Mother Knows Best: Gender Roles in the Trial of Molly Midyette
1. “MOther Knows Best”:
Gender Roles in the
Trial of Molly Midyette
B Y C a i t l i n D u f f y
2. Introduction
The purpose of this presentation is to argue that
gender role stereotyping exists in our legal system
and it could be the reason that Molly Midyette was
convicted so harshly in the death of her son Jason
My presentation draws from articles
surrounding the cases of Molly and Alex
Midyette, but a large amount comes from a
presentation and discussion with Molly’s parents
4. Introduction
We would like to believe that outdated gender
stereotypes like in the previous video don’t still
exist but sadly they do:
We still see women making a lower wage than
men for the same jobs
Women are still thought to be less intelligent
than men concerning math and science
Women are expected to stay home and do the
cooking and cleaning
5. Introduction
We still see these gender stereotypes in
popular media
“He
cooked, he cleaned, he
did everything my mother
does, so he was the woman
of the house.”
6. Introduction
It seems that much of society is making a
person’s sex synonymous with their gender
This is an issue dating back to the 18th
century when Eunuchs were given a
different gender orientation because they
lacked biological aspects that the male
gender possessed
7. Introduction
What is the problem with interchanging someone’s sex with their
gender? Are they that different?
Sex and gender are different and it is important to distinguish
between the two and to know what I mean by gender role
sex: refers to a person’s biology and consists of male, female
or intersex
gender: refers to a person’s behaviors, feelings and attitudes
that society relates to a person’s biological sex
However, many people associate with a gender that is not
associated with their biological sex
gender role: The expected social behavior of an individual
based on their biological sex
8. Introduction
It is important to know these differences because
many people get a gender and gender roles
assigned to them because of their sex
While it is typical for those to act out the gender
associated with their sex, it is not necessarily
always the case
It is also important to note that just because you
act out a particular gender, it does not mean that
you have to assume the roles associated with the
gender
9. Introduction
What does gender and gender roles have to do with the Justice system?
The short answer should be nothing, but it most certainly does
Gender is no stranger to the legal system, and cases concerning
gender inequality have been fought since the 1970s:
1975: Foritn v. Darlington Little League - Founded
unconstitutional that girls couldn’t play in little league
1984: Planned Parenthood v. Board of Medical Review -
Successful in challenging the state law that required husbands
to be notified before a woman could have an abortion
10. Introduction
Not all cases that involve gender roles are
focused around gender discrimination
In some court cases the verdicts that are reached
may be based on arguments that perpetuate the
ideas of stereotypical gender roles
This is what happened to Molly Midyette in her
trial
Molly was convicted of child abuse resulting
in death
12. Background
Molly was convicted for the death of her son
under the charge of child abuse resulting in
death in mid 2007, at the age of 28
The conviction arguably occurred because
Molly assumed the gender role of a mother
and stereotypical conclusions about this role
were made by the prosecution
13. Background
To understand how Molly could have
possibly been convicted based on gender
roles, it is important to look at the
background of the death of Molly’s son,
Jason
15. Background
During the pregnancy Molly suffered from
preeclampsia
Preeclampsia occurs in pregnant women
after the twentieth week of pregnancy and
can cause high blood pressure
Symptoms of preeclampsia include:
Lasting headaches, belly pain, as well as
nausea and vomitting
16. Background
Jason Midyette was born December 17, 2005.
Though he was a bit premature the preeclampsia
did not seem to effect him, and he was a healthy boy
After Jason was born it was suggested by Alex and
his parents that Molly return to work and Alex be a
stay at home dad
The interesting aspect to Molly returning to work
is that both Alex and herself were employed by
his parents
17. Background
On February 24, 2006 Molly received a call
at work from her husband saying that he
believed Jason was sick
Molly and Alex took Jason to their regular
physician,where they discovered signs of
swelling in Jason’s head, and he was rushed
to the emergency room at Boulder
Community Hospital
18. Background
At the hospital Jason under went a series of tests
which revealed he had a major skull fracture and
that he had over 30 broken bones, all of which were
at different stages of healing
This suggested that Jason had been repeatedly
abused
At this point the police were called to investigate
Molly and Alex
Jason was rushed to the Children’s Hospital in
Denver, where he slipped into a coma
20. Background
Police pursued Molly and Alex for the death
of their son and were indicted for the charge
of child abuse resulting in death two days
after Jason died
This charge holds the same consequences as
second degree murder
21. Background
Molly and Alex were tried separately, both
trials starting in 2007
Molly’s trial was not exceptionally long, and
just weeks after it started she was convicted of
the crime of Child Abuse Resulting in Death
and was sentenced to sixteen years in prison
Alex was also convicted in his trial. However,
he was charged with Criminally Negligent
Homicide, which is a lesser charge than Molly’s
22. Background
There was a lot of controversy that
surrounded outcomes of the trials of Molly
and Alex because there was no evidence that
pointed to one of them being more guilty (if
guilty at all) over another, so why did Molly
get a worse sentence?
During Molly’s trial there were three major
issues that were brought to light that made
Molly seem responsible for Jason’s death
because of her role as a female and mother
24. Gender Roles in the
Trial
During Molly’s trial there were three major issues
that were brought to light that made Molly seem
responsible for Jason’s death because of her role as a
female and mother, and her not fulfilling these roles.
