Representation Of Women In The Horror Genre

The first Horror films started appearing in the early 20^th century and since then, the roles and representations of women in the genre have developed greatly, with many films both perpetuating traditional gender roles and contradicting them. As almost a century has passed, the way women are presented in Horror films has varied from the stereotypical girl in need of rescuing, to women fighting back against the monsters plaguing them.

Vladimir Propp was a Russian critic who examined 100’s of traditional folk tales in the early 20^th century and identified 8 main character roles within these stories which can be applied to many types of narrative including novels and films. One of these main character types identified was that of the ‘princess’ who is the sought after person in the narrative, often the reward for the hero and the object of the villain’s schemes. An example of this character in the Horror Genre is Jami Gertz’s character ‘Star’ in the 1987 teenage comedy-horror ‘The Lost Boys’. She is a good example of early representations of women in Horror, because although in the 80’s representations of women were changing; she is most frequently shown as a victim in need of rescuing by Michael. Not only this, but she is seen as a sexual object to lure him into the pack, which is in keeping with Propp’s theory of her being sought after by both the prince and the villain. She never stands up to David or the other vampires, or ever shows her vamperic side unlike the other half-vampires. This adheres to traditional gender roles showing women as weak, submissive and peace-keeping. At one point in the film she defends ‘Laddy’ the child half-vampire and begs the Frog Brothers not to stake him, which is another example of the stereotypical, maternal side of women often shown in narrative texts. When the new equilibrium is established at the end of the film, the audience can infer that Michael and Star will carry on their relationship, following Propp’s idea that the ‘hero’ character wins the ‘princess’. For many of the audience members, Star would have just been seen as the romantic love-interest of Michael to make the film more interesting and to fit the teenage movie genre. However, Feminists would see the film as perpetuating the stereotypical female gender role, as even though the film was produced after the female sexual revolution in the 70’s and Star isn't presented as demure or innocent, she still never asserts herself and takes control of the situation.  

Often in the Horror Genre and films in general, women are seen as sexual objects to entertain the mostly male audience. Laura Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze Theory’ states that the camera is ‘male’ and used in such a way to objectify women and reduce their role in a film to being something to look at, not to be listened to, or taken seriously. This can be done in many ways, such as shots focusing on body parts such as breasts instead of their faces. A perfect example of this sexualisation is Paris Hilton’s character ‘Paige’ in the 2005 American Horror film ‘House of Wax’. Her character is often dressed provocatively, especially at her death, which the camera takes full advantage of. Whereas her boyfriend’s death ends in a matter of seconds, Paige’s death goes on for about ten minutes, during which she is chased in her underwear through the woods and into a barn before she finally dies by a pole through the head. No important dialogue is spoken throughout this period, nor any vital plot twists apart from the fact another teenager is killed, leading to the conclusion that Paige’s death was purely for the titillation of the male audience members. This sexualisation coupled with an especially gruesome death could be seen as disturbing because it perpetuates the idea of women being sexual items to be thrown away after use. The camera shots of her body instead of her face also leads to difficulty in the audience identifying with Paige as a person, which furthers her objectification. Laura Mulvey’s theory links into the idea that the world is male; in that, the majority of people in positions of power are male which leads to power itself being presented as a masculine trait. Feminists would say this representation of women impedes gender equality by further promoting old fashioned and sexist ideology in films which is then internalised by the young Horror audience. Also there have been studies conducted that concluded that exposure to media such as Horror films, where it’s typically women being brutally murdered, can lead to men becoming desensitised to violence towards women.

Another feminist take on the Horror Genre is Carol Clover’s book ‘Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film’ published in 1992 which had a huge impact of feminist horror film theory. One of her most important/well known contributions was the ‘Final Girl Theory’, but linked to that is her argument that the women who don’t follow conservative ideology are the first to be murdered. Paris Hilton’s character again fits into this as the ‘slutty’ character that drinks and has sex before marriage. This representation of women serves as a warning to the female audience members to not challenge the power structure of society by living life without conservative values.

Claude Levi-Strauss was a theorist who looked at narrative structure in terms of binary oppositions which are juxtaposing values which can be used to reveal the structure in a narrative. An example of this is Lina Leandersson’s character ‘Eli’ in the 2008 Swedish romantic-horror film ‘Let the Right One In’. Although not biologically female, the audience doesn't realise that until two thirds of the way through and her gender doesn’t play a big part of the story line on face value anyway. Eli is a vampire stuck permanently in a 12 year olds body, who constantly walks the line between binary oppositions, which I believe is where her power ultimately lies. Binary oppositions that are shown through her character are good/evil, femininity/masculinity, innocence/corruption, life/death, youth/age and many others. Although a killer, she displays morality in her resistance to murdering which could present her as a ‘good’ being to the audience; however, there is another contradiction in the form of Hakan, her paedophilic ‘carer’, who she forces to kill for her instead, using his devotion in her as a motivator. She presents as female, wearing clothing such as leggings and often, colours like pink which are associated as femininity. Despite this, she tells Oskar at one point that she is ‘not a girl’. At first the audience assumes this means she is a vampire, but then later they realise that she meant she’s biologically male. After her penis being removed, and being stuck in a pre-adolescent state, she has the choice to present however she liked and she chooses to be female/androgynous which contrasts with the traditional idea that in order to obtain power and respect you have to be male. Her role could be interpreted by the audience as a metaphor for hidden power within women that society underestimates, unfortunately it could also be interpreted along the lines of: in order be powerful you have to be biologically male in the first place. Also, Eli’s fangs could be seen as a phallic symbol, making up for her lack of a penis, which empower her in the same way being outwardly male would.

In conclusion, although the representation of women in the Horror Genre has progressed a lot since the ‘damsels in distress’ in the mid 20^th century, women are still often presented as the ‘weaker’ and less powerful of the sexes, sometimes leading to their deaths. I purposefully didn't include any female characters from films who would count as ‘final girls’ because although they do empower women in a way, I find them very backwards as I disagree with the ideology that in order for women to be as powerful in society as men, they have to appear masculinised and conservative. Women’s representation in the horror genre still has a long way to come in order to avoid perpetuating traditional, sexist ideology but this is the sadly the case in nearly every media text.