The (Step)motherly Ideal: The Role of Sex, Gender and Stereotype in the Aurore Gagnon Murder Trial

Abstract

This essay examines the portrayal of Anne-Marie Houde in the media and her treatment by the criminal justice system in Quebec in the early twentieth century in the murder trial of her stepchild, ten-year-old Aurore Gagnon. Specifically, it argues that issues of sex, traditional gender roles, and the wicked stepmother stereotype played a role in her guilty conviction and harsh sentence, since other murderesses in this period were, quite literally, getting away with murder. By murdering her stepchild, Houde placed herself outside of the category of woman and denied herself the chivalrous treatment of the court. This is especially true since, as a stepmother, she faced immediate prejudice by the court and media. Furthermore, Houde manipulated her motherly role in a malicious fashion to contrive Aurore’s misbehaviour. In doing so, she exploited the perceived burden of these motherly duties to defame and arbitrarily punish Aurore.