Introduction
Feminist theory views cinematic genres in terms of attitudes towards women, and horror films are no exception. Many films often depict women negatively; women in films are abused or objectified (Zhou, 2019). Some sub-genres of horror films are specifically designed for male audiences and are, therefore, replete with hypersexualized portrayals of women who can be subjected to unprecedented brutality. As a feminist, film festival fan, and long-time horror lover, I want to share my perspective on whether this film genre is inherently patriarchal.
Slashers, a common subgenre of horror films, have been particularly criticized for misogyny and stereotyping of women. However, films always reflect the period of their creation and the prevailing moods in society in their approach and content (Hernández-Santaolalla & Raya, 2021). For example, in many established genres, such as romantic comedies or action films, the representation of female characters can be considered significantly problematic.
I believe that the horror genre most deeply comes from the concept of violence, which is socially unacceptable, and this is the reason these films are often criticized the most. Because I am a fan of the genre, I often have to defend it in front of people who are only familiar with superficial horror movie clichés. I am sure that horror films are not inherently misogynistic.
Violence Against Women
Horror films tend to focus on violence, so the first concept that can be called misogynistic is violence against women. The depiction of harsh reality is the way horror films defy convention. Because of shocking the audience and the ability to give them vivid emotions, horror films exist by their very nature. At the same time, viewer impressionability largely depends on the perception of a particular person. Topics that frighten and horrify some people may only be offensive to others (Fredriksson, 2020).
The feminist view on violence against women in such films may be based on the fact that many people find it unpleasant to see violence against women in great detail. However, such scenes in horror films may not be created for entertainment; they are also a way to draw attention to a social problem by shocking the viewer. Serious and terrifying scenes may be necessary to convey the message of the unacceptability of violence and its prevalence in modern society. Horror films specifically appeal to acutely social themes such as violence in order to contribute to solving this problem, so they cannot be called misogynistic.
Horror films, especially slashers, which are predominantly based on murder, can be accused of killing women for their sexual attitudes or for refusing a potential partner, thereby condemning such behavior. Fans of the genre, especially if they are women, are also criticized (Hernández-Santaolalla & Raya, 2021). In my opinion, slashers, on the contrary, emphasize the emotional experiences of women who are subjected to gender discrimination and violence. Demonstrating the mass character and senselessness of killing women, slashers oppose discriminatory behavior, so this genre is not misogynistic by its nature.
Consideration of the concept of misogynistic attitudes towards women in horror films begins with the birth of the canonical slasher genre. The original slashers could be called misogynistic as they reflected the social climate of the 1960s (Hernández-Santaolalla & Raya, 2021). The emergence of slasher films is often associated with the 1978 film Halloween (Hernández-Santaolalla & Raya, 2021). The main concept of the film was the pursuit of teenagers by a maniac, which subsequently gave rise to the basis of the genre. At the same time, the main characters of the film can be considered the girls whose character is most deeply written (Hernández-Santaolalla & Raya, 2021).
According to the plot of the film, all the heroines die except for one, who was a virgin. At the same time, the maniac kills girls because of his long-standing childhood psychological trauma (Hernández-Santaolalla & Raya, 2021). The film does not convey the normality of the condemnation of femininity. On the contrary, it aims to demonstrate the unhealthiness of such behavior, drawing attention to this problem by depersonalizing the maniac, which identifies him with any man or society as a whole.
Halloween aims to showcase the strong personalities of women. The director did not comment on the film’s depiction of sexuality, as the main focus was not to consider the plot from a similar perspective (Hernández-Santaolalla & Raya, 2021). However, in modern terms, non-fans of the genre condemn slashers without understanding its basic principles. Thus, the film Halloween, which is the ancestor of the genre, is not intended to demonstrate misogyny.
Many horror films have been criticized for their discriminatory portrayal of women; among them is The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The basis for criticism is the climactic scene of this film, in which a maniac is chasing a woman with a chainsaw in his hands. However, the traditional horror film genre did not attach any importance to the gender of the victims; rather, it was an act of political utterance (Hernández-Santaolalla & Raya, 2021).
