When he is not confessing to murder, Joran van der Sloot is receiving marriage proposals. Convicted killers Scott Peterson and Erik Menendez are already central figures to their devoted fan clubs. Who sends marriage proposals to a jail inmate? Why?
Joran van der Sloot Receives Marriage Proposals
Only 22 years old, the New York Post (quoting the Associated Press) reports that Dutch Joran van der Sloot is not only the prime suspect in the killing of one young woman and the disappearance of another, but is now also the subject of copious marriage proposals. Although impossible to prove, he even asserts that one admirer wishes to carry his love child.
Bad Boys = Feminine Sexuality + Motherly Tendencies?
Psychology Today discusses the bad boy image by referring to a young Marlon Brando or James Dean. The publication asserts that it is the troubled youth who yearns for “feminine warmth and guidance” that elicits a mixture of sexual response and mothering instinct from many a woman.
A viable theory, but it does fail to explain why the jail inmate charged with horrific crimes – most notably the likes of Scott Peterson, Erik Menendez and now Joran van der Sloot – finds himself on the receiving end of marriage proposals.
Marriage Proposals for a Notorious (Male) Jail Inmate
The Menendez brothers do not appear as the most obvious marriage prospects. Not so for the wife of Erik Menendez; a 2005 ABC Interview finds her referring to the relationship as “something that I’ve dreamed about for a long time.” (Granted, some compassionate souls feel that the Menendez brothers were unjustly put in jail for killing their parents, whom the men claimed to also be their abusers.)
The same cannot be said for Scott Peterson, who is awaiting execution for the murder of his wife and unborn child. Yet, even he, according to ABC News, is receiving marriage proposals. It is interesting to note that it is primarily women who are marriage-minded when corresponding with a male inmate. When the gender tables are turned, it is rare to find men sending marriage proposals to convicted female murderers.
Behind the Relationships
At times, it is the new pen pal who “picks up” a jail inmate on sites like WriteAPrisoner.com. Once there, some women take a leap from providing compassionate care via the written word to (perhaps) mistaking it for romantic love. The New York Times hypothesizes that the attraction for a violent jail inmate could be hybristophilia.
No matter what spurs on the marriage proposals, the reality of a prison marriage is not as glamorous as the suggestion that some women like to hang on to the notoriety of their jail inmate spouses to “become somebody.” Prison Talk outlines the loneliness, rapid succession of highs and lows, and the desire to belong, as well as the opposition from friends and family members.
As Joran van der Sloot may be getting his share of jail inmate marriage proposals, women who have already gone down that road will have the ladies in question know that it is not a cake-walk.
Sources
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/sloot_getting_marriage_proposals_JNb5fjlXr5DbWyp8jLLz8L
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/getting-laid-over-60/201001/should-women-love-bad-boys
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1255023
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/US/story?id=1052747&page=1
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/US/story?id=889903&page=1
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/28/magazine/28WWLN.html
http://prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54989
