Fred Viehe addresses an important topic throughout the article “The Underworld never seemed so fair”. How have the roles of women in the mafia changed throughout history? The question, as well as the answer, are both very important in order to understand women’s roles today. Many women today are rejected from the mafia and have no power whatsoever. Often times, wives of Mafioso’s are unaware that their husbands are even apart of the mob. However, centuries ago, women were sometimes in control of mobs. The article addresses the progression and regression of woman’s roles in the mob.
Mary Reade is a great example of a powerful woman who took control of other men. Mary Reade was the result of an affair. From the time she was born, she was disguised …show more content…
On the contrary, Lindsay did not have to cross dress in order to prove her dominance. Mary was known to be more violent than her male colleagues. The article describes her violent habits as “excessive” (Viehe 68). Mary Lindsay shows the progression of the woman’s role in organized crime. Mrs. Reade had to cross dress and say she was a man in order to take the lead in her organized crime group, however, Mary Lindsay was well known for her female attributes and everyone knew she was female. Regardless of the fact that she was a female, Lindsay still asserted her power in …show more content…
G’halls began to become dependent on the B’hoys. The main reason the status of women began to decline was the girls could no longer control the boy’s ancient culture. Throughout this time period, women began to degrade into the role of sex toys as sexual foreplay was rampant in this time period (Viehe 75). It is kind of sad because women went from controlling men to being controlled and in harsh words, raped by the men. In contrast, the Irish women became more violent than ever. For example, a woman by the name of Hell-Cat Maggie gained her reputation for filing her teeth down in order to bite her enemy’s ear off. She would give out a loud scream and then gnaw on her opponent’s ear (Viehe 73). Another ferocious Irish woman from this time period was Sadie the Goat. She gained her reputation by head butting her opponents. Sadie the goat independently transformed an entire gang into her own pirates. These two women alone show the increasing of women’s
Mary Reade is a great example of a powerful woman who took control of other men. Mary Reade was the result of an affair. From the time she was born, she was disguised …show more content…
On the contrary, Lindsay did not have to cross dress in order to prove her dominance. Mary was known to be more violent than her male colleagues. The article describes her violent habits as “excessive” (Viehe 68). Mary Lindsay shows the progression of the woman’s role in organized crime. Mrs. Reade had to cross dress and say she was a man in order to take the lead in her organized crime group, however, Mary Lindsay was well known for her female attributes and everyone knew she was female. Regardless of the fact that she was a female, Lindsay still asserted her power in …show more content…
G’halls began to become dependent on the B’hoys. The main reason the status of women began to decline was the girls could no longer control the boy’s ancient culture. Throughout this time period, women began to degrade into the role of sex toys as sexual foreplay was rampant in this time period (Viehe 75). It is kind of sad because women went from controlling men to being controlled and in harsh words, raped by the men. In contrast, the Irish women became more violent than ever. For example, a woman by the name of Hell-Cat Maggie gained her reputation for filing her teeth down in order to bite her enemy’s ear off. She would give out a loud scream and then gnaw on her opponent’s ear (Viehe 73). Another ferocious Irish woman from this time period was Sadie the Goat. She gained her reputation by head butting her opponents. Sadie the goat independently transformed an entire gang into her own pirates. These two women alone show the increasing of women’s