Writer Lydiette Carrión discovered that femicide stories are becoming part of cultural products such as TV series, novels, and even fashion elements. This prompted her to investigate the phenomenon to prevent the "double victimization" of women whose stories are used in countless cultural commodities. The result of her work is the book "Femicide Mythical: From Crime to Cultural Product. Images, Narratives, Fashion, and the Consumption of Violence".
As a journalist who has written about femicides for many years, Carrión admits she conducted her research from an "uncomfortable position," trying to understand her own role in this "ecology of narratives" and explain why it is so difficult to tell these stories without making mistakes. She focused on examples from the world of fashion, for instance, the murders in Ciudad Juárez that inspired a luxury clothing line with dresses costing $20,000. She also examined TV series, true-crime podcasts popular with women, and the cyclical nature of the market for such products—even a rock band named itself after a femicide victim.
In her book, the author references the work of other researchers who point out that the first femicide is described in the Bible and analyzes its consequences. Carrión shows how this plot repeats in medieval tales and later in fairy tales, noting that this reflects not only an interest but also the exploitation of femicide victims in their portrayal. She also mentions the biblical story of Jephthah's daughter, who was sacrificed to win a war, and traces this motif in "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Girl Without Hands".
The writer emphasizes that the issue is not just about violence against women but also about male mechanisms for persuading the population to go to war, a theme that recurs in Greek tragedies and later, with economic benefits, in fairy tales. She also discusses the case of serial killer Gregorio Cárdenas, considered Mexico's first, and mentions that the term "Gothic novel" was coined by Ann Radcliffe as a cautionary tale for young women about choosing a husband.
Furthermore, Carrión includes in her analysis the myth of Coyolxauhqui (a goddess depicted dismembered), which, despite its non-Western origin, has important cultural parallels with narratives about war. She speaks of the Gothic genre, popular with a female audience, and quotes Edgar Allan Poe: "The death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world."
The author notes that since the 20th century, narratives about femicides have featured three types of victims: the "good," the "bad," and the one who is saved, and three types of perpetrators: the "monster," the "monstrous killer," and the one who is a victim of his own violent emotions. She gives the example of Charles Dickens, who based a femicide on a real case to create the character of Nancy in "Oliver Twist."
In conclusion, Carrión speaks of "mythification"—the replacement of facts with representations that do not speak of what happened, but of cultural flaws, myths, and invisible relationships. As a result, objective data, testimonies, and facts are erased from the public consciousness and do not influence legal outcomes, leading to a lack of convictions.
