed in half. Same incident happens with the next two men, they are quickly killed, but the girl barely gets away and you get to see her running away screaming the entire time. This helps show how women are portrayed as being defenseless where most of the time men are also, but are not given the seen of...
As it is in the case of the majority of violent crimes, (Davies and Rogers, 2006) perpetrators of violent crimes, and especially sexual assault related crimes exert additional force by threatening the victim or their families. Male victims also must contend with an additional sense of shame and embarrassment in being identified with a crime that has been typically portrayed in the media as happening to women. This places men at a disadvantage in the reporting process, because their safety and the safety of others is compromised further if the crime is not reported. (Messerschmitt, 2009)
Statistically, the male population in jail/prisons are much higher than the female population. This is not necessarily because females are less inclined to criminal tendencies than males, but more because society views them more as victims and/or innocent. (Men Sentenced To Long…2012 p.2) From the time women are small until they grow up, they are told that they are fragile, kind, they should not curse, or fight, etc. There are countless sexist roles and behaviors that are pushed on women, and so society views women along side the typical view. In a statistical graph by the of Bureau of Justice Statistics states that the number of people incarcerated per 100,000 people of that sex is as follows: 126 women and 1,352 males. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2010. p.1) That is an incredible difference in the number of incarcerated individuals per jail/prison. Societal view with women is becoming more level headed today, and sentencing disparity on the gender platform is coming to a more equal level; however, it is still a long way away from being equal. According to an article in the Huffington
A consistent feature of the statistics, not only in England and Wales but across Europe and America, is that far fewer women are convicted of crime than men – a fact which has changed little over the years. Female offenders also show a different pattern of offending being less involved in violent offences and proportionately more involved in theft. In general most now accept that girls and women do commit fewer offences than boys. GENDER AND PATTERNS OF CRIME Writing in 1977 Carol Smart stated: Our knowledge is still in its infancy. In comparison with the massive documentation on all aspects of male delinquency and criminality, the amount of work carried out on the area of women and crime is extremely limited.
Of course, we all know from common sense that women are far less likely to be sentenced to death row than men. This should tip us off to the differences that the judicial system discriminates even in matters as important as murder or other capital offences. But within the subgroup of women prisoners there can be a distinction made between the representations of women more likely to be sentenced to death row, or in this case shown compassion while on death row. Hawkins describes this compassion as “typically extended only to female inmates who fit a certain predetermined societal profile of women”. This definition of “women” or “womanhood” is very interesting and deserves to be explored. In my past, I have a conception of women as being sweet and frail; basically incapable of doing wrong because they are too nice or too weak to do so. Women who are too intelligent or too strong are cast off as being masculine or lesbians. When female basketball players are seen on television, they are perceived as trying to be masculine.
From the very beginning of the movie, we witness a man (Rick) and a women (Jean) walking down the street. When threatened by two men, Jean immediately turns to her husband for protection regardless of the fact that he is no better equipped to deal with the threat. This scene highlights traditional gender roles found in society. Men are typically casted as protectors who are superior to women whereas women are weak and in need of protection. Another example of male’s superiority is when Officer Ryan pulls over Cameron and Christine and utilizes his position as a man with authority to sexually assault
In the Barton vs. Gladue case the jury did not see this as manslaughter, as the jury consisted on most men nine to be exact while only two women (Hunt & Sayers, 2015) who if disagreed with the verdict would be trumped as the majority vote overrules and it is also worth noting there were no aboriginal persons in that jury (Busby, 2015), so how could they identify or understand Gladue better and if that was the case the verdict may have been different. And for this reason we can suspect the power relations between men and women, different cultural oppressions and women whom are perceived as an oppressed group, so Gladue had no fighting
Men represent eight hundred ninety-six out of every one hundred thousand prison inmates, while women represent only fifty-six out of one hundred thousand. The rates have increased eight hundred percent since the war on drugs was initiated. Even among women prisoners, racial disparities are glaring. Hispanic and African American women have astronomically higher chances of incarceration than white women. Women are also more likely to be arrested for drug and economic crimes, such as possession or embezzlement (McGrath, 10/29). According to the chivalry hypothesis, the low rates of prosecuted female offenders reflect the leniency with which law enforcement treats women offenders (McGrath, 10/29). Gender differences in aggression and empathy play into the public perception of the ideal offender, and women do not fit the profile. Rather than applying the law equally across genders, police buy into the socially constructed view of women: meek, gentle, caring, empathic, and definitely not capable of cruel criminality (McGrath,
Classical and contemporary theory helps to explain gendered crime patterns. The feminist school of criminology argue criminology and criminal theory is very masculine, all studies into criminal behaviour, have been developed from male statistics and tested on males. Very little research is conducted into female criminality, this may be because women who commit crime are more likely to be seen as evil or mentally ill rather than criminal, this is because women are labe...
