“Everything I've Done I've Done for Men”: One Woman's Deployment of Femininities and Her Pathway to Crime

Abstract

The feminist pathways perspective offers a framework for understanding how patriarchal culture shapes gendered involvement in crime. While the pathway is shaped by gender and explains how gender matters as it relates to crime, we do not know how women construct gender along the route. Do they support patriarchy by speaking and acting in a traditionally feminine way, or do they present a more resistant femininity? Situating one woman's words in the pathways perspective, we find that Amber calls on both traditional femininity as well as a more resistant femininity throughout different experiences and periods during her life. When discussing victimization, abuse, and relationships, she frequently deploys the hegemonic feminine in her accounts. Interestingly, when describing self-medication and drug use, and acting out and crime, she more often uses pariah words and phrases. Femininity is not “one size fits all” and clearly can and does vary during important times and periods in our lives.