36 - Masculinités médiatiques
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Sophie Dubec
The murderous fathers, these criminal men. Media construction of infanticidal masculinities in French television news (1985-2018)
Le Temps des médias n° 36, Printemps 2021.
This article examines the construction of masculinities in infanticide TV news (1985-2018). The first part highlights the asymmetrical gendered construction of murderous parents. Women (associated with the private sphere, emotions and psychological suffering) are represented as mothers and fathers (associated with the public sphere, rationality and violence) as men. The second part of the analysis looks at the performance of gender in the Romand (1993), Godard (1999) and Dupont de Ligonnès (2011) cases. It highlights the sanctions entailed by the non-performance of masculine norms, the possibility of constructing masculinity in the absence of a male protagonist as well as the progressive entry of men into a culture of intimacy.