Feminist criminology is the study of crime in terms of gender for example why men commit more crime than women, why women do more petty crimes, like shop lifting, than violent crime, sexism in the court system, and female victimization. Feminist criminology contains many branches. Liberal, radical, Marxist, and socialist feminism are widely recognized, although other "strands" exist such as postmodernism and ecofeminism. Most feminist criminology involves critiques about how women offenders have been ignored, distorted, or stereotyped within traditional criminology, but there is no shortage of separate theories and modifications of existing theories.
Women bring unique skills and techniques to policing such as: compassion and understanding during undesirable and traumatic incidents. Although, women do not possess the muscles or physical strength as the male officers, they do have effective invaluable interpersonal skills. Females are viewed as threats by their male peers. Women face prejudice, peer bullying, and sometimes sexual harassment during their career in law enforcement (Criminal Justice School Info, 2014). The male officers believe that women have unfair advantages when it comes to getting promotions or advancements. In actuality, a lot of women in law enforcement are afraid to apply for higher positions due to fear of maltreatment by the male officers. Women who work in law enforcement often feel as if they must “prove themselves” beca...
The rape of Brandon seemed to be more about the two men having power over Brandon and finding out If Brandon was male or female. The two men could not stand, not knowing Brandon’s sex. Because of this they raped Brandon to find out the truth and elevate themselves. After the rape Lana convinced Brandon to go to the police and report it. When Brandon was reporting the rape, the police officer did not respect Brandon. The police officers' primary concern was of Brandon’s sex. “Victims of violence and abuse –whether they’re women or men- should be heard and respected. Their needs come first.” (Katz, p.343) this quote relates to the part in the clip where the police officer is not taking in consideration that Brandon has just been raped. The officer remains concerned about what Brandon did to be raped. The officer also seemed to be awfully concerned with Brandon’s sex and did not want to ask further questions about the rape until he found out if Brandon was male or female. To me this shows that rape is not just a male female issue. Rape is about the victim and their needs. I think that gender and rape can be incredibly confusing for law enforcement ““The rape” of Mr. Smith states”
Despite rape culture being clearly relevant in most all forms of media, many people choose to argue against it. Many point to the fact that even if rape is a common crime it is still considered especially heinous. Others complain that rape culture is too much about the female agenda when rape is more about men. Dr. Tara J. Palmatier says, “Meanwhile, no one ever discusses adult male rape victims who, believe it or not, do exist and in far greater numbers than female rape victims.” She also claims that “The reality is that more men are raped every year in jail than women in the general population.”(2a) Dr. Tara believes that men should be in more fear of women than the other way around. According the the Munoz-Rivas, more women engage in psychological aggression and Parity states that women’s use of physical aggression is equal to that of men (2a). Because of the points put forth by Dr. Tara J. Palmatier, many people are under the impression that rape culture doesn't exist in the slightest.
Women face myriad forms of violence today and throughout history. Both Anita Hill and Nafissa Diallo were forced to experience this violence in the form of sexual harassment and rape. Their cases did not follow the same pattern any other criminal case would, it turned into a circus of “he said, she said” for both women. Because of their intersectional identities as women of color etc., their evidence did not hold up against the evidence of the powerful men who wronged them. Sexual violence against women has long been an issue dominated by male opinions and decisions, and these examples only prove how ideologies surrounding sexual violence from far in the past are still in place today, disempowering women.