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Serious female offenders are often labelled as monstrous by the media. What are the ideological
implications of such a portrayal?
The media prefer to portray stories that have some form of novelty and are highly unusual in hopes
to capture their audiences and sell. In this case, female crimes more specifically serious crimes
make a perfect match for news outlets. As serious females crimes makes appearances in the
newspapers, TV and other media formats, there are numerous factors that will make public opinion
believe that these female offenders are in fact shocking and atrocious. Aspects such as lesbianism,
the criminals physical appearance with masculine features and mythical creatures are often used to
demonise females that commit serious crimes (Benedict 1992). These horrible descriptions of female
criminals often leave implications that female criminals are on the same page as monsters. In this
essay, both the psychoanalytic concepts from Sigmund Freud and the feminist theory will be used to
help explain why the media depicts female criminals in the ways in which they do. Furthermore, the
media uses characteristics and certain labels to show that female offenders are vile, which will be
explored in more detail. Finally, the monstrous labels given to serious female offenders the media
will be examined in detail to see how the public will react to these implications.
Psychoanalytical perspective to demonising female offenders
There are two theories and perspectives that will be gain an understanding to the reasons behind
why the media will portray serious female offenders in a negative light. These two perspectives will
be the psychoanalytic perspective and the feminist perspective. Looking at the psychoanalytic
perspective, Minsky (1998) explains the concept of the Oedipus complex. The Oedipus complex is
when the infant for example a baby boy has developed sexual desires towards their opposite sex
parent the mother. The father in this case would threaten the child with castration to enforce his
power and masculine dominance over the child and in effect suppress the childs sexual desires
(Minsky 1998). A female baby would share similar experiences, but act as though they have been
castrated because they dont have a male reproductive system. Minsky (1998) contextualises this
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concept by saying that the father can represent our cultural surroundings and will remove his sons
sexual desires. These feelings of humiliation and vulnerability that the boy gets from his father are
removed and dumped onto the childs mother, who is portrayed as the female and the other
(Minsky 1998). This idea of ridding ourselves of our own problems and thereby boosting ones sense
of identity creates a sense of otherness, a dichotomised society, which consists of the child and his
mother (Minsky 1998). As a result females is viewed as being looked down upon and feared because
it represents a hated castrated part of the self (Minsky 1998). From the psychoanalytic
interpretations, it should be noted that females are given a portrait of the other in comparison to us.
The psychoanalytical concept can help explain why the media labels serious female offenders as
monstrous and why the public may follow these same ideas.
Feminist perspective to demonising female offenders
The feminist theory revolves around the assumption that based on the psychological and biological
composition females were always going to be treated differently (Gelsthorpe & Morris 1990). The
feminist theories try to tackle the issue of cultural gender bias on females. When females broke
serious criminal laws, they also broke laws of nature (Lloyd 1995). Laws of nature refers to the idea
that women in society should conform to certain stereotypes, such as the good housewife and
mother; where you were expected to support your husband and love and care for your children
(Morris 1987). Not abiding these stereotypes is in effect breaking the laws of nature. Many theorists
such as Heidensohn (1985) believe this places females in an unfair advantage in comparison to males
who break the law. Lawyer Helena Kennedy (Kennedy 1992) suggested that women who act like a
supportive housewife to their husband and loving mother will be safer judicially than females that go
against these expectations set by society. This reinforces the idea that even the Criminal Justice
System advocates this view as well. Severe harsher treatment is giving to females that dont perform
accordingly to gender stereotypes of marital status, class, ethnicity and age (Morris 1987).
Furthermore, females that fit the helpless victim like an abusive father are also likely to work in
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court too (Lloyd 1995). Females that are involved in very serious crimes give the media some of their
most interesting images and stories to report about crime, because it is believed that females that
commit serious crimes leave a much longer and stronger impression than males usually would
(Heidensohn 1985), which again shows how society treats people based on gender with females
being treated unfairly.
Types of labels given by media to female offenders
The media outlet deems any form of serious female offenders as newsworthy due to its rarity and its
unusualness, which gives newspapers the novelty factor. If female offenders can be more
marginalised and interesting if the media can show causal link between female offenders and
sexuality (Benedict 1992), which is one of the ways in which the media demonise females. The media
will either label female offenders as either sexually adventurous or sexually inexperienced and frigid.
An example of sexually labelling a female offender is evident during Rose Wests court case. Rose
West was described with such names as a prostitute and an over-sexed woman (Wykes 2001). When
the media are able to oust female offenders through sexual discourse whether it was from being
inexperience or experienced in sexual intercourse, they were effectively able to demonise the
offenders for the public to see (Minsky 1998). Furthermore, the sexual-orientation of female
offenders can also be used to further marginalise and create the idea of otherness and outsiders.
Millbank (1996) believed that if the offenders were found to be lesbians, then this was the cause of
such serious crimes due to their aggressiveness and masculine like behaviour. In the context of the
Oedipus complex, Millbank (1998) suggested that lesbians hated family and society which derives
from the father that intervened with their sexual desire when they were an infant. Due to these
sexual desires being restricted, lesbians would kill men that possess father-like qualities as an act of
revenge (Millbank 1998).
