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% ...
... middle of paper ...
...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.
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
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...
Have you ever wondered why women get charged with convicted crimes and men get off the hook with a slap on the wrist? Well, you can stop wondering because there are actually statistics on this subject. This research paper will not only be answering this question, but also giving the statistics and reason behind men versus women getting charged of violent and convicted crimes.
In recent years, there has been a gender shift in crime dramas on television. In the 70s, 80s, and early 90s, the viewer saw the lead characters to be heavily male dominated with a woman thrown in for mostly sex appeal. Nowadays, most crime dramas are either gender balanced or even female dominated. As this shift has occurred, many new issues began to spawn. Having female lead characters in these types of dramas allow younger female viewers to see that females are capable of working in a usually heavily male dominated workplace and hold positions of power and leadership. However, women in these roles seem to be giving an unrealistic image of women in this type of work environment. While crime dramas can provide young female viewers with strong female role models, the unrealistic image portrayed by these female leads often undermines the realities of motherhood and being a woman in the workplace.
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...
According to Beirne & Messerschmidt men commit more crimes than women. With men making up 78% of arrests for every crime except Larceny, they are also more likely to commit conventional and serious conventional crimes. Especially in the case of white collar and political crimes, men make up a vast majority
...r is much more difficult and requires extensive analysis. Female characters in American detective novels, stereotypically, exude the same blatant sexuality, helplessness and naivete and are therefore forced to exploit the only strengths they have in order to not be overwhelmed by the more forceful male characters. As can be seen in The Maltese Falcon the three female characters strive to maintain their power by any means necessary. Ironically, the character that exhibits the most masculine qualities and is the least sexual is the most successful. This proves that masculinity is equivalent to power and therefore women are powerless on many levels. The role of women is fairly constant in hard-boiled novels, and the struggle for power and control is an ever present theme.
Throughout history, certain crimes have been separated into different categories based on their prevalence. For every crime, the offense and charges are different. In addition, certain crimes tend to be committed more often by women than men, and vice versa. Crimes such as larceny, fraud, forgery, and prostitution (Chesney-Lind, 1986) tend to be committed more often by women; whereas, assault, murder, trafficking, etc tend to be committed by men.
Studies dating back to 1993 show that this has been true for over twenty years. More recent studies show that this disparity is still occurring today. We continue to see males incarcerated more often and for longer terms when compared to females. There are those who argue that gender disparity does not take into account legal characteristics such as criminal history and offense severity. However, studies have been conducted that do in fact take control for those factors. The same outcome is reached. Even with legal characteristics considered, female offenders are less likely to be incarcerated compared to male offenders. Theories have been developed as an attempt to explain why this disparity occurs. Some tend to favor the chivalry/paternalism thesis while others favor the focal concerns perspective. Either way, gender disparity is occurring with no legally relevant reason to explain it. The federal sentencing guidelines were developed in order to prevent disparity from occurring. However, we see that judges still tend to consider extralegal factors when sentencing. It is important that the criminal justice system follow the guidelines set in place so that all cases are sentenced in an equal and fair
Throughout history, certain crimes have been separated into different categories base on their prevalence. For every crime, the offense and charge is different. In addition, not every crime is committed by the same gender. Crimes such as larceny, fraud, forgery, and prostitution (Chesney-Lind, 1986) tend to be committed more often by women; whereas, assault, murder, trafficking, etc tend to be committed by men. When it comes to the stereotyping of women in the criminal justice system one could say that women present themselves as victims to reach a lesser sentence or that by presenting themselves as victims they will have a longer sentence that will protect them.
While most of the violent crimes that happens most are them are belongs to men, women have not been the wilting flowers promoted so heartily by Victorian adorers and (right or wrong) often evident in today's society. Before we get into detail about the fascinating phenomenon of the Black Widow, it is worth a brief overview of women's escalating role in the world of violent crime, particularly in the United States.
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.
Most of the crimes committed by women were not related to improved labor market opportunities. Feminist research has shown many female offenders often are single parents and some maybe pregnant resulting in more females receiving lesser sentences rather than imprisonment, as the courts have the added responsibility of children to consider. As far as the c...
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.