Introduction
Stereotypes exist in fiction but also in reality. They also nourish
one another in a reciprocal way. Hence the various
representations of men and women detectives were filled with a
sense of stereotyping against both genders and ended even
compromising with the social codes of the societies in which
they were published. Thus, they reflected the images expected
by the viewers but also helped shape these.
Men Detectives
The main two crucial traits a man must have to be considered
as an appropriate detective in a fictional account is his ability to
solve crimes and his being the hero. Any character or physical
traits are acceptable as long as the detective is doing his job
properly and is solving crimes. This is in itself a form of
stereotyping against men. As a man is also allowed to fail, cry,
and be defeated. However, this is not what readers expect to
read, see or hear. In order for the character to gain the
viewers/readers confidence he must succeed in fulfilling their
desires of finding the criminal and presenting him/her to the
authorities. Otherwise, the work won’t sell.
Women Detectives
Stereotyping against women detectives has changed across the
years. We can even talk about traditional vs modern female
stereotypes. Seemingly writers had to compromise with two
major stereotyping concepts independently of the societies in
which those accounts were published a female detective meant
that the character is either an unsuccessful either as a
detective or as a woman. This is what explains the use of such
words as sleuth or spinsters to describe them. As author
Kathleen Gregory Klein states in her book The Woman
Detective ‘to succeed commercially authors decided that their
character was either not a proper detective or not a proper
woman’. Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple is a good example for
this.