Another way in which the media shows female offenders as folk devils is through their physical
appearances and their overall presentation. There is a lot of scrutiny for female offenders, as their
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looks and femininity are placed under the microscope. The ideal construction of females consists of
youth, slim, fit and attractiveness that would please males (Wykes & Gunter 2004). Most of these
attributes are fuelled and constructed through media discourses, ranging from magazines, fashion
websites and weekly tabloid magazines. People who dont fit into these ideal attributes would be
shown unfavourably through the Criminal Justice System (Morrissey 2003). A prime example would
be Tracey Wigginton, who was found guilty of killing 47 year-old Edward Baldock. Through the
media, Wigginton was harshly depicted as the anti-female: she was the unnatural looking female
because she was described as 17-stone framed and man like (Morrissey 2003). In comparison, one of
the four co-accused was acquitted for the murdering of Edward Baldock because she was considered
a fake lesbian because she was too pretty to be one (Morrissey 2003). Physical appearance had
played a significant role in how media discourse will label females who commit serious offenses.
Campbell (1995) believes that females have it tough even if they had fulfilled the medias
construction of what females should look like. Even if they are attractive they will be portrayed as
manipulative females who lure their victims with their beautiful dazzling looks. This is evident in the
case of Karla Homolka, who was convicted as a rapist and murderer. The Canadian media portrayed
Homolka to their audience as pretty yet cold-hearted and dead inside (Campbell 1995).
If female offenders fail to comply with medias ideal version of a good wife, which consists of being a
domestic housewife and have some feminine attributes. If females do not conform to these good
wife ideologies they would perhaps go against what the Criminal Justice System would consider
appropriate female behaviour (Kennedy 1992). In a hypothetical world, females would be solely
domesticated wives, supportive to her husband and caring for their children (Worrall 1990). Those
that go against these sets of behaviour will be looked down upon. Furthermore, cases in which wives
kill their husbands or partner are the exact definition of a bad wife. An example of this is Sara
Thornton (Wykes 1995), convicted of murdering her husband Malcolm Thornton, who was violent,
abusive to his wife and a heavy drinker (Wykes 1995). The media in this particular case didnt
address in much detail or give enough awareness to Malcolms drinking habit or aggressive
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behaviour, as most of the attention was on the Sara Thornton. Even wives that were murdered by
their husbands are placed alongside those that were labelled as the bad wife, which is apparent in
the case of Joseph McGrail who had killed his wife and was given a two-year suspended sentence
(Radford 1993). The wife was described as nagging and that she was annoying enough to make her
husband violent (Radford 1993).
Bad mothers are another label used to demonise female offenders. From the psychoanalytic
perspective, a child will trust their mothers unconditionally and because of this the child is
vulnerable to a mother who is perhaps violent (Morrissey 2003). This sort of fear that vulnerable
children are exposed to violent mothers is strongly played throughout the media to paint certain
serious female offenders as bad mothers. The bad mother angle portrayed by media can be applied
to any female, regardless if they are a victim or an offender or even a mother. The bad mother
theme is clearly imposed on Valmae Beck who was charged with the rape and murder of a twelve-
year-old girl, which wasnt her daughter. The media was severely critical of Beck, newspaper Courier-
Mail was suggesting that Valmae Beck should have traits of compassion, love and be repelled to rape
a twelve year old girl like any mother should be (Morrissey 2003).
The media have used symbolic monsters from the Greek mythology to create imagery of female
offenders such as Medusa who with her eyes can turn victims into stones. The Medusa imagery is
used strongly in association with Myra Hindley, especially with the infamous mug shot taken upon
Hindleys arrest. Radford (1993) believes that the mug shot had engraved a sense of horror because
it was symbolic as it showed how a female can turn away from a natural feminine into something
horrific and atrocious looking. Glancey (2002) further emphasised that the mug shot would
permanently imprint the image of Myra Hindley as a portrayal of Medusa, and that the image would
not go off the publics radar any time soon.

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Implications given to the public from demonising female offenders
All these labels placed on female offenders have strong implications on how the public will view
females that commit serious crimes. Firstly, stereotypes of how females should behave and act are
reinforced by the criminal justice system, evident in Helena Kennedys (1995) statement that
females who behave like they should be would be treated favourably in court. This kind of statement
gives strong incentives that stereotypes are a driving factor in society. Secondly, society will try to
better themselves by marginalising others, which in this case the others being female offenders. If
female offenders are lesbians or prostitutes, then the media would describe them as violently
aggressive, manipulative and violent. This helps the public separate themselves from these kinds of
people; therefore they in effect better themselves. Furthermore, this reinforces the idea that we are
a dichotomised society. Thirdly, the media has made the public view females based primarily on
physical appearance and presentation. Society will label female offenders on the way they present
themselves on television, whether they are masculine looking, which suggests aggressiveness or
abnormal like attributes, or an ideal female woman, that has mother like instincts (Morris 1987).
Another implication put on the public is that by sensationalising serious female offenders, it creates
this idea that female criminals is commonplace, however it only represents such a small percentage
of crime (Smart 1977). The reason for presenting these crimes as widespread is due to its rare
occurrence, and therefore there is a novelty factor behind these cases.
Conclusion
There are numerous possible reasons as to why serious female offenders are demonised by the
media. Both the psychoanalytic perspective and some feminist theories help explain these.
Furthermore, the media likes to portray females in negative lights because it helps sell their story
because of their novelty factor (Lloyd 1995). The demonising of serious female offenders creates
such a marginalised society, where the public is associating these offenders to bad mothering, bad
housewife, monsters or lesbians (Morris 1987). The Criminal Justice System has been influenced by
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ideas of monstrous female offenders, evident on how they sentence females. Although female
offenders are usually thrown in the medias spotlight, gathering all sorts of attention, ironically they
only represent such a little part of serious crimes actually committed.

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