Description: In contrast to much of the contemporary discussion of the case of Karla Homolka, this book offers a comprehensive and detailed academic examination of the legal, public and media understandings and explanations of Homolka's criminality. The authors use Homolka as an object lesson to interrogate some of the narratives and conceptualizations of 'violent women', the problematic normative constructions of womanhood and 'acceptable femininity', leniency in sentencing, taboo and disgust, and questions of remorse. They also consider how women convicted of violence are typically constructed across four sites: the courts; the academy; the mainstream media; and public discourse.
Review Quotes:
'The spectre of Karla Homolka has invaded our understandings of criminalized women. By turning the gaze away from Homolka to interrogate our cultural fixation with her, Kilty and Frigon adeptly reveal the factors that coalesced to produce this enigmatic figure, enjoining us to rethink her as the paradigmatic Criminalized Woman.'
Elizabeth Comack, University of Manitoba, Canada
'Exploring narratives of violence, remorse, and ideal victims/offenders, Kilty and Frigon deconstruct notions of femininity, whiteness, class and taboo in relation to the cultural preoccupation with Karla Homolka. This courageous feminist examination shifts the gaze to deliver a nuanced understanding of Homolka as enigmatic subject who both disgusts and fascinates.'
Sheri Fabian, Simon Fraser University, Canada
'This book offers a commanding contribution to feminist, criminological and media studies and brings a much needed alternative and more holistic reading to the exceptional case of Karla Homolka. By offering an innovative and impressively thorough account of media, judicial and legal depictions of Canada's most notorious criminalized woman, Kilty and Frigon offer an eye-opening and thought-provoking analysis of the more significant intersections of race, class, hetero-patriarchal culture, broken taboos, and issues of remorse which have conjoined to shed, on Karla Homolka, a quasi-permanent evil aura. The book's rigorous academic undertaking will go far in changing traditional criminological, judicial and media interpretations of women who commit acts of violence. This important book is a valuable and most welcome addition to criminological and gender studies.'
Joane Martel, Laval University, Canada