Why do women authors write such horrific novels about rape,torture,murder of women?

[bobbieinok]

This seems to have started about 20 years or so ago. At least that's when I started feeling it was becoming more and more common.

Is it a 'mere reflection of reality'? Or is it a way to deal with the horrors that many women around the world face?

What do you think?

Note--I think the first book of this type I read was Nora Roberts' book Carnal Innocence. I think it was one of her first books to break out of the Harlequin-type books.

[Srkdqltr]

1. Most crime novels i read

Seem to have women as the victims. Even ones written by women. I think that in realty women are victims of violent crime more often.

[happybird]

2. I think it's part of the "nothing's shocking" trend

of the past 20 years. The hubs and I were just discussing this recently.

It's happened on tv, too. Many years ago, I clicked the tv on at 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon and was greeted by a very graphically disemboweled body in an elevator. After school hours, regular tv. It was NCIS or CSI or one of those shows. I remember thinking that never would have been shown, even in late hour prime time, a few years prior. It was really graphic and shows have only gotten worse in the years since.

Nothing is off limits now. They show dead children, kids getting tortured, they kill pets, stuff that was once only alluded to, or happened off screen. Even SVU, which always pushed the envelope, is in on the game. It's all pedophiles, all the time now. Guess they think there's more shock value in that rather than the rape of an adult. Ugh. I can't watch it anymore.

The first books I remember reading of this type were probably the Kay Scarpetta books by Patricia Cornwell, and some of James Patterson's, like Kiss the Girls.

I think the popularity of the Cornwell books drove the trend towards faux true crime and forensics heavy books and tv shows. The precise, realistic descriptions were shocking and terrifying, and it made others step up their brutality, rape, and torture descriptions. Now it's like a contest to see who can out-brutalize the last best seller. .

It's all about selling books. Popular novelists write what sells. Rape and torture of women sells. I guess because it's shocking, scary, and salacious.

I think it's kind of like dystopian novels: getting a thrill out of "experiencing" a worst case scenario from a position of absolute safety.