Roles Gender in Horror Films Running Head: GENDER ROLES IN HORROR FILMS
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Gender Roles in Horror Films Communication Studies 101
Horror films offer an opportunity to travel to a darker side of life by exposing the audience to their utmost fear of vulnerability, loss of identity, terror of an unknown world,
Gender Roles in Horror Films alienation, and their nightmares. The horror film is known for suspense, violence, and in general, follows a "who dies next?" structure. As the characters being extinguished one by one, it is left up to the audience to guess who will die next, how they will die, who will survive, and who is doing the killing. This idea of predicting the fate of each character forces one to wonder if there is some way to make an educational guess as to who will be the last one standing as the credits roll. Is there some sort of prototype of the ideal victim and survivor? This resulting expectancy comes from a long line of horror films that emphasize certain characteristics in a targeted individual. Research on this topic has produced a specific question of the gender roles in Hollywood horrors. Exploring gender roles in horror films can lead to a better understanding of gender stereotyping in media in general and how the ideals have changed over the years. The same portrayal of women and femininity (emotional, submissive, sensitive, non competitive, etc...) found in advertisements and other mediums can also be seen in the horror film. The same goes for masculinity represented as power, control, confidence, and aggression. In earlier horror films, there were very few women in heroic roles and it was generally a male protagonist who came out on top. There have been some major changes to the genre of horror films over the years, yet one must analyze the specifics of the films to determine whether or not males and females are equally represented as survivors and victims and the characteristics that determine their ultimate fate. In conducting my research, one can see the broad span of analysis done on gender in the horror cinema and how most of the sources are linked by similar theories as to how gender is stereotyped.
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Gender Roles in Horror Films Compiled in a journal of research entitled Sex Roles, Margaret O'Brien and Gloria
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Cowan wrote on the findings of a study done by students in the behavioral science department of California State University. The study focused on the content of slasher films and more specifically the portion of the violence directed toward men versus women and the differences between male and female survivors versus non-survivors. After close analysis of fifty six slasher films and a total of four hundred seventy-four victims, the students concluded that men and women were portrayed equally as male characters were just as likely to die as female characters in the result of an attack but it was found that more females survived the attacks than males. It was also found that majority of female non-survivors fit a stereotype of being a "sexy" character whereas non-masculine traits, such as weakness and nerdiness, was a common theme in male non-survivors. Consistent appearances of hyper-masculinity in the slasher films were also recorded as having a strong correlation with both male heroes as well as male villains. This piece mainly emphasizes the stereotypical characteristics that determine the fate of a victim of specific gender. Barry Keith Grant edited and compiled a book of essays focusing on gender roles titled The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film. In the introduction, Grant provides some insight to how gender differences can be expressed before the film is actually viewed. "Even a casual glance at the titles of actual horror movies reveals the genres marked emphasis on gender." Grant (1993). He then goes on to discuss more subtle approaches to gender differences in the horror film genre. "Horror movies of a psychological disturbance, such as Psycho (1960) and Homicidal (1961), usually offer a vague psychoanalytic explanation of locating the cause of madness in the character's earlier developing sense of sexual identity." (Grant, 1993). Grant also comments on a Freudian based psychoanalysis of horror films which entails an antagonist or
Gender Roles in Horror Films monster to be defeated by the male hero in order for him to win over the attractive female. It is
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in this theory that gender differences in horror films appear most evident. It is with Grant's work that we can begin to see an idea of sexual identity and gender differences. In her research Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film, Carol Clover discusses the idea of a masculine viewer putting his emotion into a figure she likes to call "female-victim-hero." She is the final girl who turns the knife, or more appropriately for this book, the chainsaw back on the monster somewhat pulverizing the female stereotype. Clover's findings illustrate a traditional genre of horror films that "polarize gender into active male monster and passive female victim." (Clover, 1992). It was her analysis that showed more of a blurred line between males and females and passive and active roles in modern horror films. Clover also examined "rape-revenge films" that followed a different structure of male and female roles than that of the traditional horror films. "Abject error is again gendered feminine with the invitation to viewers, male and female alike, to identify first with the femininity of the male or female rape victim and then with the masculine position of the revenge seeker. Thus while gender is important as a fluctuating position, sex as a fixed biological given is not." (Clover, 1992). She also analyzed a "one-sex" model when looking at the films though there have been many criticisms stating that she failed to represent the other sexual dimensions (homosexuality, bisexuality, transgender, etc...) of modern society. Clover's piece comments on the changing roles of women in horror films and closely reflects her previous work in the next source. One of Clover's earlier pieces, Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film, provides a more in-depth analysis of her theory of a lone female survivor. She researched numerous horror films (pre-nineteen-eighty-seven), each of which strongly supported this idea. Basing
