What do feminists generally think of the death penalty? I’ve noticed that the feminist sites I read almost never discuss it, but I would imagine since today’s feminism is essentially a movement against male crime that most feminists probably support the death penalty in theory if not in practice due to the issues of racism and classism.
I find it interesting how feminism is so silent on the issue seeing that many if not most men on death row are there for violent crimes committed against women and children.
Do you know how many men on death row are there for crimes against women and children? Are women more likely than men to favor the death penalty for crimes against children?
I should imagine that the reason the death penalty is rarely discussed by feminists qua feminists on “feminist sites” is the same as the reason they rarely discuss radio astronomy or double entry bookkeeping, i.e., because these topics have no direct (and precious little indirect) bearing on the issue with which feminism is concerned, the power-relationships between the sexes. Asking about feminist attitudes to the death penalty makes little more sense than asking about feminist attitudes towards Goldbach’s conjecture.
That said, given that feminism (though it is an extremely diverse movement with much internal dissension) is strongly correlated with liberal/left/progressive attitudes in general, I would be quite surprised if a large proportion of those who who are keen to identify themselves as feminists are not, personally, against the death penalty. I very much doubt whether many of them would consider the fact (if it really is a fact) that a majority of people on death row are men who have committed crimes against women or children, to be of much relevance.
I think that’s a wildly inaccurate description of feminism. And this doesn’t strike me as a particularly feminist issue; no matter what they think of the death penalty women want men who hurt their partners or their children to go to jail- and I don’t think too many people feel differently. Anyway men are more likely than women to support the death penalty, but the difference is not that big. I don’t know how self-identified feminists feel about it.
Given the brutality of the New Delhi bus rape/murder, you’d expect them misandrist feminist would be baying for blood. And initially a few were. But while Ggogling for evidence of same, all I could find were feminist blogs and online petitions opposing the death penalty as a means to address this crime in particular and male-on-female crime in general.
The prevailing reasoning, with which you may or may not accept, is that it fosters scape-goating, while failing to address the cultural attitudes from which the bad actors seem to take their cues.
I suspect that the lack of a single POV from “feminists” is because feminists have diverse beliefs on all kinds of issues – vegetarianism, wearing makeup, the environment, animal rights, the right way to put TP on the roll…
There’s not a single belief system, even about what feminism means, among feminists.
If I commit a crime that qualifies for the death penalty, then fry my sorry ass. If a man commits a crime that qualifies for the death penalty, fry his sorry ass. What other response can there be? I don’t want every single male in jail to be executed, nor do I want every female given a free pass. To me feminism is equality - treat me equally to a man. Give me a job, train me, pay me the same as a man and expect me to perform my stated job. If I am unable to physically do a job, then tell me why I am unable to do the job don’t pat me on the had and tell me I am cute for wanting to try.
The issue, though, is “what qualifies for the death penalty?”, and who gets to decide, and broadly, should anything qualify at all in a civilized society? And, on the topic of this thread, do feminists have a different view on this question?
I’m a feminist, and I responded a few posts up. Feminists as a group will have varying views on the subject. *Because they’re not all the same. *
(As a side note, I can’t imagine a woman not being a feminist. Everything we’re able to do as modern western women is because of feminism. Rent an apartment/buy a house; buy your own car; have your own credit; have a job in a professional field; control your fertility. All of it due to feminism.)
Totally on board with this rant. I can’t stand hearing educated, well paid, self sufficient women declare they aren’t feminists, because they seem to think feminism = man-hating butch lesbian.
Sorry for the hijack.
OP, as a woman I am a feminist. I do not support the death penalty because I’m not a feminist to punish men, but to gain equality for women.
What you said. I’m against the death penalty for moral reasons and because of the history of improper convictions, especially gained through police torture/misdeeds, inaccurate forensics, etc. To me, asking my opinion on the death penalty as a feminist is like asking my opinion on the death penalty as someone with an O+ blood type or as a pet owner.
Being against the DP doesn’t follow from the precepts of feminism, but most of them are against it anyway.
I’ve seen educated, well paid, self sufficient women declare they aren’t feminists, because they seem to think feminism = all kinds of political positions that they don’t agree with, and which don’t follow from the commitment to the equality of women. Because of this -
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That said, given that feminism (though it is an extremely diverse movement with much internal dissension) is strongly correlated with liberal/left/progressive attitudes in general, I would be quite surprised if a large proportion of those who who are keen to identify themselves as feminists are not, personally, against the death penalty.
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I’m a feminist, and I’m opposed to the death penalty, and I wouldn’t have conflated the two.
However, as a feminist, I’m certainly concerned with men’s oppression and mistreatment and inequality, not just women’s issues.
The death penalty sucks, and is a human rights issue, but it’s pretty rare (about 3000 people on death row right now), compared to larger criminal justice issues that affect women, like stalking and domestic violence, and larger criminal justice issues that affect men, like stop and frisk, black youth being sentenced as adults, the drug war, prisons for profit, etc.
People fall for nonsense sometimes, especially when it’s repeated ad nauseam for a couple of decades. It has nothing to do with gender or income, and not much to do with education. It’s true that attacking feminist strawmen - err, straw women? - has been a staple of right-wing rhetoric for a long time even though they have conceded some of the basic issues. And it’s also true that some feminists have said extreme things over the years (find me a group of people who haven’t). But even when those statements are quoted accurately, they don’t represent anything like mainstream feminist views. A lot of women today are concerned about issues including equal pay, access to health care and contraception, and opening up fields of employment that have not traditionally been welcoming to women (like the STEM areas). My experience is that women tend to be supportive of those goals whether they call themselves feminists or not. If they don’t call themselves feminists, it’s often because they’ve been told feminism is about hating men. You can find some quotes over the years that are hostile to men if you go looking. It’s still true that social conservatives have done a ton of work in promoting that kind of image of feminism.
Yes, but feminists as a general population tend to trend towards liberal views.
You could say, "Urban city residents have diverse beliefs on all kinds of issues – vegetarianism, wearing makeup, the environment, animal rights, the right way to put TP on the roll… " and you’d be absolutely right. But it would also be accurate to say that urban city dwellers as a general population tend to trend towards liberal views.