ABSTRACT
Scholars often explore the relationships between gender, sex, and violence through theories of inequality, violence against women, and female victimization, but what happens when women are the perpetrators of violent or harmful behavior? In Gender and the Representation of Evil, ten contributors explore historical and cultural perceptions of women as evil. This volume seeks to explore the following questions: How do we define evil? What makes evil women seem different from evil men? When women commit acts of violence or harmful behavior, how are they represented differently from men? How do perceptions of class and race influence these representations? How have these representations changed over time, and why? What purposes have gendered representations of evil served in culture and history? What is the relationship between gender, punishment of evil behavior, and equality?
