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The Devil in the Red Dress and the Black Widow - discursive representations of female fillers in Irish newspapers
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Date
2025
Authors
Enberg, Jannica Ann Caroline
Journal Title
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Publisher
University College Cork
Published Version
Abstract
This Feminist Critical Discourse - analytical study addresses the under-researched field of female violence in Ireland by analyzing newspaper representations of convicted female killers Sharon Collins (“Lying Eyes”) and Catherine Nevin (“The Black Widow”) who both solicited the murders of their male partners for financial gain. An archive detailing 28 publicized Irish cases involving female killers was compiled for the study for the first time and will provide an important foundation for future studies in the field. Based on the archive, the cases of Collins and Nevin were extracted and defined as “unusual cases” (Seal 2010: 4), based on how their circumstances of middle-class privilege, social conformity and seemingly healthy relationships deviated from the vast majority of the compiled cases, aiming to widen the scope of feminist research into female violence, and cases which may appear legitimate from a feminist standpoint. Articles from The Irish Independent, The Irish Times, The Evening Herald and The Sunday World were analyzed, providing a cross- section of broadsheets and tabloids, observing differences in tone and the prevalence of sensationalism. The study thus investigated socio-politically framed news media discourses of a gendered demographic, and how these can work to sanction transgressive femininities in the sociocultural context of Ireland. The study is sociological but also built on feminist criminological research, as well as information on judicial aspects on sentencing and gendered court narratives, in order to synthesize contextual information which previously has not been available in the Irish context.
The analysis was carried out through Fairclough’s model of Text, Discursive Practice and Sociocultural Practice, considering the context of contemporary Irish newspaper journalism, normative Irish femininity as well as representational conventions of female killers in relation to the extracted themes. The themes which emerged for Catherine Nevin were Narcissist and Bad Wife, and for Sharon Collins Masked Evil and Penance. The vast majority of topics appeared strongly aligned with the Catholic context, emphasizing Marian values of ideal femininity such as monogamy, docility/passivity, humility and nurture - for example, encouraging Collins’ maternal role in relation to her two sons and sanctioning Nevin’s alleged extramarital affairs with local prominent men, as well as her attention to physical appearance in court. Certain topics also aligned with narrative devices commonly applied to female killers, such as a frequently occurring sexualisation, an emphasis on the offenders’ emotional coldness as well as a lack of contextualisation and, stylistically, a focus on hyperbolic description. Such discourses contribute to the female killers’ loss of agency as well as
representational multitude, subsequently being obstructed from owning as well as explaining their own actions and motivations. There were, nevertheless, a small number of counter-narratives which provided some nuance in relation to Nevin’s guilt and Collins’ capacity for evil and suggested a journalistic desire to present a balanced account of the facts. Yet the limited extent of these counter-narratives was overpowered by the more accusatory discourses.
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Keywords
Media representations of female killers , Feminist criminology , Female killers in Ireland , Gendered violence
Citation
Enberg, J. A. C. 2025. The Devil in the Red Dress and the Black Widow - discursive representations of female fillers in Irish newspapers. MPhil Thesis, University College Cork.