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Pearl Fernandez: anti-kvinnan: En studie om konstruktioner av den kvinnliga mördarens femininitet, moderskap och aktörskap

Nilsson, Felicia LU (2020) GNVK02 20201
Department of Gender Studies
Abstract
The aim of this study has been to examine and deconstruct the normative understandings of femininity, womens agency, and motherhood that characterize stories of women who murder - especially women who murder alongside men. With the guidance of Laclau and Mouffes discoursetheory this study has analyzed the construction of murderer Pearl Fernandez in the 2020 Netflix documentary The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez. The research has revealed that the hegemonic discursive understanding of the murdering woman is that she is unfeminine and unmotherly. Furthermore, the deconstruction of this dominant discourse has shown that the main understanding of femininity is that it entails being passive, chaste, and motherly. In the discourse, the murdering... (More)
The aim of this study has been to examine and deconstruct the normative understandings of femininity, womens agency, and motherhood that characterize stories of women who murder - especially women who murder alongside men. With the guidance of Laclau and Mouffes discoursetheory this study has analyzed the construction of murderer Pearl Fernandez in the 2020 Netflix documentary The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez. The research has revealed that the hegemonic discursive understanding of the murdering woman is that she is unfeminine and unmotherly. Furthermore, the deconstruction of this dominant discourse has shown that the main understanding of femininity is that it entails being passive, chaste, and motherly. In the discourse, the murdering woman's perceived lack of conformity to these norms of femininity is crucial in constructing her as guilty. This study has also shown that in addition to this hegemonic discourse, there is a counter-discourse present in which the murdering woman is constructed as being passive. In this counter-discourse the murdering woman’s perceived lack of agency constructs her as more acceptable in regards to norms of femininity and heterosexuality. The understanding of the murdering woman's femininity, especially in regards to her agency, is therefore twofold and the research has shown that there is ongoing conflict between the discourses. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Nilsson, Felicia LU
supervisor
organization
course
GNVK02 20201
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Motherhood, femininity, agency, mastermind/muse dichotomy, madonna/whore dichotomy
language
Swedish
id
9021060
date added to LUP
2020-06-25 10:01:58
date last changed
2020-06-25 10:01:58
@misc{9021060,
  abstract     = {{The aim of this study has been to examine and deconstruct the normative understandings of femininity, womens agency, and motherhood that characterize stories of women who murder - especially women who murder alongside men. With the guidance of Laclau and Mouffes discoursetheory this study has analyzed the construction of murderer Pearl Fernandez in the 2020 Netflix documentary The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez. The research has revealed that the hegemonic discursive understanding of the murdering woman is that she is unfeminine and unmotherly. Furthermore, the deconstruction of this dominant discourse has shown that the main understanding of femininity is that it entails being passive, chaste, and motherly. In the discourse, the murdering woman's perceived lack of conformity to these norms of femininity is crucial in constructing her as guilty. This study has also shown that in addition to this hegemonic discourse, there is a counter-discourse present in which the murdering woman is constructed as being passive. In this counter-discourse the murdering woman’s perceived lack of agency constructs her as more acceptable in regards to norms of femininity and heterosexuality. The understanding of the murdering woman's femininity, especially in regards to her agency, is therefore twofold and the research has shown that there is ongoing conflict between the discourses.}},
  author       = {{Nilsson, Felicia}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Pearl Fernandez: anti-kvinnan: En studie om konstruktioner av den kvinnliga mördarens femininitet, moderskap och aktörskap}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}