Age of Sex Crime

By Jane Caputi

Book Overview

The sexualized serial murder of women by men is the subject of this provocative book. Jane Caputi argues that the sensationalized murders by men such as Jack the Ripper, Son of Sam, Hillside Strangler, and the Yorkshire Ripper represent a contemporary genre of sexually political crimes. The awful deeds function as a form of patriarchal terrorism, "disappearing" women at a rate of some four thousand annually in the United States alone.
Caputi asks us not only to name the phenomenon of sexually political murder, but to recognize sex crime in all of its various interconnecting manifestations.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879723858
• ISBN13: 9780879723859
• Release Date: June 1987
• Publisher: Popular Press
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 1.19 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Incredible.

Caputi has done an excellent job exploring the relation between patriarchal culture and the current epidemic of sex crime. With conservative estimates claiming that at least 1 out of 3 women in the U.S. have been raped, and thousands of women being murdered each year by sexual serial killers (with the number of such killings increasing by 400% from 1966 to 1982 ... alongside the boom in "slasher" films and violent pornography), Caputi does not see this as an "aberration" or the crazed actions of a few "psychopaths". She sees instead something deeply ingrained in a culture that supports, mystifies, promotes, and is entertained by sexual violence against women. Her historical analysis is in-depth and fascinating. Her psychological and sociological analysis exposed me to many concepts I had yet to see elsewhere ... I very much disagree with the earlier review which claimed that the word "gynocide" was too extreme/radical/polemical/etc ... Caputi makes a very compelling case here that this is exactly what is happening. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in sexual politics, industrial culture, and violence ... actually I'd recommend it to just about anyone.

Well-argued correlation of mass murder and modernity.

Caputi argues for the placement of mass murder and serial homicide within a context of late capitalist patriarchy. She offers a detailed history of British and American "sex crimes" since the 19th century, and gleans trends of male violence against women from popular culture. Working from a neo-marxian feminist position gives weight to her disturbing thesis; while her sometimes militant tone may edge on polemic the book provides a useful analytical perspective.