Mothers and Murder

I have noticed in literature and in the media a tendency to demonize women who harm or murder their children in a way that is inconsistent with the depiction of fathers who have committed similar crimes. We have a much more severe reaction to women who harm their children than to other types of violent crimes. This is readily understood - mothers who murder are seen as epitomizing perversion of the natural order. Mothers by nature are expected to nurture and protect. But why the difference in representing murdering or abusive fathers? 

Mothers who harm their children are often identified in the media as "mum" whereas their male counterparts often receive the less emotive appellation "father", or simply "man". This is a trend I have noticed without compiling any data, so at this point my comments are merely anecdotal. But it would be an interesting study, along with surveying the vocabulary in  biographies of violent crimes committed by parents against their own children. I am thinking particularly of the animosity elicited by Rose West, and Newcastle's Kathleen Folbigg, who was convicted of killing her four children. 

Of course I may be just noticing those articles that present information in a certain way that arouses my ire, but it would be an interesting study nonetheless.

This is something I would like to follow up in the future. I hope this entry will serve as a reminder for me to do so.