In the summer of  2010, Steig Larsson’s, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” trilogy became a phenomenon in the United States after a widely successful run in Europe. Everyone, including UNCW sociology professor Donna King, was fascinated with the book’s main character-a bisexual Swedish badass who inspired women everywhere to stand up for themselves.

“I was drawn in by the feminist perspective but grotesquely turned off by the graphic sexual violence,” said King. 

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” was a difficult book to turn away from, so King decided to venture into the rest of the trilogy. Her findings appalled and somehow inspired her to do more research on feminism and on the author, Stieg Larsson. King questioned why Larsson wrote the books, what caused his sudden stand for feminism and what others thought of his findings.

To help answer these questions, King sent out various emails to fellow members of Sociologists for Women in Society. 

“I really wanted to know what other feminists thought of these books,” said King. 

Simple questions and thousands of emails gave King the idea to compose a book containing essays, written by members and non-members of SWS, thoroughly evaluating the issue of feminism and violence against females as it related to “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” 

King expressed ambivalence towards the trilogy; a part of her loved the idea of a woman being the hero, while the other part of her winced at the explicit descriptions it took to get there. However, it was her colleagues’ opinions she was interested in hearing.

“It was a really nice experience to find so many smart people who had read these books and had something interesting to say,” said King. 

After compiling all the essays, King had to come up with a title for the book that accurately displayed the massive rise of female empowerment Larsson’s trilogy had on feminists.

King’s title, “Men Who Hate Women and Women Who Kick Their Asses,” was inspired by Larsson’s original Swedish title, “Män som hatar kvinnor,” which, when translated to English, means “Men who Hate Women.” The title was changed when translated for marketing in the U.S., but the fierce quality of Lisbeth, the trilogy’s heroine, remained. 

“Lisbeth is a strong character and she’s extremely smart,” said King. “I couldn’t help but to kind of cheer her on as she went through with her vengeful tasks.”

Like Lisbeth, King’s book seeks to empower women. The heroine of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’s” challenges men who oppressed her, and for King and her colleagues, this action prompted a social and sexual revolution for all women. King’s book studies these effects and asks all feminists to do so as well.