It’s called “the chivalry hypothesis,” and as Dr. Rob Whitley says, what it suggests is that judges and journalists tend to portray men as villains and women as victims.

He’s one of the authors of a new McGill University study which looked at how Canadian newspapers describe mental illness and particularly if the chivalry hypothesis holds even when the women are “involved in violence or criminality.”

In other words, are articles about mentally ill women different from those about mentally ill men and are the women treated more generously?

We will definitely be contacting Dr. Whitley to see about arranging a public event to discuss the issue of media and courtroom bias in more detail.