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This is inspired by the post about why women gossip :) And the top answer was that we do it to spread information amongst other women to protect ourselves. This had me wondering, is there a similar reason for women enjoying true crime ?
I'm sure we've all seen the memes about women listening to true crime podcasts to fall asleep and watching documentaries about serial killers. And there's no doubt men enjoy these too. However it seems particuarly common with women. At least half of the women I know enjoy this genre. I listen to these podcasts and they're usually narrated by women. I especially enjoy stories about women in crime, because the reason is always far more personal and vengeful than "man who has a creepy sick fetish". One of my favourites is the serial killer Guilia Tofana, who invented a poison disguised as make up and sold it to women to murder their abusive husbands. She indirectly killed approximately 600 men with her product.
So what is the reason? does it make us feel safe? to make us feel more aware of dangers from primarily men? Why are women drawn to storiesa about dark real events that often involved women as victims of those horrendous acts?
From Why do women love true crime so much? I have a theory | Nancy Jo Sales | The Guardian
"Know thy enemy, know thy self" - Sun Tzu
Personally, I like reading horror and thriller comics such as Tomie from Junji Ito or Everything is Fine from Webtoon, listen to crime podcast like from Roten Mango, and extreme true crime stories like Ted Bundy. This kinds of stories makes me aware that there are evil people out there and always reminds me not to have the benefit of the doubt and prioritize my safety. There are people that have sick minds and they look like ordinary people just like us. The more I know, the more I guard myself and also lesses my anxiety because I prepared myself mentally.
It is also interesting how the criminals/bad people execute their crimes, what are their motivations, and how they trick their victims. It is odd but some of them are creative and sometimes unexpected. It helps me think of the senario and prepare myself from every other possiblity. To me, it is mentally stimulating, especially reading thriller, it makes me guess who is the prepetrator and the plot twists are entertaining, like I thought I am correct but it is actually other factors, something like that.
It is entertaining because you are at home watching or reading it, you are safe and detach from the scenario; thus, allowing yourself to think clearly. It also helps you empathize with the character and put yourself in their shoes and think "What will you do in that situation?" Realistically speaking, people can't think clearly in that situation because they are filled with fear, some of them freeze, some of them fight, and others flight. Using stories allows you to have control in the situation you are not in the present, like you can avoid the senario by doing this or that. For instance, using rules like "Never trust men and never follow them in the alley," "Never tell your details and address to them," etc.
It also does helps me fall asleep and ease my anxiety for some reason. I believe it is because it helps my worries in real life less relevant and reminds me to be present that I am safe and I am well and that I am lucky because everything could be worse. It doesn't mean I don't feel sorry for the victims but like you can have the anxiety that is not for you. It helps me detach, something like that.
I hope I answered your question, this is just my subjective opinion/insight so I don't know if it is for all women. Edit: I mean regarding the falling asleep thing, the subjective opinion but not the education part.
I've watched true crime since I was a little girl, and I certainly have conflict with the genre. On the one hand, I know that podcasts, movies, and tv shows are giving a platform to truly evil men who do evil things to women. I know it can be an exploitative space as well. On the other hand, it gives victims and the families of victims a voice and it allows women to share what they've been through. I do have times when I wonder why I am consuming so much of it, and I start to fear that I am reinforcing something very exploitative. There is true crime that is quite salacious and sensationalist and I try to stay away from that. But something like "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" (both the series on HBO and the book) are incredibly powerful. The mystery in the genre hooks me. I want to know how a killer is caught and how the case is solved. On that level, it is a kind of distraction for me and an escape, but I also worry that this whole space is profiting off the suffering of other people.
I remember overhearing a woman who owned a small bookstore that she knew how to defend herself from an upstairs drug addicted tenant because she watched Law & Order or something. I interjected and told her that's okay but what she really needed was a self defense class. I think it's supposed to be a preventative measure and a "What I would have done..." scenario. For me though it's seeing how peeps and victims behave. Falling asleep to it though? I think that is crazy.
I’m one of those who can easily fall asleep to true crime. I find it paradoxically soothing. Idk why exactly. Maybe it’s because I’ve experienced a lot of violence as a child, and it validates my reality. Like, no, I wasn’t a bad child and didn’t deserve the abuse, just that there are a lot of really fucked up adults out there. To draw a curious parallel, there is this one disgusting misogynistic rap song, like really terrible, but I love it, can’t get enough of it. In it, the male artist just goes on and on about mistreating women in increasingly egregious ways. And it just makes me feel sane! Like, yes, exactly, this is how males think and act, and at least this dude is not bullshitting me.
scary stories make life less scary
Doesn’t really answer your question, but I used to watch a lot of true crime, also binged through Laura Richards’ Crime Analyst podcast. Usually listened to it while doing chores or something. Randomly one day, I’m washing dishes and listening to the latest case and then I asked myself, why am I listening to this shit? These murderers do not deserve the spotlight. Now that’s not that Laura does, she doesn’t use the killers nicknames, she focuses on the victims, etc. she’s very educational. She went through the Depp vs Heard case for example that was very eye opening. But in general, we’re still learning all about killers (obviously) and I just stopped wanting to hear about it.
It's interesting to see how other people live and it appeals to my side that likes gossip. I like to see lives different from my of own, that's the main appeal.
That said, I only watch when I run out of stuff. It becomes predictable, even in real life cases. If it's a family with comfortable amounts of money, the husband caused it because of side chicks or shady business partners. If it's a family without money, it's always the family fuck-up that's been in drama before. Also, criminals are just not that smart. 90% of the time is always the blindingly obvious fuck-up.
Giulia Tofana was not a serial killer, she was just a business woman with a GREAT business idea.