The points made were:
1. The nursery for Jason was not decorated or
painted in a way to reflect they were having a boy
2. Molly returned to work while Alex became a
stay at home dad
3. Mother Knows Best
25. Gender Roles in the
Trial
1. The first point that the prosecution made was
that Molly did not decorate the nursery to reflect
her and Alex were having a boy
The gender role that this violates is that new
mother’s are supposed to want to nest and
create a comfortable and inviting home for
their newborn
By Molly not nesting, the conclusion was
drawn that she was not excited for the child
and that she might even resent him
26. Gender Roles in the
Trial
There are many issues with this being evidence for motivation to harm her son:
Molly was suffering from preeclampsia and the symptoms associated might
make it hard to be around the smell of paint or do any sort labor
This could almost be an argument for her loving her son, she took care
of herself and Jason before taking care of superficial needs
While decorating a room is something that is traditionally done in
preparation of a new child, it is certainly not evidence to dispute a mother’s
love for her child in court
Why did Molly have to paint the nursery? Shouldn’t Alex be held just as
accountable for this task especially when Molly was not 100 percent
healthy?
Alex not being held responsible for painting the nursery completely
reinforces the idea of Molly being held responsible solely because she
was the woman and mother
27. Gender Roles in the
Trial
2. The second point that the prosecution made
against Molly was that Molly returned to work
after Jason was born while Alex was a stay at
home dad
The gender role that this violates is that new
mother’s should want to stay at home so they
can bond with their newborn
By Molly returning to work, the argument
that she didn’t love Jason or resented him,
was perpetuated
28. Gender Roles in the
Trial
There are several issues with this being evidence for motivation to harm her son:
The first issue here is that Molly was told to return to work by her husband
and both her step-parents
This is so important is because both Molly and Alex were employed by
Alex’s parents and even though Molly wanted to be home with Jason,
her step-parents forced her hand to return to work
This could be argument that Alex may have wanted to harm Jason
because he made it so he was alone with him so often
Another issue is that Molly returning to work could have been more
beneficial for Jason in the long run
Even though both Molly and Alex were employed by his parents Molly
made more money than him. She gave the impression that she was ok
with returning to work so they could make more money, so Jason could
be better provided for
29. Gender Roles in the
Trial
3. The final point made against Molly in her
trial concerning gender roles was the idea that
“Mother Knows Best”
The gender role that Molly allegedly
violated here was that a mother should
know when there is something wrong with
their child
30. Gender Roles in the
Trial
This supposed violation of gender roles worked
against Molly in two separate but similar ways.
1. She should have known how sick Jason
was when she first saw him on February 24th,
and not wasted time by going to the physician
and going straight to the ER
2. If she wasn’t committing the abuse herself,
she should have known that Jason was being
harmed over time and known about the
numerous broken bones
31. Gender Roles in the
Trial
The issues with the first idea of Mother Knows Best are:
On the day that Jason was taken to the hospital there was a large gap of
time between when Jason arrived at the children’s hospital and when he
first showed symptoms of being ill
The argument here is that because she was Jason’s mother she should
have sensed the severity of his injuries and taken more drastic
measures sooner
The problem with this logic is that Jason’s regular physician didn’t see
the extent of his injuries upon his examination, so how was a post-grad
law-student supposed to know?
As stated in a previous point, Alex should be just as responsible for the
welfare of his child
Just because Molly is a female and identifies with the woman gender
does not mean that skirts Alex of his parental responsibilities
32. Gender Roles in the
Trial
The issues with the second part of the argument of “Mother Knows
Best” are:
There were accusations of Alex being the abuser of Jason and
that’s why he wanted to stay at home
If this were the case it would be very easy for Alex to hide the
broken bones of Jason. If he cause the injuries he would easily
be able to make an excuse for them
The other issue here is that Molly loved and trusted her
husband. So even if Jason had been acting strange on other
occasions, if Alex said everything was fine, Molly probably
believed him
Intuition, no matter how strong, can be snuffed out by
putting your trust in another person
34. Conclusion
Court cases are often extremely complex and
very seldom are simply black and white
The case with Molly Midyette is no exception
As complex as the case seems it could be
argued that the conviction was made based on
pre-existing ideas of gender roles that were
presented by the prosecution
35. Conclusion
The gender roles that Molly supposedly
violated were:
Mother’s should nest for their newborn
Mother’s should want to spend as much
time with their children as possible, and
stay with them instead of returning to work
right away
Mother knows best
36. Conclusion
It would be irresponsible to say that the
outcome of Molly’s case was based solely on
gender roles, however, if these pre-existing
gender roles did not exist in the minds of
society Molly may have not been charged as
severely for a crime that I don’t believe she
committed
37. References
"7NEWS - Alex Midyette Given Maximum Sentence Of 16 Years - News
Story." 7NEWS. N.p., 15 May 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. <http://
www.thedenverchannel.com/news/alex-midyette-given-maximum-sentence-
of-16-years>.
"Discrimination Court Cases Over the Years." RI ACLU: Featured Court Cases.
N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2012. <http://www.riaclu.org/CourtCases/
sexdiscriminationcs.html>.
Warner, Joel. "Molly Midyette, a Mother Sentenced to Sixteen Years for the
Death of Her Son, Speaks out." Molly Midyette. Westword News, 06 Apr.
2011. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. <http://www.westword.com/2011-04-07/news/
molly-midyette-speaks-out/>.
38. 1984: Planned Parenthood v. Board of Medical Review
Successful challenge to state law
requiring husbands to be notified before a
woman could have an abortion.
(PARAPHRASE DONT KEEP THIS
WAY)
