The Women Detective: The Ultimate Oxymoron?

Throughout the entire term, we have watched various forms of detection work from many genres, hardboiled, classical, supernatural, and so on. One key issue has been made apparent through viewing these shows, the occupation of detection in an inherently male role. In these shows, women usually fill the roles of the "back-up team", secretaries, or as the victims. In a few shows though, women are seen as the main detective, such as Miss Marple, Jane Tennison, and Dana Scully. The main question that arises is can women become detectives?

To be able to figure out whether or not women can be detectives, one first has to beg the question: What IS a detective? In the classis sense, a detective in a person that in called in when a crime occurs and the police are at a loss to solve the crime. The detective can be classified into three categories, professional, private, or amateur, which each have a distinct way of solving a crime. The author or writer throws a puzzle element into the story line in attempts to throw off the reader or viewer, but the detective never strays from the correct suspect even through minor plot twists. In most stories, the detective is level headed, analytical and is one who sticks to his or her own guns. Detectives are usually smart, fit, omniscient, heroic, and logical and they tend to exist to ensure justice be carried out, and to solve the crime. They are able to put a stop to super criminals (criminals who tend to out smart the police) because they are able to act outside of the influence of laws unlike the police who are bogged down by procedure.

Having figured out what being a detective entails, it's fitting to analyze the women detectives we have watched this term to determine which qualities of a detective they possess, and whether their portrayal of a detective allows for women to acquire this title. One of the first women detectives Miss Marple, created by Agatha Christie, is a bourgeoisie woman in the rural English countryside that has a knack for getting entangled in some kind of murder. She is an amateur detective who uses gossip and keen observation to solve a crime. In the various episodes she's in, the viewer never sees her physically going out into the field collecting information for her self. She also always seems to find some way to use the past experiences in her life to aid her in figuring out the perpetrator. Her exterior is unthreatening, an aspect of her being that allows for her to get into any situation and not make others suspicious of her intentions. During the time period in which she was created, there was an imbalance in the genders, men were off at war, and women had to take up the stereotypical men's roles. Miss Marple is very ruthless in figuring out the crime, her main motive is to issue justice for the deceased. Jane Tennison is another woman detective from England who is from the 1990's. She appears to be a woman detective first before being just a detective, meaning that she always has so much to prove. Through the episode viewed, Jane must compromise her gender in order to gain acceptance and appreciation in the police squad. She can be seen as not being a woman, though it's pointed out so clearly by the view of the man, but on the job, she tries to hold back everything feminine about her. She has short hair, and wears suits befitting of a man which only leaves her voice as a gender indicator. Her way of detection is to examine every bit of evidence with her own eyes, and even to reexamine work that other men have already done. One last women detective we looked at this term was Dana Scully, an FBI agent paired with Fox Mulder in the unexplainable cases department. Dana takes up the role of the levelheaded thinker who is the more logical of the two. She seems to be a little more behind the scenes all of the time, and tends to follow Mulder on his crazy exploits. Her job is to find