Crime Is Gendered

Agree or Disagree: Crime is gendered. Explain your answer. Crime is most certainly gendered; meaning it has biased toward the male or female sex. An explanation for this can come from an understanding about which crimes are likely to be associated with men and which are more likely to be associated with women. There are certain crimes where women have little or no involvement most of the time. For example, men tend to be victims of violent crimes. This is a statement proven by sources such as the National Crime Victimization Survey or even the Uniform Crime Report. However, Britton explains that the NCVS is much more accurate than the UCR. The NCVS provides reliable information on some of the most violent crimes like rape and assault, to minor crimes like theft or burglary. Statistics clearly show that men are most likely to be victims or be involved in violent crimes, with the exception of rape. This is just one example of how crime is gendered. Crimes like aggravated assault and simple assault are also gendered. Aggressiveness plays a key factor in these types of crimes. While women do have aggressive tendencies, men openly show their aggressiveness through physical or violent means and women project it in less overt ways. Women also tend to be less physical or violent. There are other reasons why men are more likely to be involved in these types of crimes. Britton explains that, “Men are far more likely than are women to carry guns… and it is also the case that men are simply more commonly present in locations – such as bars and on the streets – where assaults take place”. (Britton, 85) However, sometimes women become involved in violent crimes in a more “personal” way. While men tend to be victimized by strangers, women tend to be victimized by intimates or people they know. Masculinity also plays a large role in explaining why crime is gendered. It is not only a component in a crime like rape, but also in assaults or homicides. Assaults or homicides may occur when two men who know each other begin to fight either verbally or physically, where they both realize that if they back down, they will seem less masculine or receive the label “wimp”. When they come to terms with this realization, they will fight to the end; which sometimes results in death. NCVS proves that rape is the only crime where women are more likely to be the victim. This is another good example of how crime is gendered. In many cases of rape, a man rapes a woman to feel powerful, masculine, or superior. Men also see women as examples of “victim precipitation”; a theory on rape that explains that women may be at fault when it comes to this crime because of either the clothes they are wearing, or their attitudes and language towards men. In other words, they bring the rape upon themselves. Not only are women less likely to be victims of criminal acts, they are also less likely to commit most criminal acts. This is another example of how crime is gendered. However, there are exceptions such as prostitution or adultery. Women do not have the desire to “prove something”, like men do. They commit a lot of crimes just to feel powerful or superior. Women are also less likely to be in situations where crime can occur, with the exception of rape. Anthropologist, Peggy Reeves Sanday, links rape to what kind of a society a woman lives in. If a woman lives in a society that is dominated by men in political, social, and economic aspects and is affected by the inequality, she will be more “rape-prone”, as Sanday describes it. This is yet another theory on rape and helps us understand how crime is gendered. It is very clear that crime is gendered. Men tend to be involved in violent crimes while women tend to be involved in petty crimes like prostitution or shoplifting. Some may argue that these facts have a stronger connection to factors like race or sex, but studies and research have shown that gender is very closely linked to crime.