Women who Murder and Remembered

I've just been reading with interest an article on Mary Ann Cotton in the Daily Mail.  Mary Ann Cotton was a serial killer.  She killed 21 people altogether. My reading of women's history, I confess, tends to be the people on the right side of the law, so this article caught my eye. 

A man called David Wilson has just written a book on her (due to be published later in the year) and the article claims she is the first serial killer but no one has heard of her.  Putting aside the fact that I am sure the Victorians were not the first to have serial killers (I suspect they just didn't get caught as often, with death rates and medical knowledge?), it did make me think about fame, how we remember some criminals and not others. 

In the article, I got the impression that it is partly because she is female that she has been forgotten in history whilst Jack the Ripper gripped a nation.  We find it uncomfortable that some one who is a wife, mother and even a nurse for a time should have an evil streak. A woman that brings life, should also take life would not sit well with the Victorians or with ourselves today.  We find it easier I suspect to think of men as murderers.

Living together vs marriage

Interesting conversation came up this week, which made me wonder has living with a person instead of marriage been a good thing for women??

I'm one of the statistics, that something like one in five marriages end in divorce these days.  Having made my vows once, I have for a long time considered my self of in the camp for people not going up the aisle again. 

This week I got talking to a very elderly lady who couldn't understand living with someone before marriage.  One of the points that came up was sacrifice for the relationship and the sacrifices made are often from the woman in relation to careers and children.  If we are going to have families, the family must come first.  A women will often take maternity leave, she may leave the workforce for a while to raise her children, so she makes a sacrifice to her career for the family unit.  Whilst in this country it is established in law that we receive equal pay for equal work, we are still aware that the glass ceiling still exists.  If women sacrifice more for the family unit then what protection is there in case it all goes wrong.  

What is a woman?

I've decided to think of all the words that describe the different roles in a woman's life.  If I've missed something out as I'm sure I have, please feel free to comment:

Employer, Driver, Washer, First Aider, Scholar, Cleaner, Domestic Goddess, Female, Mother, Nurse, Protector, Friend, Activist, Mother in Law, Gatherer, Follower of Fashion, Writer, Widow, Reader, Accountant, Partner, Career Woman, Beautician, Caterer, Diary Manager, Womb, Daughter,