SOC219H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Christopher Hitchens, Community Policing, Chauvinism
SOC219 Lecture 5; Policing of Women’s Lives
Last Class;
● Constructing women’s offending
● Stereotyping women offenders as Mad, Bad, and Sad
○ Society is preoccupied with abnormalizing women's offending and criminality
○ Gender stereotypes inform imaher of women offenders as sad, mad, and bad
○ Classifying women as sad, mad or bad allows us to identify then as the ‘other’
(not like us)
● The role of the media in shaping the abnormality of women criminality
● Challenging the stereotypes
● Racialized constructions
● Women’s use of violence is complex and challenges popular notions of women's
criminality
● Black women drug offenders and women of color more broadly, are depicted more
negatively in the media
Women in the Law Enforcement;
● Historical Roots: Women in policing
○ Began in late 19th century
○ Roles were based on gender stereotypes
■ women=matronly
○ Gendered assignments with limited duties
○ Belief; crime fighting = a man’s job
○ First women police;
■ Been called police women
■ Weren’t allowed to drive police cars or carry guns until much later
(1974)
■ Gendered notions on women's roles until about 1974
○ Legislative changes in 1960s/70s (affirmative action, equality in employment)
■ Backlash by male police officers - still exists to this day
■ Very little women entere policing prior to 1960’s - shift in legislation
allowing equality in workplace allowed this
■ More women in workplace and given non gendered roles
● First women in policing
○ Alice Stebbins Wells, 1910, Los Angeles (LAPD)
○ Unfeminine, muscular (according to the public/media)
○ Called matrons - not really considered police officers at the time
● Rates of Women in Policing
○ Slow but steady increase
■ Ex. US Rates – 1971 = 1.4%/ 1980 = 5%/ 1990 = 8.6%/ 2000 =
10.6%/ 2006-10 = 14.6%
■ Women remain a token status (less than 15%)
● Carry the weight of the entire group - ex. If one women falls in
her duties as an officer, it can close doors for other women
police officers or can put the label of incompetent on them
Document Summary
Stereotyping women offenders as mad, bad, and sad. Society is preoccupied with abnormalizing women"s offending and criminality. Gender stereotypes inform imaher of women offenders as sad, mad, and bad. Classifying women as sad, mad or bad allows us to identify then as the other" (not like us) The role of the media in shaping the abnormality of women criminality. Women"s use of violence is complex and challenges popular notions of women"s criminality. Black women drug offenders and women of color more broadly, are depicted more negatively in the media. Belief; crime fighting = a man"s job. Weren"t allowed to drive police cars or carry guns until much later (1974) Gendered notions on women"s roles until about 1974. Legislative changes in 1960s/70s (affirmative action, equality in employment) Backlash by male police officers - still exists to this day. Very little women entere policing prior to 1960"s - shift in legislation allowing equality in workplace allowed this.