At the same time, the heroine of the film is the last survivor, which demonstrates her strength. This heroine has become the most famous example of what is known as the “last girl,” an archetype that can be traced back to Halloween (Zhou, 2019). This archetype is associated with the last surviving female character, who survives only because of her inner moral purity.
Female characters are indeed often used in horror films as the “last girl” archetype. However, this tendency cannot be associated solely with the moral correctness of the heroine. Movies are not aimed at broadcasting the only true belief, thanks to which one can avoid death at the hands of a maniac. Rather, this trend is associated with the desire of directors to portray strong female characters who can stand up for themselves and survive in the most difficult conditions.
It is important to consider that horror filmmakers may decide to keep the lives of characters with whom the viewers form an emotional bond. That is why the right and morally justified heroines can survive so that horror films do not seem to broadcast only unlimited cruelty.
The very first examples of slashers may have supported sexist concepts as they were a real reflection of a time in which feminism was not prevalent. The horror genre in past years may have masked the reality of sexism as it often allowed viewers to have no association between what is happening on screen and objective reality (Hernández-Santaolalla & Raya, 2021). However, the sense of escapism that horror films offer has nothing to do with misogyny, as it does not seek in any way to downplay the problems that women face in real life.
The concept of depicting characters in slashers and horror films, in general, is changing in accordance with the trends of the new time. The Happy Death Day slasher, which was released in 2017, challenges the portrayal of women not only in slashers but in cinematography in general (Hernández-Santaolalla & Raya, 2021). The main character is stereotypical at first glance, which can create comical situations. In fact, she turns out to be a strong and deep character who defies the time loop and solves the trials that are happening to her.
The audience does not laugh at the heroine but laughs with her because she is optimistic and humorous even in unpleasant situations. Thus, classic slashers were not misogynistic; they were only a reflection of the social conditions of the creation environment, like many other film genres. Modern cinema is changing, and horror tends to portray strong female characters, which is in line with the modern agenda and helps respond to public sentiment.
A sub-genre of horror films that challenges violence against women in cinema is the depiction of female protagonists’ revenge on their abusers. This subgenre has become widespread due to its ability to portray political commentary on the inadmissibility of sexual violence. The most famous film of this genre is I Spit on Your Grave, made in 1978 (Zhou, 201). The most critical criticism of this film was directed at the scene of explicit sexual violence, which served as a backstory to the main plot.
Due to fears of social backlash and outright cruelty, the film was banned from showing in some countries. However, a feminist view of the film suggests that it can be called anti-sexist due to its depiction of the reality of the problem of sexual violence and its focus on female audiences (Germaine Buckley, 2019). The film is an important statement against sexualized violence and captures the spectrum of the victims’ emotions and their justified desire for revenge. Thus, this subspecies of horror films cannot be called misogynistic.
Finally, it is worth paying attention to the sex ratio of victims in horror films. In most horror films, the characters declared at the beginning of the story do not survive to the end, but this is the original meaning of this branch of cinematography. At the same time, the ratio of deaths of female and male characters in horror films is approximately the same.
Murder in horror films is a crime against a human being, regardless of gender, age, or race (Hernández-Santaolalla & Raya, 2021). For the audience, predominantly, the death of the characters is also perceived as equally shocking, which is what most horror films are aimed at. Thus, demonstrating the equal treatment of victims in horror films does not allow them to be classified as misogynistic manifestations.
Women as Victims
One of the criticisms of horror films is the typical depiction of women as victims of male aggression. The main characters are indeed often women, and the main villain is almost always a man, whether he is a maniac, a murderer, or a monster (Zhou, 2019). In such representations, viewers can see in a woman a passive object of male violence.
However, even modern reality often gives examples of life situations in which men act as aggressors. Artistic reflection in films cannot ignore this fact, and, in this respect, it is only a depiction of a real social problem. Victimization is the result of a social trend that, in films, draws attention to the problem of male aggression.
Women make a significant contribution to the development of the horror film industry and this type of entertainment as a genre. One of the founders of the genre is Mary Shelley, the author of the classic novel Frankenstein (Hernández-Santaolalla & Raya, 2021). Women continue to contribute to the development of the film industry as part of a large team of horror filmmakers (Hernández-Santaolalla & Raya, 2021).
