ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book uses an intersectional perspective to analyze how multiple identities and oppressions contribute to aggressive behavior and differential justice system outcomes for girls of Color, poor girls, and LGBTQ girls. It focuses on the criminalization of girls’ aggression there is considerable overlap between the contemporary “problem” of mean and aggressive girls and the missing DC girls’ case. The book examines the racialization and sexualization of the moral panic surrounding girls’ aggression. It applies the principles of intersectionality to empirically identify the root causes of girls’ aggression and devise solutions to the criminalization and mistreatment of young women of Color and gender-queer youth. The book offers among the first empirical examinations of girls’ aggression in the media from an intersectional perspective. It illuminates the creative and dynamic strategies that diverse groups of young women use to resist the labeling and criminalization.
