Women in Need
Inside the Family
Making Ends Meet
folded the paper and handed it to the sergeant of the guard, saying:
'Take three men, and carry this girl to jail.' Then turning to Fantine:
'You are in for six months.' The hapless woman shuddered. 'Six months!
six months in prison!" cried she. 'Six months to earn seven
sous a day! but what will become of Cosette?'"
Hugo, Les Misérables,
Fantine Book V, Chapter XIII
|The notion of "the
dangerous class," already evolving as a result of the tension
between rich and poor, solidified in 1828. An official report from
the general inspector of highways, Louis Daubanton, vividly displayed
the burgeoning population and squalid living conditions of the poorer
districts. Yet he did so in such a manner that the poor were seen
as the cause of these problems. The perpetuating of this image- that
the lower classes were dirty and uncontrolled- persisted throughout
the years to come, and was evidenced in the police's treatment of
poor individuals. Coupled with the prevalence of prostitution and
sexist attitudes, impoverished women were targetted with even greater
frequency and severity.
Hugo writes Fantine's arrest so that it is blatantly unjust, perhaps
in an attempt to outrage his audience. The police troops in 19th
century France were highly classist and sexist, and therefore,
poor women bore the brunt of their prejudices.
were particularly prone to police persecution if there was suspicion
that they were prostitutes. Cafes proved prime grounds for such arrests;
indeed, prostitution was rampant in many establishments. But numerous
innocent women also found themselves suffering as a result of this
prevailing stereotype. One interesting dimension of this occurrence
is the profession of falsely accused women. Breaking down the demographics,
out of the total group charged with prostitution, a staggering 26.5%
were actually in domestic work-- although they composed only 8.1%
of women arrested overall. This reverts to yet another stereotype:
that domestic servants were promiscuous because they were so frequently
seduced (naturally, no blame was attached to males of the household).
[the girls] ran they were talking to each other. The taller one
said in a very low voice: 'The cognes came. They just missed pincer
me at the demi-cercle.' The other answered: 'I saw them. I cavale,
cavale, cavale.' Marius understood, through this dismal argot, that
the gendearmes, or the city police, had not succeeded in seizing
these two girls, and that the girls had escaped."
Hugo, Les Misérables,
Marius Book XIII, Chapter II
Other common offenses women
were charged with included slander and public drunkenness. Both of these
allegations reveal the law's inherent sexism. Slander and gossip were
considered exclusively feminine traits, products of a babbling tongue.
And while drunkenness was certainly not gender specific, only in women
was it deemed so inappropriate that it was a criminal offense.