Susannah Rosenberg, [EMAIL PROTECTED] said:
> bleah. silly, silly, *silly* article. who *cares* if a bunch of
> criminals and criminal-wannabes are sexist? <sigh>
This is just one instance in the larger issue of widespread
misogynistic behavior in the criminal community.
One of the reasons that women still make only 73 cents for
every dollar a man earns is that they are extremely poorly
represented in the criminal professions. While men enjoy
the benefits of highly lucrative illegal professions such
as drug dealing, murder for hire, and international
terrorism, women are relegated to relatively low-salaried
jobs such as middle management, law, and medicine.
Though some point to the increased number of teenage girls
joining street gangs as evidence that the gender gap is
disappearing, less than 5% of crime lords are women.
This serves doubly to increase the oppression of women;
not only do women make less money, but it is widely accepted
that the true powers in any society are those who circumvent
that society's laws.
The causes of this are numerous, and are rooted in our
patriarchal society. Parents do not encourage their young
daughters to explore illegal activities in their play, while
boys take part in varied criminal activities, such as vandalism,
theft, and assault, that teach them valuable skills for their
future. Girls are also deterred from a life of crime by the
media's portrayal of criminals as anti-social and evil. They
are given few opportunities to interact with real woman criminals.
Not surprisingly, as in other male-dominated spheres, these
women are often harrassed and mocked by certain insiders,
especially teenage boys, who make up most of the "entry levels"
of criminal culture.
But the few female criminals don't network with each other --
in fact, some of their freatest trouble comes from other women,
called "prostitutes", criminal groupies who use sex for money.
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