I was struck today by the way various media outlets handled two eerily similar crime stories — one involving a woman who set fire to her ex-boyfriend as he slept, and another involving a man who purposefully set his girlfriend on fire.
(I know, this sounds nutty, but stick with me. I have a point, I promise.)
First the man:
San Francisco police are looking for a man suspected of throwing a flammable liquid at his girlfriend and setting her on fire.
Officer Carlos Manfredi says witnesses in the city’s Bayview District reported hearing the woman screaming on Sunday. She was taken to a hospital burn unit.
Investigators believe her attacker was 22-year-old Dexter Oliver.
And now the woman:
Maybe she just wanted to rekindle their old flame.
Nicole Dobol, 29, was arrested last Wednesday for allegedly breaking into her ex-boyfriend’s apartment and setting fire to a mattress where he and another woman were sleeping, according to a release from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
On Nov. 11, Dobol reportedly was searching for her ex at Hog Heaven Bar and Grill in Islamorada, Fla. His roommate told her that the man in question was at their apartment.
Some roommate.
Deputies say Dobol busted into the apartment and made her way into the bedroom, where her ex and his new flame were asleep.
In the heat of jealousy, Dobol allegedly torched the mattress. According to the release, Dobol stood over the couple, “taunting” them while the flames leapt around them.
Note the obvious difference in tone between the two stories which report on similar crimes. The man is labeled as an “attacker,” while the woman’s crime is characterized more as a bout of PMS. Chock full of arson synonyms, the woman didn’t “attack” but acted in the “heat of jealousy,” perhaps in an effort to “rekindle” her old flame.
The woman’s story first caught my attention via Glen Reynolds, who linked to another news site that described Dobol’s violent act of arson as “one way to heat things up with an ex.” Domestic violence, in Dobol’s case, is reported as little more than “just a quirky news story about love gone wrong,” Reynolds noted.
What do you think? Sexist double standard, shoddy reporting or both?
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sizzlinsexybeckster
Jan. 8, 2013 at 2:21amNo Meredith, you don’t sound nutty. Not only with the news media do they always portray women as jealous nut bags, but they are also doing this with the history of women on television shows… all Queens were somehow… now… being portrayed all as jealous murdering nutbags. Hit the info on your television program and guide and read all these horrible propaganda shows with your remote control. You will always find some. And these women have been dead and can’t defend themselves from getting their reputations dragged thru the sewer. They are changing history as all women were murderous jealous nutbags. Keep researching, you will find so much to unfortunately make you puke with disgust with our media in all directions. Good job.
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Keep Your Skepticals On
Jan. 7, 2013 at 8:21pmNeither.
The first story is a purely factual news report. The second is a commentary. This may be for any number of reasons.
1. Publications/Authors: Some offer commentary, some offer pure factual reporting. Some mix it up. It’s why I stopped even checking out PuffHo – more like a blog than a pure news site.
2. Available information: From the examples, it seems much more information was avaialble to the author for the female story than was to the male story – allowing more flexibility to make it interesting.
3. Curiosity: Perhaps also the reason why more information was investigated/provided, it is (seems atleast) far more unusual when a violent crime is committed by a woman. This makes the female story more “justified” for reporter time and page space.
If the facts are all correct, it’s just an issue of wether or not you want quick facts or an “entertaining” play-by-play. If you sex-changed the perps in each stroy, would probably have about the same story from each publisher that they presented the first time.
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noslave
Jan. 7, 2013 at 6:45pmwe are looking for a man??that says hes most likely black?? as for the woman they forgot to mention the color of her underwear?her parents were catholic??republican??etc. typical political correctness B.S.
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De-Elect
Jan. 7, 2013 at 6:14pmI notice it in tv commercials. The males in commercials are always clueless morons while the females in the spots are smart and in total control. It didn’t bother me until I noticed the pattern.
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Livia
Jan. 7, 2013 at 7:22pmI’ve been seeing that for some years now, and also in some of the programming. They also show women in commercials shaking their rear ends, their hips and with breasts almost exposed. I’ve even seen that in ads on this site. Women are almost praised for their dirty deeds than men, and they get by with more than the men do. Some years back, there was a woman in one of the southern states that almost castrated a man with her bare hands.
Sorry, but I just don’t think any fo the above incidents are “cute”, “sunny” or “smart”. Neither sex needs to be the **** of constant jokes and or using body parts to sell things. And YES, I AM a woman, but I respect men and women both as much as they will allow me to.
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TeresaJ
Jan. 7, 2013 at 11:46pmI’ve noticed that what once would have been considered indecent behavior and shunned by polite society is now celebrated. At one time, family was celebrated, along with the nuturing mother and protective father.
Now, there isn’t a single character on tv or media that is a worthy role model. That went out somewhere around when they shut down Touched By an Angel.
I haven’t watched tv or media consistently since the year 2000ish. Before this election, I would have said Hollywood was out of touch with America. But maybe the generation they have raised has caught up.
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Balzy
Jan. 8, 2013 at 2:07amI’m really getting sick and tired of it, it’s gotten to the point where I change the channel the second i see a progressive ins. commercial. It gives me hope when I see a girl sticking up for us, thank God for you Meredith. Let’s here it for someone who actually believes in equality eh America?
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spirited
Jan. 8, 2013 at 3:35pmYes, DE-ELECT.
>Nancy Pelosi does seem to sell to the masses. –go figure
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Cavallo
Jan. 7, 2013 at 5:11pmYou’ve only scratched the very tip of a very large iceberg sitting in an ocean of double standards and hypocrisy. This goes for medical research, reporting of stories, the treatment in the system and the media of sex offenders, social programs galore, the the laughable treatment in the “justice” system of men vs women. Off the top of your head, how many people do you see wearing blue ribbons, and off the top of your head could you tell your co-workers what it stood for? I didn’t even know it had a ribbon until I looked it up. Women want their cake and to eat it too, at all times and in all situations.
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