Aileen Wuornos: The Female Serial Killer

When you think of the typical serial killer, you imagine Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer. Remarkably people only think of male serial killers, yet female serial killers are on the rise and are just as dangerous. There may not be as prevalent female serial killers as there are male though their crimes are just as brutal. The female serial killer is an interesting type that many researchers do not know much about. There have only been recent studies done due to the limited pool of contestants but Aileen Wuornos allowed researchers to delve into the mind of the female serial killer and what makes them tick. Aileen Wuornos, she brutally killed seven men and is one of the remarkably well known female serial killers. The men she killed were convicted

Well for the male serial killers the majority kill due to the sexual aspect or gruesome fantasy. In an FBI study done in 2004, where they interviewed male prisoners, they found that most of their crimes were committed under the influence of drugs or alcohol. (Culhane 26) All however, had the similar motive and gains that went along with their motive. “The primary motive was sex, but profit and affect were also present”(Miller 5). Although a typical male serial killers main motive is sex there are underlying motives also. Yet with female serial killers sex is never a motive in their crimes. Women seem to have a noticeably different approach to why they kill. Unlike men, women are more likely to kill as a result of monetary gain or histrionic attention-seeking (Miller 6.2). The majority of male serial killers murders are due to impulse or rage; most of the cases the male does not know the victim. While with few women serial killers they kill family members or people under their own care. "Research on solo female serial murders has revealed that these offenders historically tend to target family members for reasons of profit and to use poison as their method of murder" (Gurian 1). With this found research the understanding of the female serial killer is slowly being uncovered. If women kill people they know then it is very likely that

Male serial killers tend to start killing before the age of 30 yet this is not the case with women. “Female serial killers tend to start somewhat later than males, usually around age 30” (Miller 6.2). With women starting their kills later it makes researchers question whether the female serial killer has always been a killer. Although female serial killers start later their motives are what triggers their kills not just an “urge” to kill or a fantasy, like males. What also differs from the male serial killers is the type of women that are more likely to kill. They are white women from their 30’s to their 40’s and they are typically women in care taking positions, such as a teacher, nurse, or mother. Compared to the males demographic of white male in his 20s to 40s. (Miller 5) The typically male serial killer demographic consists of males who are loners or males with families that are charming and compulsive liars. The comparison between the demographics are quite different. Males fit the typical stereotype of a threatening killer while women serial killers are the complete opposite and do not seem threatening at all. Maybe the female serial killer is non threatening due to the fact that some event causes them to “crack” or they have something to