The Article below was published in Vol. 136, Issue 8 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on April 30, 2021.
Stephanie Carlson ’21
Associate Editor and Sports Editor
As podcasting has skyrocketed over recent years, one genre has taken the world of podcasting by storm. With massive cult followings and spikes in podcast listenership, the true crime podcasting genre has paved its own path. A path dominated by women.
Not only is the genre being dominated by female producers, women are hosting popular podcasts, including My Favorite Murder, Serial, and the True Crime Fan Club Podcast. According to a study done in 2018 by Kelli Boling and published in the Journal of Radio & Audio Media, roughly 75 percent of true crime podcast listeners are women.
What is drawing women to this genre? To understand why women are so much more inclined to true crime than men, people often look to understand the general intrigue for true crime.
“We are fascinated in the inner workings of people, especially when it’s others’ particularly obscene and evil dark side of doing wrong…negative attracts—look at the way headlines are written,” Dr. Michael L. Mantell, renowned behavioral scientist, said. “If it bleeds, it leads.”
There is something about the dark and gory side of society that seems to hook people in. The darker the story, the more likely people are to become fascinated with the inner workings of it.
Why is the gory world of crime so fascinating for women?
According to Mantell, “Women, more than men, choose true crime over other violent nonfiction.”
Studies believe women are more attracted to true crime because they have a greater fear of crime happening to them and can often see themselves as victims.
An article by the BBC listed five reasons women love true crime: fear of crime, compassion for victims, fascination with motive, true crime provides puzzles to work out, and escapism.
As Mantell said in regard to a study done by the Illinois News Bureau, “The researchers suspected that women like true crime stories in part because such stories provide information that the readers feel could help them avoid or escape from a potential attacker. Previous studies have shown that women are much more likely than men to fear becoming crime victims.”
Women’s fear of being a victim isn’t unwarranted. According to the World Health Organization, one-in-three women have been victims of sexual or physical violence.
“It’s odd, but I often find with my group of female friends that we will casually imagine ways of escaping acts of crime. This doesn’t seem to be the case with my male friends, and they often are genuinely surprised that something like that would even cross our minds,” said Lake Forest College senior, Kristen Mannarelli ’21.
Women are taught from a very young age what to do and what not to do in instances of assault. Never walk alone, hold your keys between your fingers, pretend to be on the phone if you are walking alone. Women are taught to always be cautious, something that isn’t often taught to men as there is more presumed danger when it comes to women.
Not all women’s fascination with true crime stems from a fear of being a victim to it. Many find the inner psychological workings of true crime to be motivators.
“I’m a psychology major and I have always been interested in people’s mental processes and how it influences their behavior,” said Jadyn Castro ’22, a Lake Forest College junior.
No matter the reason, it appears women are more inclined to follow the terrifying world of crime, so much so that the genre of true crime podcasting has become mostly dominated by women: as listeners and producers.
