ABSTRACT
Marion Ihns and Judy Andersen have attracted some scholarly attention beyond the more general inclusion of their case in accounts of the New Women's Movement. This chapter focuses on the feminist discussion of and activism around the Ihns/Andersen murder case, paying close attention to feminist flyers and other documents that it generated. In January and February 1973, prompted by the arrest of Ihns and Andersen, Bild published a series titled 'Lesbian Women's Crimes' on 17 consecutive weekdays. The case provides a fascinating focus for tracking changes in the New Women's Movement with regard to feminist ideas on the topic of patriarchal violence against women, but also with regard to lesbian emancipation and the development of a lesbian feminist position in the movement. As Lisa Downing identifies, American feminists tended to represent Wuornos as a victim of patriarchal violence, representing her violence as self-defence, in a context in which she was being vilified in the press as monstrous serial killer.
