Dr Marissa Harrison is a psychologist, professor, researcher and an author. All the most infamous serial killers are men? But 1 in 6 serial killers are women - a group who have totally slipped under the radar. So who are these women? What are their motives and why haven’t we heard of them? Expect to learn why female serial killers are neglected in research, what the average demographic of a female serial killer is, who are the most likely victims of a female serial killer, why they kill, the methods they use and much more… Sponsors: See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: https://chriswillx.com/deals Get up to $50 off the RP Hypertrophy App at https://rpstrength.com/modernwisdom (use code MODERNWISDOM) Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period from Shopify at https://shopify.com/modernwisdom (automatically applied at checkout) Get a 20% discount on Nomatic’s amazing luggage at https://nomatic.com/modernwisdom (automatically applied at checkout) Extra Stuff: Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom Episodes You Might Enjoy: #577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: https://tinyurl.com/43hv6y59 #712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: https://tinyurl.com/2rtz7avf #700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: https://tinyurl.com/3ccn5vkp - Get In Touch: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Why is it particularly interesting to study female serial killers?
I think it's interesting because there seems to be this preconceived notions that all serial killers operate the same way. And when we think of a serial killer, we think of, in the United States at least, Ted Bundy or Ed Kemper. We think about monstrous males who commit sex crimes. And female serial killers might be monstrous per some people's definitions, but they tend to be more low-key.
They tend to poison people. They tend to kill for money and power. versus male serial killers tend to kill for sex. So there are profound sex differences. So I think it's interesting to bring that to public attention.
Right. So you're like a promoter of females. Not a promoter, not quite saying that they're good, but just maybe a little bit more attention should be paid. Why have they been so neglected beyond the fact that maybe the way that they kill is less extravagant?
I agree with you. First, let me say, when I was writing the book, Just as Deadly, The Psychology of Female Serial Killers, I was thinking to myself, is this a feminist book? Because I'm saying women can do that too. And it's a really horrible argument of equality, but the thing is they can. Um, so you had asked why might people pay attention to males more so than females?
And I think there's this age old notion, and I'm certainly not the first person to say this, but I think there's this age old notion that women can't be damaging. Women can't be dangerous. Women are nurturing and caregivers, right? So if I said to you, grandma, you might think of, well, let me ask you this, Chris, what do you think of when you think of grandma?
Soft, gentle, caring, mothering, sleepy.
Exactly. What if I told you about the giggling granny, Nanny Doss, who killed her mother, likely her sister, her, I think, three husbands, some of her grandchildren. And when they interviewed about it, she laughed. So that doesn't fit my schema of grandma. And she looked like a grandma, right? So what we might think a grandma would look like maybe...
I don't want to get in trouble for saying this, but, you know, maybe like an old-school 1950s housecoat in the kitchen, cooking bread, all that kind of stuff. And you wouldn't suspect that she would do these things. And I think that's why we are maybe not so quick to catch female serial killers, and we're really not so quick to think, yeah, she did that.
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