Women in the US who find themselves being tried for murder where the death penalty is applicable are faced with a very different situation than men in the exact same situation. Societal assumptions about women’s character and beliefs concerning the protection of women have resulted in a lower execution rate for women in comparison with men, as women make up 14.3 of the total number of murder suspects while they make up only two percent of the number of people sentenced to death. This phenomenon cannot be simply explained, as the idea of gender and sexuality are tied up in this complex issue. We can begin to delve into the idea that women are often assigned basic behaviors that have a tendency to disassociate them with violence; therefore it is often difficult for juries to conclude that a woman killed out of pure pleasure. Women are also deemed more emotionally unstable than men, thus the prevalence of insanity pleas in cases of female murderers. This idea of emotionality also makes it more likely for juries to decide that the crime was one of passion, thus removing the option of the death penalty. The stereotypes concerning women, such as high emotionality, nurturing nature, and gentleness all play a role in keeping women from being executed as often as men, but they are no where near the only factors in this equation. We also have to take into consideration the value placed upon women’s bodies in relation to reproduction, as women have a tendency to be viewed as more reproductively valuable than men. Though this makes no logical sense in a scientific view, it has been dominant in many cultures in past history. This reproductive value also adds to the idea that women are in need of protection, vulnerable and innocent, therefore making it a hard case to argue that a seemingly normal woman committed a heinous crime. These stereotypes can work against women as well, especially when the woman behaves in a way to reject these societal norms. This is seen in many cases where it is pointed out that the women on trial behaved in ways that were unfeminine, such as in the case of Karla Faye Tucker. By de-feminizing women on trial for murder it becomes more believable that they were capable of violence towards others. The big question now is, is this situation of women being spared the death penalty due to biased stereotypes a hindrance to the fight for equality between men and women? I hope to gain a better sense of an adequate answer through further research on the topic.
1 comment:
I'm really interested to read more about what you come up with here. The belief that women could be seen as too feminine to derive pleasure from killing might absolutely be one reason for the discrepancies - and Tucker was definitely not a feminine serial killer so that seems to support that view...have you been able to compare any case by case verdicts though to find a case in which a woman was given life while a man committing a similar murder was given death?
And did you stumble upon anything suggesting similar rates for slighter punishments than men for women who have committed other crimes?
I know that personally - specifically in the case of Tucker - I tend to assume that for a woman to commit murder she must have a really really good mitigating reason and someone down the line has failed them. Though I suppose that in the case of a man I'd prefer to think the same but my sympathies would be much less for a murderer of that gender for any mitigating circumstance.
In any case, it is always difficult to imagine what could drive one to murder and especially in the case of a nurturing gender, it is far easier to adopt even unprompted mitigating reasons than to believe that they've committed the act for pleasure purposes.
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