Femme Fatale: the female criminal

Temporary Exhibition | Updated 1 decade ago

An exhibition from The Historic Houses Trust of NSW.

Wicked women, seductive sinners, vicious vixens - the female criminal is portrayed in many guises in popular culture, myth, literature and history but what do these stereotypes tell us about women and crime?

Australian authorities have grappled with how to control wayward women from the moment raucous female convicts stepped ashore. The brutal reality of notorious female criminals such as 'the man woman murderer' Eugenia Falleni, sly grogger Kate Leigh and prisoner Yvonne Fletcher is set in stark contrast to the glamour of the noir seductress and pulp novel siren. This exhibition examines these extremes, traversing criminological theory, popular culture and case studies.

When Femme Fatale toured the Western Australian Museum in Geraldton in late 2010, IndieAir developed this trailer, to give a taste of the exhibition.

• Museum of the Goldfields

  Fri 24 Sep 2010 – Sun 21 Nov 2010

  9:00am – 5:00pm

• Museum of Geraldton

  Sat 4 Dec 2010 – Sun 30 Jan 2011

  9:00am – 5:00pm

• WA Museum Boola Bardip

  Fri 11 Feb 2011 – Sun 20 Mar 2011

  9:00am – 5:00pm