Introduction

This chapter will discuss the media construction of women co-offenders and their relationship with their male partner/co-offender, using the case and court file material as a comparative tool. It will particularly consider the ways in which the women's representation served to minimise and discredit their perspectives and defence, particularly in relation to the potential influence of their relationship with their male partner on their offending behaviour. It will also consider the ways in which the women's suggestions of coercion or coercive techniques (at varying levels) by their male partner were constructed, particularly in media discourse. In doing so, the chapter will be divided into a number of key themes, such as ‘bad women’ and ‘equally bad or worse’. It is important to note that the themes apply to the women at varying levels and the extent to which they were evident in the women's legal and media representation will be discussed.

‘Bad women’: influence of gendered discourses

Victorian discourses of the feminine ideal and womanhood, namely domesticity, respectability, sexuality and motherhood still have significance even today, particularly when applied to female offenders (Smart, 1976; Ballinger, 2000). The discourses surrounding the feminine ideal suggest that women should be passive, selfless, physically attractive and inherently nurturing (Friedan, 1963; Ballinger, 2000). Female offenders, by their very nature, often contradict such ideals. With this in mind, this section will consider the ways in which gendered assumptions and deviations against femininity served to construct the women as ‘bad’, particularly drawing on motifs such as ‘sexual deviant’, ‘bad mother’ and ‘mythical monster’. The potential consequences of this, such as the silencing of the women's perspectives, will also be critically considered.

‘Bad mother’

The definition of ‘womanhood’ as being directly connected to being a mother or desiring to be a mother remains to be a powerful force in women's lives. Ideals of motherhood such as the ‘good mother’ (Villani and Ryan, 1997) appear to leave little room for anything beyond the possibility of motherhood. The good mother is idealised as being completely selfless, a natural protector of her children and having a great deal of tolerance (Naylor, 2001).