Why Do We Hate Women Who Survive Violent Crimes?
They’re not the villains of the story
Edgar Allan Poe once wrote, “The death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world.” He also married his thirteen-year-old cousin when he was twenty-seven, so maybe we don’t need to take everything he says with such authority (although The Tell-Tale Heart is a banger, I’ll give him that).
The death of a woman, no matter her perceived attractiveness, is a terrible tragedy, more than just fodder for some emotional boy’s bad poetry. . .or, in this specific incident I’m about to discuss, the true crime community’s wild speculations.
Two months ago, in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving break, four University of Idaho students were tragically murdered as they slept in their off-campus house. The students — Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin — were stabbed to death by a suspect (now identified as Bryan Kohberger) who had broken into their house between 4 and 4:30 am.
People were understandably horrified by the brutality of the crime, and many mourned the deaths of these four promising young adults. But of course, along with the expected outpouring of grief from the community, the fear that a killer was living amongst them, came a slew of half-baked conspiracy…
