Shannon Mathews

[user1477282676]

This was a shocking case. The child was without a doubt a victim in terrible circumstances. Her own Mother stashing her away under the bed of her partner...drugging her, lying to the public and to her friends about such an awful thing.

But.

Does anyone here think that the press and the public demonised her in a far worse fashion than criminals who do worse have been?

She was pilloried, called terrible names...really made into a sort of figurehead for everything "unwomanly" when there are plenty of men who commit arguably worse crimes and who get away without the public disgrace.

Yes she did a truly awful thing but the fact that she was

A: A woman
B: Working Class
C: Ignorant
D: Unattractive

All added up to ensure that she was the perfect example of a demon woman. Can anyone expand or tell me more about this sort of thing? Do you agree with me? Are there other cases which are similar?

As an aside, one of the reasons there was a discernible difference between the press coverage between Shannon and other cases was because the police presumably knew it was dodgy as fuck.

I think a large part of the hate for Karen Matthews was because people felt so duped - half the town were out searching, and most of the media-reading public were behind her, only to find out she'd suckered everyone. Of course there'd be backlash.
On the other hand, there is definitely a sense of "how could a mother/woman do this?" in cases like these, which isn't the case with male criminals.

Ian Brady didn't commit murder till he met Myra, it could just as easily be said it was the meeting of 2 equally sadistic people that caused a perfect storm and that is what led to murder, not that one led the other to it.

It was Myras voice that was heard threatening terrified Lesley Ann Downey as they tortured her and she begged to go home. That is what people remembered. Her crimes certainly weren't 'a fraction of his'.

I've not heard of MPs campaigning for the release of a man who'd recorded himself murdering a child.

Karen Matthews deserved every bit of the press bashing she got.

I understand some of what you're saying OP but I don't agree with the feminism angle. People are always more shocked at heinous 'mothers' because of the biological/maternal aspect.

Obviously there would have been different angles reported in the press if KM had been middle class, attractive etc.

The man Karen Matthews left her daughter with was a convicted sex offender. She left her child there, unable to leave, for financial gain. When Shannon was rescued she refused to see her mother or to live with her again and I don't blame her.

I think the Shannon Matthews case was so high profile and just uniquely appalling. I didn't know there was much of an outcry against the mum tbh, apart from in the press. She was in the media more than any other family member who had been in on it, so naturally became a focus.

People seem to be much more critical of the McCanns on the whole. I had a sixth sense something horrible was going to happen in the SM case, never trusted the mum from the start and was glad the poor girl was alive.

The press/the public do treat different criminals differently. Lots of factors go into it - in my family, the 'great train robbers' were regarded as great - I was shocked when I grew up to find out they'd killed a man.

Women are treated differently of course - and I think the prison stats show that women are in their for more minor crimes than men.

Women are supposed to be carers, so when they hurt someone, it is regarded as more heinous/against nature than when a man does.

I don't think Shannon Matthews is a good example of this though. .

"I think a large part of the hate for Karen Matthews was because people felt so duped"

I agree with this.
She not only duped the nation, she duped her own friends and family, I read her other children were severely affected by this, god knows how Shannon is.
She is evil imo, any parent doing what they did to their own child, is evil. How else would you describe it?

MinesAGin I'm sure she wouldn't have been allowed to live with her mother ever again. Her mum went to prison, I'm sure all the children were fostered/adopted.

Karen Mathews is so despised, I think, due to the casual nature in which she committed her crime. The man she left Shannon with has learning difficulties, and Karen arguably exploited a vulnerable adult, as well as her own child.

The people of the Dewsbury Moor estate did not have many material resources to help the search - people were collecting their 2p pieces as it was all they could give - but they gave their time and care to Karen, which she threw back in their faces. They gave a lot, if seen in relative terms to their income.

Karen had been drugging the children for some time, children had already been taken into care. She was in no way a victim, but the instigator of such a heinous crime, which treated her child as an incidental pawn.

I think a man who did what she did, would be despised equally.

www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/cmpo/migrated/documents/wp278.pdf

I know this isn't the point of the thread, but didn't want to leave the 'generations who've never worked' crap go unchallenged. It's nonsense.

Have you posted this because you've read she's found God?

The only way you are going to prove that KM was 'demonised' is by linking to news articles which , in your view, do exactly that.

The way I see it is that she did all of the following:

• drugged and sedated her children over a period of several years (tiazepam and diazepam was found in Shannon Mathews' hair and skin).
• decided to lock her own child up and conceal her in a drawer beneath a bed so that she could make a few quid
• neglected all her dc

-when one of the local supermarkets offered them a free trolley of food she and her paedophile boyfriend loaded it up with alcohol.

and on and on and on.

I couldn't care less what gender KM is - she revolts me and should not be allowed to give birth to or come in to contact with children ever again.

Ian Brady didn't commit murder till he met Myra, it could just as easily be said it was the meeting of 2 equally sadistic people that caused a perfect storm and that is what led to murder, not that one led the other to it.

I don't think that's true. There's plenty of evidence from Brady's background to demonstrate that he was and is a sadist and a psychopath, and he would have realised his desires whether he'd met up with Hindley or not. There just isn't that sort of evidence in Hindley's background.

Shannon Mathews could easily have died whilst being bound and imprisoned. It's only luck that she survived, IMO. KM is filth.

Well, women generally get a much harder time than men over crimes related to children. It's because society expect higher standards when it comes to caring for children from women so it's all the more shocking and outrageous when they don't meet those standards.

Im not sure class has much to do with it, think the McCanns have been given as much as of a hard time as Karen Matthews.

Have you posted this because you've read she's found God?

Was he under the bed too?

I once watched a documentary on female killers in with a psychologist said that Myra Hindley would never have done what she did had she not met Brady, she just had the type of personality that was very easy to manipulate. She was also obsessed with him and had been for some time before they became a couple.

I think Karen Matthews was quite rightly demonised. What kind of mother does something like that? I also take issue with the idea that she's 'thick' uneducated yes, but someone with low intelligence would never be able to concoct such a massive con.

I think it's fair enough really.

As long as they are demonising the others too.

It's all hideous behaviour so all deserves to be criticised.

I think there's a lot of proof in your analysis, OP. Sure, it may not be possible to find a crime committed by a man that is directly comparable to Matthews' as a comparator, but there are plenty of men convicted of much more horrific crimes who don't get the attention she does. If such a man dyes his hair or changes the way he dresses, there is realistically no chance of the tabloids being interested.

See also Maxine Carr. The way she has been demonised by the press is grossly disproportionate to anything she did.

Sorry, I meant truth, not proof.

There are plenty of women around who have not had the best start in life and who struggle in many ways. They don't all lock their own child up in a tiny drawer beneath a bed and allow a paeophile to live in their midst for a few quid though do they?
The day that KM decided to go ahead with her plan is the day she lost all rights. Her dc were all on the At Risk registers from birth.....seems to me all she cared about was money, fags and booze, plus shagging anything that looked at her. What a delightful example to her dc.

For another woman what about Maxine thingy? The one who covered for Ian Huntley.

Could she be a better one to compare to Shannon Matthews mum. Certainly not quite the evil woman that was originally made out.- just very naive and easily led by someone rely nasty. Maybe?

Of course I didn't post because I discovered she'd "found God" what has that to do with what I asked? I'm quite interested that this is so divisive on here.

Deep yes...Maxine Carr....massively well known and thought badly of...we hear more about her than about the many male predators who actually killed and tortured women and girls. She provided a false alibi...covered up for a despicable man...but she didn't commit the crime.

Sorry just seen someone mentioned her a minute ago. Had opened tab before that was posted.