Women are also the main viewers of horror films (Hernández-Santaolalla & Raya, 2021). At the same time, horror films abound with female characters, exposing the heroines as strong and courageous personalities. In terms of the presence of women in the industry, horror films cannot be called misogynistic.
Horror films often feature a woman as a victim, but that victim eventually defeats the villain and survives the odds. Thus, the victim is transformed into a position of power, being the protagonist. A woman is freed from the stereotype of victimization and becomes an agent of good, while her opponent often represents absolute evil (Zhou, 2019). This plot structure can be seen as a representation of women’s empowerment. At the same time, another problem emerges: an exaggerated image of aggressive muscularity (Fredriksson, 2020). However, this point should be considered a separate discussion, and the display of aggressive muscularity is not an argument against the feminist focus on female survival in horror films.
Representation of Women
To determine the misogyny of horror films, it is necessary to take into account the female representation in this segment of cinema. Bechdel’s text is used to assess the representation, complexity, and depth of the heroines’ demonstration in films (Valentowitsch, 2022). The emergence of this test and its popularization was a consequence of the fact that women were often portrayed in films to support the image of male heroes or as minor characters (Zhou, 2019). If there are female characters in a movie that do not interact with the conversation about male characters, the movie can pass the Bechdel test. Thus, this criterion can be used to compare different genres and identify patterns of subtle sexism.
Horror is most likely, in terms of genre division, to pass the Bechdel test. For horror, this success rate, according to the described scale, was almost 70%. At the same time, action films, romantic comedies, and some other categories of films were significantly inferior in this indicator (Valentowitsch, 2022). This means that in many films, women are portrayed as an addition to the male protagonist, being the driving force behind his storyline, or a love interest who does not play a significant role.
In contrast, horror films frequently feature female protagonists. They act as independent engines of the plot; they are irreplaceable and necessary characters. In horror, a woman is, in the majority of cases, an active character on whom the entire plot of the film is built.
Horror films, from the very beginning of creation, push female characters to the fore. In the films reviewed, Halloween, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and I Spit on Your Grave, which are canon horror films, the main characters are not maniacs or rapists; they are the women. Horror films destroy the canonical image of a female victim who is powerless in the face of male aggression.
On the contrary, women become protagonists and, in the finale, defeat the evil they had to face. The representation of women in horror films is predominantly positive; the films show strong-willed, fearless, and strong heroines. Thus, horror films, regardless of sub-genres, are not misogynistic but, on the contrary, often challenge gender stereotypes.
Conclusion
I do not agree with the criticism of horror films that are called misogynistic in origin. This criticism is predominantly based on the depiction of violent scenes involving women in films and the victimization of characters, who are also often women. In fact, criticism of horror films for being misogynistic stems from a misunderstanding of the basic concepts of the genre’s functioning. The main trope of horror films is the survival of one of the heroines, which is an example of the demonstration of a strong female character. Violence against women is shown to the same extent as against male characters, and it can also often serve as a plot backstory.
Horror films, by their very nature, are set to shock the viewer, but often, this is not violence for the sake of violence but a statement that draws attention to social problems. In addition, women in horror films are better represented than men, often being the protagonists. Compared to other genres, women in horror are more deeply developed characters. I am sure that the misogyny criticism of horror movies is unjustified.
References
Fredriksson, T. (2020). Avenger in distress: A semiotic study of Lisbeth Salander, rape-revenge and ideology. Nordic Journal of Criminology, 22(1), 58–71. Web.
Germaine Buckley, C. (2019). Germaine Buckley, chloe (2019) witches, ’bitches’ or feminist trailblazers? Manchester Metropolitan University. Web.
Hernández-Santaolalla, V., & Raya, I. (2021). Male monsters still stalk, yet more violent: A comparative analysis of original slasher films and their remakes. Sexuality & Culture, 26(3), 1167–1189. Web.
Valentowitsch, J. (2022). Hollywood caught in two worlds? The impact of the Bechdel test on the international box office performance of Cinematic Films. Marketing Letters. Web.
Zhou, M. (2019). Evolution of the final girl: Exploring feminism and femininity in Halloween (1978-2018). Claremont Colleges. Web.