The Bloody Blonde and the Marble Woman: gender and power in the case of Ruth Snyder.

Abstract: Jessie Ramey, "The Bloody Blonde and the Marble Woman: Gender and Power in the Case of Ruth Snyder"

In 1928, the state of New York sent Ruth Snyder to the electric chair for the brutal murder of her husband. The case generated enormous publicity, turning Snyder into an overnight celebrity, and became the focus of an ongoing national debate over gender and capital punishment. Two complex, contradictory, gendered characterizations of Snyder emerged from the public discourse surrounding her case: in one, Snyder was a woman (a "Bloody Blonde"), but one who must die in the electric chair regardless of her sex. In the other characterization, Snyder was no longer a true woman at all. She was a "Marble Woman," lacking all proper feminine emotions, a sexual aggressor who overstepped gender boundaries. Through the resulting cultural narrative, newspaper reporters, editorialists, letter writers, and popular authors grappled with the very meaning of modernity and gender roles in the 1920s, many expressing concern that women were threatening the patriarchy of family and state. By examining the debate surrounding Snyder's execution, and situating her case in historical context, this paper seeks to uncover the political work of the "Execute Her" narrative as it serves to prop up traditional gender and power hierarchies.