ABSTRACT
The main focus of this chapter is on media representations of female criminals, including those who harm or kill children. The chapter also looks briefly at children who have killed other children to compare media, political and criminal justice responses in different cultural contexts. Female offenders are regarded ‘doubly deviant’ not only because they transgress criminal laws but also the laws of nature, which dictate how women should and should not behave. Women who deviate from ‘acceptable’ standards of feminine behavior are treated particularly harshly, sometimes resulting in media trials, which typically focus on the in/appropriateness of their behavior and on their physical appearance. In cases of women regarded as conventionally beautiful, physical appearance is frequently interpreted by references to the cultural construct or archetype of the femme fatale, whereby beauty is believed to conceal an evil essence. Media constructions of female transgression are also gendered to the extent that, in cases where there are male-female accomplices, links between male sexuality and violence are largely ignored, while female deviance is exaggerated. Alternatively, media representations can amplify the deviance of male offenders by depicting them as feminized and therefore as Other.
