final row

1. Representation of
Women

2. Women in horror
Within horror films women are usually portrayed in either a
stereotypical or provocative manner. In addition to this, they are
usually represented as submissive, emotional and their main focus is
on physical beauty. As well as this, horror movies usually define
women through their relationships with men. Whereas, males in
horrors are seen as the dominant, strong and intellectual character.
Often these representations reflect the ideologies of that time
period; these vary throughout time due to factors like the peoples
ideologies of women changing.

3. 50s & 60s Horror posters
These horror posters are from the
50’s and 60’s and all portray women
in sexual ways. Each poster captures
the women in vulnerable positions,
highlighting the ideologies at the
time. In addition to this, the women
are pictured in little clothing,
especially ‘Eyeball’, in which she is
only in her underwear. This
sexualises her but would be
something that attracts the male
audience; this was later named
‘male gaze’. In two of the posters the
women have blonde hair;
stereotypically this would suggest
she is the victim and would be seen
as the ‘dumb blonde’.

4. Laura MulveyLaura Mulvey is a feminist film critic who wrote the famous ‘Visual Pleasure
and Narrative Cinema’ essay in 1975. This essay suggested that films were
constructed for the pleasure of the male audience; this coined the term
‘male gaze’.
Male gaze is created through the use of technical camera strategies, in
which the audience sees the film through the eyes of a male; this enables
the movie to portray women as objects and men as the subjects. This is
something women still have to fight against within modern society,
however at the time the essay was written this was especially rife with
movements like ‘Second Wave Feminism’ and the Equal Pay Act. Despite
radical changes being made within the working life of a women, they were
still viewed as sexual objects within the media; thus hindering the progress
and leading to hegemonic ideologies. Cinematic techniques to create this
involves close up shots and point of view shots (leading to viewing the
women as an object). In addition to this, long shots and tilts of the female
body are often used to sexually display her (e.g. focussing on one part of
her body)

5. Male gaze in horrorWithin the horror genre, ‘male gaze’ is a frequent feature seen. This is
to attract the audience, which is predominantly male; especially at the
time the theory was constructed. Stereotypically, men were supposed
to enjoy watching a women who was sexually portrayed being
murdered as this made them feel more masculine; therefore horrors
tended to use this. Additionally, objectified women were more
vulnerable and ‘easy targets’ for the killer in the movie.
In the 1975 film Jaws, male gaze is clearly seen when Chrissie is killed
just after removing all her clothes and going swimming. Point of view
shots have been used when we see the sharks view of her under the
water, we are able to see the silhouette of her body which then leads
to close up views.
Additionally, in House of Wax (2005) Paige’s death (Paris Hilton) is
prolonged and lasts around four minutes of film time in which she is
seen running away from her murderer in her underwear before she is
murdered, with the use of a phallic symbol; this sexualises her right
before her death, linking directly to male gaze. Whereas, her boyfriend,
Blake’s death is quick and the audience doesn’t really see it. Various
shot types are used in order to focus on her body, which is a typical
convention used for the purpose to pleasure the male audience.
Even in recent horrors like Cabin in the Woods (2012) Jules’ death
scene portrays her as a sexualised object as she is naked and dragged
away with a chain. All three of these movies, despite being in different
time eras all link to the male gaze theory. Additionally, all three victims
are blonde, which links in the stereotype of blondes being superficial,
‘dumb’ and weak.
Not only is this theory seen in horror films but also franchises like
‘James Bond’ which is seen all over the world showing these ideologies
of women as sexualised objects.
Chrissie
death
scene
Paige
death
scene

6. Female gaze?
One argument that often emerges within the film industry is that is
there such thing as female gaze?
It could be argued that it is seen in Cabin in the Woods when it
captures Dana admiring Holden shirtless; one of these shots is done
through POV. Additionally, throughout the film we see Curt and Holden
shirtless.
Another popular film that could be seen as female gaze is the Magic
Mike franchise. The men are always seen naked or in little clothing.
They are also strippers which sexualises them. Could this be sexualising
the men as objects for female viewers?
However, in an industry where, historically,
males have been in charge for producing
media products this probably isn't a true
representation of what female gaze is; if it
exists.
Also, men are not typically portrayed in a bad
or degrading way, whereas women usually
are.

