The title tells us as much, that in Katherine Dykstra’s What Happened to Paula: An Unsolved Death and the Danger of American Girlhood, we never do learn who killed Paula Oberbroeckling. Theories are explored, but this true crime book moves away from the details of the particular crime to the culture we have created where woman and girls face danger from men with male impunity. This book shows how the all-male police failed to take Paula’s disappearance and murder investigation seriously. She was a girl who had gone “bad” and therefore deserved what happened to her. Although her death took place in 1970, this author reminds us these prejudicial and unfavorable attitudes are still prevalent today. Ask the woman closest to you! Our culture forces women to be fearful for their safety and wellbeing.
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