“That Wasn't Even Me They Showed”

Abstract

This study examines images of female offenders on America's Most Wanted, a popular, reality-based television crime program. It is designed to identify demographic characteristics of victims and offenders and to describe the crimes, escapes, and recapture of female offenders featured on the show. It focuses on television images of female offenders—specifically sexuality, conventional gender roles, and male control—to reveal dominant interpretations of femininity. Findings indicate that female fugitives are older and more ethnically diverse than most women on television. The crimes committed by female fugitives are more violent than those normally committed by women. Female offenders are depicted as motivated by greed and invested with sexual power, and although they may violate conventional gender norms, they are not subject to the control of men.