The Romanticization of Criminals
To most people, murderers, rapists, and high profile criminals are far from appealing. This post isn’t about most people. It is about people who experience the phenomenon known as hybristophilia.
Perhaps the names Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, and Jeffrey Dahmer ring a bell. Well among the many commonalities these three share, having countless admirers happens to be one of them. While facing trial for raping and murdering dozens of women, Ted Bundy received fan mail from all over the world. Despite being a homosexual cannibal, Jeffrey Dahmer made a lasting impression among a young, teenage, female fanbase. The cult leader, Charles Manson, even had a fiancé in jail who somehow obtained a marriage license and delivered his child while he was facing time for his crimes. As alarming as it is, online communities and forums are dedicated to each individual and there are even fan clubs for these high profile criminals active as we speak.
These admirers are far from your average fangirls, they are hybristophiles. A hybristophile is someone that is attracted to people who commit crimes. The unusual preference is far more common among women than it is among men. Even the very term has been romanticized in popular culture and has been deemed “Bonnie and Clyde syndrome”. Many questions arise from the very existence of hybristophilia; the main one simply being “why?”
In an interview conducted by Vice, young teenage girls attempted to answer that very question. One in particular was from a small rural town and answered, “Violence is just exciting. If I was to have a killer as a boyfriend it would make me excited, you know? It’s a bit like Russian roulette—my turn could be soon and he could kill me. Spice things up a bit. Conventional stuff is boring.” This answer is bound to raise some eyebrows especially when the term “Russian roulette” is used in comparison to a so-called romantic relationship. Unsurprisingly, mental health concerns could also be taken into account.
According to an article by Psychology Today “From an evolutionary perspective, maybe such females have some kind of unconscious biological drive that would view any children of such men as having a better chance of survival.” This can then delve deeper into the societal expectation of men being alpha and having dominant traits delivered to their offspring but I digress. This theory is just one of many which psychologists and sexologists have brainstormed. Ideas have been tossed around left and right from women wanting to be “the chosen one” or “the one that could change him” to them simply having daddy issues.
Indeed hybristophilia is anything but a conventional attraction whether that be sexual or emotional. That then begs the question of what even is conventional attraction? As long as it is legal, should it be okay? Is there a bullet list of what society deems as acceptable to be attracted to or perhaps in this case, what not to be attracted to? (ex. high profile serial criminals). I, like you, have my own thoughts on the matter but our perception of these people will never deny their existence.
I really loved this topic and the depth you used when describing it! When I watched the Ted Bundy documentary I was always very curious as to why so many young girls were obsessed with him when he was killing girls around their same age? I loved reading this because of how informative you were and once I started reading it I had so many questions and they were all answered throughout the post. I also loved how you brought many different examples of why women are so obsessed with serial killers and actual psychological concepts that explained it. Overall this blog post was amazing and I loved everything about it!
This was so interesting! I knew pretty much nothing about this topic before reading this. I had only heard about this happening with Ted Bundy but did not realize that hybristophilia is a phenomenon. Naturally, having no prior knowledge on the topic I had many questions as I read this, but you did a great job of answering them all. I really liked how you followed the examples about Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, and Jeffery Dahmer with explanations as to why they are admired. The quotes and research you found fit your blog perfectly. As I read through this post, it progressed with my thought process and answered questions as I thought of them. Overall, I think this is not only an interesting read, but also a very well written post!
Like some other commenters, I really enjoyed this post and found it super interesting! In my free time I sometimes do research on true crime so it’s cool to see that someone else has similar interests as me. I like that you used specific examples with explanations, and I thought the Russian Roulette quote was unexpected and interesting (although I can’t really relate to her). I think another good example would be Richard Ramirez (the Night Stalker) who got married while in prison and then got engaged to someone else- the woman in question who married him said that she would commit suicide at his death, but eventually she left him (good for her). I think sometimes you can’t help finding certain people aesthetically attractive, but once you find out about the things that they did, if you’re still attracted to them it’s a little concerning. You did great research! Looking forward to the next post.
As a side note, I think your blog is set to UTC time rather than local, oof. At least they don’t have conjugal visits on death row. I was also interested how you specifically looked into philia- that’s an approach I haven’t seen before!
Uhhhhh loved this post/idea. I didn’t know hybristophilia was a thing, but makes sense since I feel like there is literally a new weird fetish coming out everyday! lol. I think you did a really good job at making a really dark scary topic humorous. I was entertained the whole read, and this is just the first post/intro! So I am excited to read the rest. I studied H.H. Holmes as a junior in High School and I too found it crazy how many women he got despite the obviously red flags that he had serious mental health issues.