Sports. Jobs. Opportunities. Power. Strength. All male dominated ideas that took over society over the years. Even though it has gotten better, it doesn’t mean it’s completely gone. Equality amongst gender isn’t fully healed, and thing that is also male dominated that impacts our society is the role of serial killers.
You’ve probably heard of Jeffery Dahmer, Jack the Ripper, or Ted Bundy. They were all notorious serial killers who committed heinous murders. Now, what is one thing that they all have in common? They are all male. If you think about it, when you ponder about serial killers, you often only imagine male ones. Think about it, how many female serial killers can you think of off the top of your head? Probably not a lot, if not any. But why is that? Are there truly not as many female serial killers as male? Or are they simply not heard as often?
Stereotypes play a large role in how both men and women are perceived, especially in the case of serial killers. It can overshadow actual statistics, creating information that isn’t actually true. Men are stereotyped as being “hunters,” meaning that they are seen as more aggressive and dominant. Whereas females are stereotyped as being “gatherers” or “nurtures”–they take care of others and are more docile. So oftentimes, women are underestimated in their capability for violence. They think that simply based on gender they cannot commit such crimes. Additionally, it’s a common stereotype that all men are stronger than all women. While this stereotype was rooted from fact – the male biology means that they are generally stronger to the larger amount of testosterone that they possess. But this has been blown fully out of proportion to the point where people sometimes think that women cannot possess any strength at all. While men are inherently stronger due to their biology, women can still possess a massive amount of strength. But even if they don’t, you do not necessarily need a lot of strength to kill (one can still use guns or poison). Therefore, even when it’s known that a woman has committed murder, they are usually overlooked.
In fact, the FBI didn’t start paying attention to female serial killers until the 1990s. But even then, they mainly just focused on the fact that they were women, which would have skewed the data since they didn’t pay as much attention to the actual crime. This stereotype is learned and shaped by how people envisioned serial killers. Whenever the common person is told to think of a serial killer they would most likely state that they think of either an older white male or a middle aged one. However, that does not mean that gender does not play a role in gendered serial killing. The physical biology of men compared to women can affect their overall psyche when it comes to serial killing. Psychology and childhood play a major role in serial killers lives and the path they choose. As of study conducted in 2005, around 26% of notorious and known serial killers experienced sexual abuse
You would think that all serial killers have the same kind of madness regardless of gender. But actually, the gender of a serial killer can affect their motive, and how their plans of killing are executed. For males, almost all killings derive from a compulsion, a need, for sexual arousal.
During a study, some researchers decided to gather information by collecting 55 male serial killers and 55 female serial killers. According to a survey, men were more likely to “hunt” their victims, the people they target tending to be strangers. They tend to kill for sexual arousal. Whereas, females tended to search their victims, taking their time and “gathering” their victims. Additionally, men were 6.54% more likely to stalk their victims–3.6% for women.
Only 8.6% of known serial killers in the U.S are female, and this just shows the significant difference. Almost 70% of them murdered and made this decision for financial gain. Females were twice as likely to kill someone they formerly knew. According to Crime an Investigation UK, females usually have an innate reason. In the killer’s mind there is typically pragmatism (refers to an approach where the killer is calculating, unemotional, and focused on the practical outcomes or “ends” of their actions, rather than the morality or emotional aspects. This behavior involves a lack of conscience and a focus on efficiency in achieving their goal and justification.
Numerous things are dominated by males. Serial killing too. Death and destruction are not entirely part of males though. All genders can have twisted minds. Males stalk, females crave. Females murder for reason, males kill for sexual ones.