Aren’t females themselves the archetypical victim in true-crime stories? So why would they enjoy listening, watching or reading about the horrible things rapists and serial killers do to their targets? With this paper, I seek to shed light into that paradox. I want to explain why true-crime media is specifically popular amongst women. So firstly, I will give a quick introduction into the rising popularity of true-crime media. Secondly, I will explore as well as explain the gender gap in true-crime consumption with the aid of various social psychological, sociological and criminological research and present a profile of the typical female true-crime fan. I will finish off with a summary.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- The Rise of the True-Crime Genre
- Women's Fascination with True-Crime
- The Paradoxical Gender-Gap
- The Profile of a Female True-Crime Fan
- What Draws Women Towards True-Crime
- Summary
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This paper aims to explain the popularity of true-crime media among women. It explores the paradoxical gender gap in true-crime consumption, examining why women, often perceived as more empathetic, are drawn to stories of violence and murder.
- The rise of the true-crime genre across various media.
- The significant gender gap in true-crime consumption, with women comprising a larger portion of the audience.
- The profile of the typical female true-crime fan.
- Social and psychological explanations for women's fascination with true crime.
- The impact of true-crime media on perceptions of crime and gender roles.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
Introduction: This chapter introduces the prevalence of true-crime podcasts and other media, highlighting the disproportionate female viewership and posing the central question of why women are drawn to this genre.
The Rise of the True-Crime Genre: This section provides a brief history of true-crime media, tracing its evolution from print media to podcasts. It mentions key research on the genre's conventions and its impact on public perception of crime.
Women's Fascination with True-Crime: The Paradoxical Gender-Gap: This chapter presents empirical evidence from various studies demonstrating the significant gender gap in true-crime consumption, with women showing a stronger preference for this type of media than men. It introduces the work of Vicary and Fraley (2010), highlighting their findings on book reviews and choice experiments.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
True crime, gender gap, media consumption, women, podcasts, social psychology, crime, violence, murder, empirical research, Vicary & Fraley (2010), gender roles, media representation.
- Citation du texte
- Anonym (Auteur), 2022, Media and Crime. Women's Fascination with True Crime, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1513278
