Thesis
Making of a monster: media construction of gender non-conforming homicide victims
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2009
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/100962
Abstract
There is a general sentiment evident in public discourse that victims are good and innocent, and offenders are bad (Tonry 2004). This dichotomy is blurred when the victim is somehow socially undesirable, such as people who do not conform to society’s expectation for gender, or victims who are not white. In the case of gender non-conforming homicide victims, especially victims of color who present as feminine, the media often portrays the victims as deceivers, or offenders themselves, building the argument that the victim is to blame, or somehow deserved the attack. This sentiment has successfully been used as the “gay panic” or “trans panic” defense in cases where offenders have received lighter sentences or have been acquitted. This study focuses on the media portrayal of 130 homicide victimizations that occurred between 1995 and 2008. Using content analysis and logistic regression, I will show how the social construction of gender serves to “other” gender non-conforming individuals, and how media narratives around those homicides serve to blame the victims for their deaths.
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Details
- Title
- Making of a monster
- Creators
- Meredith L. Williams
- Contributors
- Nella Van Dyke (Degree Supervisor)Jennifer Schwartz (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Sociology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; Pullman, Wash. :
- Identifiers
- 99900525096001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis