Term Paper on "Social Control of Girls"

Term Paper 3 pages (1099 words) Sources: 3 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Social Control of Girls -- the prisons of institutions

Policing female sexuality in the guise of rehabilitating fallen women and punishing female criminals has been virtually synonymous since the birth of the institution of the prison. In Victorian England, "a female penitentiary was not a penal institution for the punishment of crime, but a charitable enterprise" (Mumm 1996:1). It was supposedly entered voluntarily by fallen women who were prostitutes. The purpose of these institutions, and more religiously based institutions like the Anglican Magdalene Houses, run by women who had taken a vow of chastity, was to teach the prostitutes the error of their ways, and to reeducate them in their roles as 'proper' women. The women were lower class, their patrons were usually middle or upper-class men, but only the women were regarded as fallen, or outside of the pale of society. By reforming the women, these institutions hoped to create a more moral society, but it was women's bodies and minds that had to be controlled and reformed, not the sexual desires of men.

Early institutional education of girls had a similar function of rooting out and punishing faults -- in one famous literary account, based upon the author's life, the young Jane Eyre is forced to wear a placard around her neck proclaiming herself a liar for the supposed sin she has committed. By doing so, he is being educated how to prepare for her role of service, as she is not of the upper classes, and thus might likely 'fall' if not appropriately humbled. Another of her classmates, an attractive girl, has her natural curls cut off for fear that her hair making her vain and presumably, when she grows older, will attract male sexual attention.

If these 19th century examples of institutional control of young women seem extreme or too far removed from our own era, consider that in 1950s and 1960s America, many unmarried young women who became pregnant were sent away to reformatories or religious schools when their pregnancy became visible. Torn away from their families, often unable to graduate high school, they were penalized for sexual activity and made examples of for other girls, while the fathers of the children were not. The young women were often not allowed to decide if they wanted to keep their children. It was assumed that having made a 'wrong' decision, that they should abdicate all social control over their own bodies to their elders, including their parents and the people who ran these houses (Fessler 2006). The notion of pregnancy as a 'confinement,' supposedly for the women's health, or the girl's social standing in this case indicates the societal anxiety and shame attached to the obvious result of female sexuality -- a baby. But young women who did not conform to expectations that they only engage in sexual activity until they were married were punished. Until quite recently, high schools would ban obviously pregnant girls from going to class or participating in extracurricular activities, for fear of encouraging other girls to follow suit (Verhoven 1994: 1)

Within the formal juvenile justice system, girls made up 60% of defendants charged with crimes they would not be accused of, were they not juveniles. These crimes include appearing running away from home, or loitering. Despite the fact that… READ MORE

How to Reference "Social Control of Girls" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Sexuality Deviance Social Stratification Research Paper

incest taboo found in every society?

The incest taboo is found in every society, with close relatives generally excluded as possible partners. However, given that there is tremendous variation between… read more

Research Paper 10 pages (3261 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Abortion / Pro-Life / Pro-Choice

---

Sexuality and Social Control Essay

Sexuality and Social Control

Sex education should teach "chastity and virginity before marriage and faithfulness and loyalty within marriage" (Islamic academy) How does this view fit within current debates about… read more

Essay 6 pages (2059 words) Sources: 14 Style: Harvard Topic: Sexuality / Gender

---

Social Psychology of Gender-Based Sex Roles Term Paper

Social Psychology of Gender-Based Sex Roles and Romantic Love in American Society

Different human societies define romantic love according to specific cultural beliefs about gender-based sex roles and social mores… read more

Term Paper 7 pages (2019 words) Sources: 5 Style: APA Topic: Sexuality / Gender

---

Historical Perspective of Social Work Term Paper

Social Work

The objective of this work is to trace and critically evaluate the relationship of social work to social justice through the lens of the fact that social work… read more

Term Paper 5 pages (1546 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: American History / United States

---

Social Movement Term Paper

Social Movement

The 2008 upcoming U.S. elections are considered by most specialists to be one of the most important and most interesting elections of recent times. This is largely due… read more

Term Paper 10 pages (3390 words) Sources: 5 Style: MLA Topic: Government / Politics

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>