WHY DO WOMEN KILL

It is a common misconception that serial murder is a boys' club. But with the not-so recent release of "Monster" people have a much larger misconception; that female serial murder is a new phenomenon. Though Aileen Wuronos has received the most media coverage and been deemed "America's First Female Serial Killer", this couldn't be further from the truth. There have been several cases of female killers long before the term "Serial Killer" was born. So what makes Wuronos so different? I believe that the methods, victims, and motive that Wuronos selected did not fit normal female characteristics, not only for serial murder, but in general.

Method: Most female serial killers who act alone, like Belle Gunness or Mary Ann Cotton, fall into the category of poisoners. What makes Wuronos interesting to the general public, I suppose, is that she used a gun. Comparing a female killer's pathology to a male's is to compare basic female character traits to male traits. Using a gun or knife is a very violent, phallic way of showing dominance to one's victim. So in turn, Wuronos established violent, masculine behavior, unlike her previous female counterparts. It is a natural instinct for a female to nurture; hence, poisoning a loved one's food or, as Harold Schechter says in his 2003 book "The Serial Killer Files" on the subject, "nurturing to death."

Victims: One of the most important differences in the pattern between male and female murderers is in the victims. Although it is a common trait among killers to murder people they are familiar with, (Like Thomas Harris' infamous character Hannibal Lecter says, "He covets what he sees everyday"), the female killer seems to murder people she actually cares about, people very close to her. Serial murder should be closely compared in all regards to dating. The biggest difference, of course, is that the wanted outcome is murder and not just sex. Unlike a male, who can have sex with (or kill) as many anonymous partners (victims) as he can, a female's pathology tends to take time to get to know her partners (victims). Whether the woman is a poisoner, Black Widow, or a woman with Munchausen's Syndrome (typically a woman who murders her children for the attention and pity she gets from friends and family), the need to know her victims on a personal level seems to be there. The way a woman will associate sex with love and family, the perversion of that manner of thinking would be for a psychopath to associate murder with love and family. What made Wuronos different is that she murdered strangers, her "Johns." Why?

Motive: The question "why?" comes up for anyone who murders. Revenge, passion, jealousy, money, are just a few of the reasons society can understand. But when the answer is fun, sex, boredom, domination, society has a hard time swallowing. Most serial murder committed by men is usually for sex. The same reason why some men favor loud, emotionless sex while other men prefer meaningful love-making, a man with a psychopathic personality will favor violent sex that will climax to murder. The question raises higher in regards to women. As stated before, some of the motives are justified, such as a jealous wife catching her husband cheating, or a mental illness like Munchausen's. But female killers who look to murder for sexual stimulation are usually introduced to the thought by their lovers. This is the classic example of the "killer couple." Like the Moors Murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, or Fred and Rosemary West, the female of the couple was usually doing what she needed to do to keep her man satisfied. Of course, they were "getting off" to it too, but would they by themselves? The only account that I can think of is that of Elizabeth Bathory, the Hungarian noble who killed for self-satisfaction. But this was at a time when nobles felt their life was valued so much higher than others; to murder a peasant was equivalent to killing a bug. So why, out of all the history of female killers is Wuronos so different? Well, she first claimed self-defense and "revenge" because of an apparent John who raped her and almost killed her. How sensational, for the "victim" to become the "perpetrator." It was later revealed that her motives were simply for theft.

In my honest opinion, Wuronos is equivalent to any common thug or thief that goes on a robbery spree, killing people along the way. One of the biggest arguments of classifying someone as a "serial" killer is number. If a person kills more than three people are they a serial killer? Is a gang member or a mob hit man a serial killer? I believe when a person thinks serial killer, Gacy, Bundy, and Dahmer come to mind. Why did they kill? Lust. So, "lust killer" is a better term than "serial killer" in my opinion when describing these individuals. I'm sorry, but I don't believe Wuronos falls into this category, but it did make for an interesting movie.

Disagree? Please let me know where there has been a female lust killer who acted alone.