A Girl's Guide to Staying Alive: The Female Gaze in True Crime Culture

CLASS DESCRIPTION

There is a wealth of research already that indicates true crime has become a predominantly female genre insofar as its global viewership and general audience. What is less clear, however, is why. Existing cultural theories propose that true crime acts as a “What not to do” guide so that women might observe the violence inflicted in a patriarchal society, to spot where victims “went wrong”, thereby making them better equipped to avoid similar pitfalls, and avoid victimisation themselves. Charlotte argues that this is an oversimplified explanation for the female gaze to true crime, particularly in a sociocultural and sociopolitical landscape that polices women’s own violence to such degrees.

This research presentation argues, then, that true crime culture enables women to become the voyeur rather than the victim, and that much like the male gaze has done historically, this resultantly allows women to be the spectators and imagined agents of crime and violence, in cinema and televised productions where violence is so often explicitly shown. This is an especially important argument to introduce into both true crime studies and contemporary feminisms, as it has the potential to contribute to ongoing discussions about female rage, and the outlets—albeit limited—that women are afforded for expressing this.

ABOUT OUR LECTURER

Dr Charlotte Barnes is a lecturer in Cultural Studies at the University of Worcester, UK, where she teaches across Creative Writing, English literature, and Media and Film Studies. Her research specialism is true crime and representations of “truth” in this fast-spreading genre, and this has culminated in the release of two academic monographs: Deconstructing True Crime Literature (2023) and Reading Ann Rule: Landmarks in true crime (2025). Charlotte is currently working on her third monograph, forthcoming with Routledge, to focus on serial killer narratives, while also working on her first edited academic collection.

We are committed to making our sessions as accessible as possible. If you are unable to pay the full amount for this class, please reach out to us via email at [email protected] and we will provide you with a discount code.