7. Jeremy Tunstall
Within the media industry, women are portrayed in certain ways. Author Jeremy Tunstall argued in his book ‘The
Media in Britain’ (1983) that females in the media were emphasised as one of four roles: domestic, sexual,
consumer or marital. However, if a female is described as domestic she can not also be any of the other roles.
The ‘sexual’ role is commonly seen within horror films as this is often played by the female victims and also
attracts the audience; relating back to male gaze.
Movies like The Poltergeist (1982) portrays a doting and caring mother role in the form of Diane Freeling. In this,
Diane does everything in her power to try save her daughter when she is taken by sprits and a demonic ‘beast’.
She even insists on going through the dimensional portal to save her youngest, Carol Anne. Near the end of the
movie, Robbie and Carol Anne are put into danger again when the beast decides to try take them both. Despite
running into the beast, Diane fights through the demons energy to save the children and escape. In most
movies, no matter the genre, the mother is always seen looking after the children whilst the father goes to work,
although this is still true in this movie the mother is not usually seen as the one who ‘saves the day’ as this is
usually the male figure (father, brother etc.) as they are stereotypically stronger and braver. However, this movie
goes against this with the mother being the ‘hero’ of the film.
Additionally, in recent years horror TV shows like The Walking Dead and American Horror Story have been
changing gender roles. For example, The Walking Dead features strong female roles who are able to defend
themselves but still be caring and devoted to her family (Maggie Greene is just one example of this). As well as
this, no women in the show is introduced as a ‘victim’ but instead as an fighting individual. Whilst, American
Horror Story: Freakshow challenges beauty standards and the role of the mother.
Despite these drastic changes within the film industry, most strong women have a backstory in which they were
once a victim; this leads the audience in to victimising the character. However, I believe Jeremy Tunstall's role
theory is starting to change, although this may be slow with advertisements like Fairy showing the female as the
mother and the domestic figure, there has been slight progression within media. It has also been argued that in
every generation there is a new gender ideology, for example before the 90’s there were no ‘lad mags’ but come
2000 these were seen as acceptable; although they have started to decrease rapidly in recent years.
The
Poltergeist
Maggie-
Walking
Dead

8. Carol Clover1992 saw the Final Girl Theory emerge by feminist and film studies professor Carol Clover. In her book ‘Men,
Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror’. Whilst the other theories mentioned have been
applied to all media, this theory only applies to the horror genre suggesting that not all movies are
misogynist.
The final girl theory refers to the last female alive; she is usually a white, middle-class female who is portrayed
as quite masculine and virginal; she also focusses heavily on education and is the ‘sensible one’. The
characteristics of the final girl often show her innocence and purity. Whereas, the other female characters are
usually dressed in provocative clothing and are often killed after having sex. More often than not, the final girl
will also have darker hair or a masculine cut, whereas the first female victim tends to have blonde hair as we
stereotypically identify this trait as the victim. This is seen in the slasher Halloween (1978) when Laurie fights
back against the antagonist, Michael Meyers by first stabbing him in the neck with knitting needles then
fighting again and saving the children, acting as both the heroine and ‘damsel in distress’.. Laurie was dressed
in shirts and trousers, which is seen as androgynous and was also virginal, whereas her friends Annie and
Lynda were dressed in short or tight clothing and participating in drinking and sex. Lynda was even murdered
straight after her sex and was only dressed in a open shirt. Laurie was in fact the first female in horror to fight
back; leading to the new role of the final girl. Additionally, it is common for the final girl to have a gender
neutral name, like Laurie or Sidney (Scream) as this further takes the femininity of the character.
However, the recent film Cabin in the Woods (2012) challenges this theory as the final girl is in fact not
virginal. But she is interested in education and does fight back. Whereas, Jules is killed after having sex and is
also naked when the creatures drag her away. They do this with a chain, which could be implied as though she
is like an animal being dragged away.

9. Torture PornTorture porn is a sub genre within the horror genre in which the plot revolves around violence, torture,
gore, nudity and sadism. However, this can often become quite comedic. This sub-genre is also often used
for plots which involve ‘games’ or ‘tests’ to pick out the ‘survival of the fittest’ as this tends to have more
of a damaging impact. The term was coined by film critic David Edelstein to describe movies like Hostel
and Saw.
Saw is one of the biggest horror franchises and consists of seven films, it is strongly based around torture
and gore. The main antagonist, known as ‘Jigsaw’, traps his victims in situations or ‘tests’ to inflict pain and
see how strong their will to live is through physical and psychological torture. In the most recent film of
the franchise ‘Saw 3D’ (2010) the opening scene starts with 2 men chained to either side of a table and a
women chained above. She is portrayed as ‘immoral’ though as the puppet begins to explain how she has
‘manipulated her love for you causing nothing but pain for fun and games to fulfil her material needs’ this
leads to them letting her die. This makes her seem as though she is the villain for having sex; this fits in
with the ideology that society still believes in. Additionally, throughout the scene she is wearing a short
tight crop top with a lacy bra showing; again sexualising her. The top is also pink relating back to
stereotypes as we often think of pink for girls, especially materialistic females. She is also tied with a
leather band which extenuates her body and also links to BDSM; reinforcing she is a sexually active female
and this is why she is being sentenced to death.
It has also been used in episodes of TV shows like Criminal Minds, Super Natural and American Horror
Story; usually to sexualise or have power over the female. Despite this, in certain cases like the horror
‘Would You Rather’ (2012) both men and women are tortured equal amounts when playing the sadistic
game. Additionally, the survivor or ‘winner’ was in fact a female.

10. Conclusion
Overall, most of these theories are very common amongst the
horror genre as it plays into typical conventions for the film to
work. Although some may challenge these, like Cabin in the
Woods, it would be difficult to try and change the way women
are portrayed within the genre.
Within society, theorists like Mulvey and Tunstall are starting to
be challenged as attitudes are beginning to progress. Despite
this, media still accommodates to stereotypes and sexualising
women. This is very degrading and objectifying for the female
gender, especially in a fast changing world as although it may be
the minority who still think like this is will have an impact;
possibly hindering progressive attitudes.