From invisible to incorrigible: The demonization of marginalized women and girls

Abstract

Two disturbing recent trends in the media and popular constructions of girls, women, and aggression are analyzed in this article: the media attention to ‘aggression’ and ‘violence’ of girls with the subsequent tendency to arrest and incarcerate girls, particularly those of color, and the depiction of lesbians as criminals, particularly as violent predators. Both of these trends are related to gender stereotypes about femininity and masculinity, and the increased power and visibility of women in contemporary society. Also interrogated in both these discussions is the complicity of some academics with the ‘masculinization’ of certain girls and women, thereby lending a certain legitimacy to their punishment, incarceration, and execution. The latter factor has resulted in significant backlash against women, as witnessed by the explosion in arrest rates and incarceration of girls and women in spite of decreases in violent crime. Women, particularly marginalized women, continue to be harshly judged for any departure from traditional feminine ideals.