Killing in the name of

"Before you judge, listen to their stories." - from the promo for Women Behind Bars on WE TV.

Yes, I watch WE TV, but only because it's running Golden Girls almost without fail. Unfortunately, when that beautiful, classy, and light years ahead of its time show isn't on, WE is showing some truly reprehensible programming. From the show's website:

Women are supposed to be the gentler sex, the softer side of humanity. But some women do kill, and when they do, we want to know why. What drove them to kill? Was it an abusive husband? Was it drugs? Was it envy…fear…lust? In this original series, WE take us behind the killings to try and answer all of the burning questions of why they did what they did.

I really chafe at the insinuation here that when a woman kills, it's different from when a man does. Also, what terrible, stereotypical examples they throw out there for reasons - basically: a man, emotions stemming from men/sex/the competition for these two things, or drugs. Is that the extent of how complex our society perceives women's thoughts and motives to be? On top of that, WE TV is clearly geared towards woman - and this is what all their testing and polls show them that we want, and that we identify with.

The Oxygen network, also a women-centric network, has it's own show called Snapped, and their description sounds very similiar, if not more obnoxious:

Whether the motivation was revenge against a cheating husband, the promise of a hefty insurance payoff, or putting an end to years of abuse, the reasons are as varied as the women themselves. From socialites to secretaries, female killers share one thing in common: at some point, they all snapped. These shocking but true stories turn common assumptions about crime and criminals upside down, and prove that even the most unlikely suspects can be capable of murder.

Wow, so you're saying all kinds of women kill, from socialites to secretaries? How about using a different "s" word, like scientists? Oh, that probably doesn't sound enough like a lady-profession. And Oxygen would like you to know that we ladies are of course the MOST unlikely suspect in a murder case. Because ladies don't fart and ladies don't like sex and ladies certainly, without a doubt, do not kill.

Guess what WE and Oxygen? We're humans too. And while I'm not super stoked about fighting for the right to be recognized as capable of taking a life, for the same range of reasons men do, these are the paths a modern feminist finds herself on. So please do your part, and just don't watch this crap.