CULTURE & SOCIETY
CULTURE & SOCIETY
Carceral Feminism and its Weaknesses AMELIA PRESCOT
having a pre-existing relationship with the victim, super predators were characterised as men exhibiting extreme masculinity and symbols of the patriarchy. Of course, these fairy tale tropes won’t always have their happy ever after; this system ignores anyone who is more morally grey rather than the binary of ‘good’ and ‘evil’. Furthermore, when these ‘evil’ men were eventually sent to prison for their crimes, the time they spent incarcerated was seen as a time in which the man could ‘repent for his sins’ and serve his time to then be allowed to have his moral ‘slate wiped clean’. However, as the logic of the movement gives women individual responsibility, those who did not conform with carceral feminism were seen to be allowing themselves to be abused and therefore were not given sympathy.
Carceral feminism is defined as feminism which advocates for enhancing and increasing prison sentences that deal with feminist and gender issues. It emerged during the second wave of feminism in the 1970s, originating from the ‘battered women’s movement’. This movement was deeply anti-authoritarian and sought to gain equality through a more holistic approach in helping women recover from abuse. However, by the mid 1980s, feminist rhetoric had shifted to one which saw legal action as the best way to serve justice, and carceral feminism was born. Tied up in the shift of the movement’s focus was an increase in the disregard for external political and economic factors, which influenced the differing levels of abuse faced across society. Through this, the movement narrowed to focus on women who were socio- economically privileged. This created a ‘perfect victim’- the white middle-class woman.
Although the movement was working within a racist society, so utilising stereotypes of white women as ‘pure’ and ‘innocent’ aided their progress, this methodology damaged the progress of every woman who was excluded from that category. Moreover, given Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups often suffered, and continue to suffer, worse socio-economic situations, the lack of breadth in their approach meant they were no longer working towards true equality. This has certainly contributed to the higher rates of domestic violence that BAME groups face, with 5.6% of victims being white compared to 23.8% being an ethnic minority. Paired with the rise of the ‘everywoman’ came the emergence of the ‘super predator’. In contrast to modern paradigms of rape perpetrators often
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