《女人的审判

雷切尔·麦克沙恩(Rachel McShane)研究女性因谋杀受审的案例. 因为社会对女性的期望, she noticed that women on trial seemed to be viewed and spoken about differently than men. 她称之为“女性的审判”.她解释道, “The trial of womanhood is when the media and prosecution closely examines a woman, 关注她如何无法满足他们的社会期望, 然后利用这些检查来对付她.对于她的研究, 她调查新闻报道, 法庭记录和真实的犯罪记录, analyzing the words and rhetoric used to describe the women to see where and how those societal expectations show up.

畅所欲言

是什么激发了你去研究这个话题?

我一直对真正的犯罪很感兴趣. There was a case that fascinated me for years: the Darlie Routier case. 简而言之，达利·鲁蒂埃的两个儿子是被入侵者杀害的. 她在袭击中受了伤. She told the police she saw a man, and that he ran out the garage window. One of the boys would have turned seven just a few days after the murders, 因此，Routier一家在男孩的坟墓前举行了生日庆祝活动. There was a private and somber vigil, but then the family opened it up to the public and the media. The media caught this short clip of Darlie singing “Happy Birthday” and spraying silly string on the boys’ headstone, 这段视频迅速在全国传播. Just a few days later, 他们 arrested Darlie, and she was very quickly put on trial for murder. The prosecution 做了n’t have a ton of evidence to prove that she 做了 it (what 他们 做了 have was shaky and circumstantial) but 他们 做了 have that video. 他们一遍又一遍地播放, 她说:“这不是一个好母亲会悲伤的样子.” When the jury deliberated, 他们 做了n’t want to see evidence or rehear any testimony, but 他们 做了 我想再看一遍《傻线》的视频. 尽管这不是真正的证据，但那段视频影响了他们. 他们认定达丽·鲁蒂埃有罪，判处她死刑. 那是1996年的事，现在她还在死囚牢房中.

That case happened in Rowlett, Texas, just about 15 minutes from where I grew up. 我一直对这个案子很感兴趣，因为我想知道 怎么可能 他们 用那段视频来对付她? 我只是觉得悲伤不是天生的, and it bothered me that the expectations of a grieving mother were used against her. 我曾经在课堂上写过一篇关于它的论文. Ashanka Kumari, and she encouraged me that it was a great topic and told me that I should really think about looking into it more deeply. Now I’m writing my entire dissertation about cases of women in the state of Texas who have gone through similar experiences as Darlie Routier.

在你的研究中，你最喜欢的是什么?

I love that I get to incorporate something that interests me into my career and work. I thought for so long that my interest in true crime was just a niche hobby, and never imagined I’d be able to look at it from an academic standpoint.

你依靠什么类型的奖学金?

我从各个领域拿奖学金! 我的主要研究方向是修辞和写作, so I’m relying on three different “sub-areas” of rhetorical composition. The first (and biggest area) is feminist rhetoric to look at the expectations of women and the ways women are viewed and treated. 第二种是“基于地点的修辞”.“基本上, it’s all about considering the literal place and location a person is physically in and how that affects them. In my research, I’m thinking specifically about cases in Texas, so it’s important to consider that. 最后, I’m also using rhet-comp scholars who have written about the power of stories and, 更具体地说, 讲故事给被监禁的人的力量.

I’m also going outside of rhet-comp and pulling from the field of criminology. Basically, I’m taking a few different fields of study and bringing them together.

你认为这项研究将走向何方?

我想扩大我的研究领域. 像我说的, 我目前正在关注发生在德克萨斯州的案件, 但对女性的考验并非德州独有. It happens all over, so I’d like to look at cases from different areas of America or even the world. I’d like to write some articles and even design a class so others can learn about this, 而且我肯定有书的素材!