Media and the Femme Fatale Killer

• In Event: Race, Gender and Visual Representations of Crime and Violence

Abstract

My research represents an unprecedented examination of the public’s fascination with attractive women who kill—that is, why we love them, and why we love to hate them. I contend that the news and entertainment media use powerful female archetypes such as the femme fatale and black widow to explain the motivations of female killers and, more importantly, and disturbingly, to sensationalize them. By relying on exaggerated stereotypes, the news media generate large commercial audiences and unfairly demonize the targets of their hyperbole, and condemn them prior to their criminal trials.

Author

• Scott Bonn, Drew University