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1699 Murder Of Sarah Stoat Essay

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In the case of the murder of Sarah Stoat, less focus was placed on actually finding who or what may have murdered Sarah, but instead questions revolved around Sarah’s femininity and what was expected of her at the time that may have been a cause for her death. During this time period, the expectations of a female of Sarah’s age highlighted sexuality and chastity, with stereotypes that were expected to be followed for a girl such as Sarah. So, when Sarah’s body was found floating in a river, many questions both arose as to how she had been killed, but additionally focused on why she may have been there. Gender and the Development of Forensic Science: A Case Study by Julia Rudolph delves into the issue that gender brings up in the case of murders, particularly in this case of Sarah Stoat. Rudolph looks closely at what went about in the case of the murder, and follows Sarah’s mother, Mary, to see what her goals were after the death of her daughter. In the investigation of the 1699 murder of Sarah Stoat, female stereotypes and expectations made the community look less at the murder of Sarah itself and more at the societal controversies that …show more content…

At this time, female “sexuality and chastity” was greatly brought into question (Rudolph 930). Mary focused a great deal on preserving the righteous image of her daughter with regard to these areas of interest. Through the use of drawing in her own resources and witnesses, Mary works to preserve the morality and image of her daughter- due to the large prominence of men taking over in the medical field at the time, Mary pulls in female midwives and matrons to remove a potential sense of bias that may come with male skepticism regarding female sexuality. In the case of a male murder victim, this same regard to sexuality would not be considered by looking in the past but would look more presently at the actual case at

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