A study has found that not only women tend to have a stronger in-group bias than men, but also that we tend to prefer mothers over fathers and to associate the male gender with violence. [1]

Another study found that we tend to associate more favorable stereotypes with women than with men. [2]

Do we tend to consider women as more innocent and nice? What consequences does this have on society as a whole?

Does the fact that we tend to view women as nicer contribute to the phenomenon of men getting harsher sentences than women for the same crime. Indeed recent a recent study showed that “men receive 63% longer sentences on average than women do,” and “[w]omen are…twice as likely to avoid incarceration if convicted.” [3] Another study has confirmed that women are treated more leniently in the federal courts. [4] In the UK, the judges are actively encouraged to be less harsh with women. [5]

Is it right to assume that women are less of a threat than men? Could the solution be to treat criminals less harshly in general regardless of their gender and to focus on their rehabilitation rather than their punishment?

Is it fair for men to be always considered more threatening and intimidating?

There have been multiple examples of female criminals and there have even been some female serial killers. Yet it’s still hard for some to view women as capable of evil. Even in the movies, the female villain is often portrayed as “misguided” and “corrupted by men”. For example, in the recent Maleficent movie, the famous evil witch is portrayed as a victim of men and she redeems herself in the end. The male villains of the movie are not given the benefit of the doubt however and no one was interested in redeeming them…

What is the solution? Certainly not to demonize women as certain groups do. Instead as a society we must understand that women are human beings who are also capable of evil instead of innocent flowers who require our protection. We must also learn to have more empathy for men instead of dismissing them as corrupted souls unworthy of redemption like a certain movie about an “evil witch turned good” portrays them to be.

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