Gender Roles in Horror Films much of her findings Psycho, on Clover compared a group of films in categories such as weapons, killer, locale, victims, and shock effect. A common theme of the films she examined was gender distress in a male antagonist like (Psycho) Norton's "mother-half" of his mind needing to kill the women he finds sexually arousing; a man propelled by psychosexual fury. In
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support of her gender distressed male killers, Clover explains that films displaying female killers differ in the fact that the females show no signs of gender distress or psychological motives but their anger rather derives from specific moments in their adult lives where they have been mistreated or cheated by men. This piece continues Grant's idea of sexual identity and gender confusion. "In horror a violence related to sexual difference is the problem; more violence related to sexual difference is also the solution." (Williams, 1991). In her article, Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess, Linda Williams emphasizes that the problems and solutions in horror films are all linked to gender identity. Her research has dealt more with the idea of fantasy which can easily be accounted for in horror films as they are said to be belonging to the fantastic. This theory of sexual identity and difference strongly supports an argument of specific gender roles in horror films. Her piece was written after closely examining the works of other authors on this same topic as well as the findings of Freud. Williams' article was not extremely strong pertaining specifically to gender roles in horror films as it focused mainly on fantasy in the film industry but it definitely had some major points supporting my research topic. In her piece, Attack of the Leading Ladies: Gender, Sexuality, and Spectatorship in Classic Horror Cinema, Rhona Berenstein argues that horror films which feature victimization of a female, conceal transgressions of masculine sex and gender relations. She discusses the different aspects of femininity in different types of horror films such as the scream at the
Gender Roles in Horror Films threatening moment in King Kong, which she explains is a cover for female aggression and sexual predatory behavior. Berenstein also accounts for the male in such movies saying that if the monster is as seductive as it is frightening, the male hero is usually inept to defeat it and is often victimized himself. This article worked toward a distinct view of feminism in horror cinema. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies provide substantial evidence in support of the theories earlier discussed in my sources. A basic story line of the movies is as follows; in nineteen-thirty-nine, a woman working in a slaughterhouse dies while attempting an abortion. The deformed baby is thrown into the trash and rescued by a beggar who raises it. Born with a skin condition, "Leatherface," is reared by a sadistic family-turned cannibal and goes constant killing sprees with his chainsaw.
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Following along with the ideals of O'Brien and Cowan, the main antagonist, Leatherface, displays hyper-masculinity working at a slaughterhouse, always covered in blood and other vital fluids, and continuously overpowers his enemies with his brute strength and size. In Texas Chainsaw Massacre II, we see Grant's theories of sexual identity and confusion coming through in our villain. When attacking the radio station after Stretch, the disc jockey, plays his earlier attack on the air, Leatherface seems to develop a crush on her and refuses to kill her. He runs the still blade of his chainsaw along her thighs and shakes in what is understood to be an orgasm. Throughout the rest of the film, Leatherface refrains from causing Stretch any harm. This could also be used as evidence in support for Clover's speculation of psychosexual fury. Because of the "final girl" phenomenon, an obvious lack of a male hero is evident. This can account for Berenstein's idea of the male being inept and unable to defeat the killer, leaving it all up to our heroine.
Gender Roles in Horror Films As one of the films Clover analyzed, Texas Chainsaw exhibits the "final girl" phenomenon in all of the movies as each one ends with a lone girl survivor. Unfortunately in two of the earlier films, the "final girl" lives the rest of her life with extreme mental health problems due to the trauma she experienced. The ladies definitely show a role reversal as they
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are forced to defend themselves while attempting to rescue the others. The example from before about Leatherface's first "sexual" encounter also supports Williams' conjecture on violence resulting from sexual difference. The research of my sources' authors definitely provides some insight to the way horror films tend to be structured. They discuss a continuing theme of specific roles for those of a specific gender. I would like to see more examinations of nontraditional "gender" such as transgender, bisexual, or homosexual. It would be interesting to see how the roles change as society more openly accepts nontraditional lifestyles. In the articles used for this research paper, there was a common mentioning of not only gender roles within the films but the specific roles of viewers as well. Exploring the different reactions to horror films base on gender differences could provide a window to how society perceives the media depending on the function taken on by specific gender. Overall, it is clear to see that the roles of males and females in horror films generally follow a certain heuristic and only rarely cross paths. Only by realizing the gender specific stereotypes expressed in media can we begin to see the stereotypes set in our own lives and hope to make change.
Gender Roles in Horror Films
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References Berenstein, R. J. (1996). Attack of the leading ladies gender, sexuality, and spectatorship in classic horror cinema. New York: Columbia University Press. Clover, C. (1987). Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film. Representations, 20. Clover, C. J. (1992). Men, women, and chain saws gender in the modern horror film. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. Cowan, G., & O'Brien, M. (1990). Gender and survival vs. death in slasher films: A content analysis. Sex Roles, 23. Grant, B. K. (1996). The dread of difference gender and the horror film. Austin: University of Texas Press. Williams, L. (1991). Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess. Film Quarterly, 44, 2-13.