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She just snapped: reality television, murder and the myth of feminine evil

Snapped, a documentary style show profiling female killers, is one of Oxygens longest running hit franchises. This thesis analyzes, through both the frames of feminist theory and rhetoric, the way the show perpetuates and plays upon the myth of feminine evil as well as the stereotype of women as weak, hysterical agents in need of control. Snapped showcases women who start out as seemingly normal but then enact horrendous crimes. The use of women that the audience can identify with but then later fear creates a cathartic experience in which female audience members can be vicariously cleansed of any dangerous animosity they may possess. The show portrays the many extreme examples as the norm for lethal female violence, but this disregards the fact that a majority of women killers act in self defense. The show distorts the reality of violence against women and supports a stereotype of inherent female criminality. / by Megan Tomei. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_3524
ContributorsTomei, Megan., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
PublisherFlorida Atlantic University
Source SetsFlorida Atlantic University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText, Electronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatvi, 156 p., electronic
CoverageUnited States
Rightshttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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