When women kill – Friday

The history of female crime was published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name at LA8 – Museum of Art and Technology of the Nineteenth Century in Baden-Baden. In seven scholarly articles, historians of art and science examine various aspects of female crime. Historian Marcus Carrier provides an overview of the diverse debates in the nineteenth century about crime in general and women’s crime in particular. The social Darwinian view of the scientists became clear: criminals were considered degenerates, with hereditary burdens. With regard to female offenders, the discussions were particularly satisfactory: even “normal” women were considered less rational and less powerful than men at times of menstruation, pregnancy and childbirth. menopause On the other hand, women criminals are sometimes deprived of free will altogether. When you read it, it becomes eerily clear: many of these ideas about crime and womanhood have persisted to this day—like the clinical picture of hysteria, which was officially abolished in 1952. No holiday reading beyond this rather general overview, goes Jadwiga Camula In two articles specifically about the beginnings of forensic physiognomy in the nineteenth century. The focus is on the works of Cesare Lombroso and Pollen Tarnowski. Tarnowski photographed and measured hundreds of female prisoners in Saint Petersburg and shared her archives with Lombroso. Both of them portrayed delinquent women based on their physical characteristics. However, the results of their analyzes differed greatly. In her work, Tarnowski repeatedly addresses the social causes of women’s lives and advocates, for example, for better educational opportunities. On the other hand, Cesare Lombroso assumed that there are “born criminals”, which can be seen from the outside. His works later served as a model for the biological racial theories of the National Socialists, while Tarnowski fell into oblivion. Since the nineteenth century, art historian Bettina Oppenkamp leads us back to the biblical era, to one of the most famous criminals in world history: Judith, who on God’s behalf became supreme commander of the Syrians, Holofernes, and cut off her head, saving the Jewish people. Openkamp traces the history of Judith’s ambivalent artistic reception. On the one hand, they glorified the artists of past centuries, and on the other hand, the fascination was also based on the fact that, as a brutal murderer, Judith also exploited her sexuality. In their reports, they emphasize how often women are criminalized for their way of life. Whereas Becker uses the treatment of communist resistance fighter and artist Eva Schulz as a Knappi to explain how politically active women were persecuted under National Socialism, Frauke Steinhauser illustrates how women who evaded the Nazi ideal of the “mother of soldiers” were persecuted. And this is mainly representatives of the affected working class. They have been labeled as “indecent”, “anti-social” and “harmful to society” and they could pay for this with their lives because they have no rights whatsoever. Finally, Kersten Wolf traces the history of Section 218 of the Criminal Code, which made abortion a punishable offense – from the German Empire through the Weimar Republic to the time of the National Socialists. “The Criminal Woman” is an enlightening and intense read. Anyone who expected thrilling true crime stories when they heard the keyword “female crime” will be disappointed here. The desire for disease is not satisfied. Alternatively, the reader can sometimes feel transported back to university when working on texts – complete with markers and sticky notes. So this book isn’t for poolside when you’re sitting around and don’t have dates (Author’s note: Believe me, I tried. It was hard). But if you leave those expectations behind, and can write a scholarly book, you can expect a great job as an introduction to the subject. The articles are sometimes difficult to read, but at the same time they are captivating as they reveal the roots of a number of current debates. As in the essays of Marcus Karer and Frauke Steinhauser, where an eerie continuity becomes apparent. Women still get sick once they evade the ideal of femininity in any way—whether willingly or unintentionally. There is a lot of trouble – as the slang would say “the hysterical bitch” – and very little femininity – known as the “man’s wife”. The book also deserves credit for not ignoring intersectionality and multiple discrimination against female minorities, for example how the teachings of physiognomy still influence “racial profiling” to this day. A female crime story that offers readers some eye-openers. With 160 pages and a 32-page color photo section, the book is not bound, but at the same time it is not superficial. Articles require focused reading. Small interruptions are useful for studying the visual material of a text. But it’s worth it. This is mainly because the topic of feminist crime is finally being examined from a female perspective. But it was interesting to learn more about the reception history of other female offenders. This information can be found in the exhibition at LA8 in Baden-Baden and thus complements the reading. All of this beats a boring true crime podcast anyway.

Elena Douglas

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