Representation of women in Horror

It was in 1992 that Carol Clover published Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the modern horror film. In this Clover pushed her theory of the “final girl”. She makes links to previous horror films, relating to the traits and actions performed by the final girl. She tends to be virginal, which plays on her innocence. Usually comes across as being androgynous, from her personality and dress sense. Clover also argued that the final girl was actually the one that fought back. She traced the development of the final girl from Lila Crane.

In 1983 Jeremy Tunstall wrote about the existing research on women’s roles within media texts. From his results he found that representation of women in media emphasised women’s domestic, sexual, consumer and marital activities to the exclusion of all else. Women are stereotypically seen as busy housewives, contented mother, eager consumers and sex objects. 

In 1992 research showed that men dominated women on screen by two to one. The only genre in which the ratio of males and females was more equal was primary characters in prime time TV adverts. However there were a few problems with the findings. Firstly, males were still significantly more likely than females to be shown having an occupation. It was also more likely for males to be shown away from home and outdoors. Finally males are still more likely to be depicted as authorities and females as consumers. It has been suggested that Ripley (Alien) is more progressive than Lara Croft. This is because the Lara Croft character is presented in a much more objectified and sexualised terms than female protagonists of the previous generation. Within advertisements women’s bodies are still exploited as sexual commodities to sell anything. This can vary from after shave to motor cycles and ice creams. Although in recent times there has been an increase on the use of male models, which involve beauty and near nudity. We then question if this is a slow step towards equality. 

When looking at the portrayal of women in women’s magazines, we notice that they are addressed primarily in terms of their domestic roles as a housewife, wife and mother, but also by their sexuality. It has been said that women’s magazines fall into two categories, those that focus on beauty and fashion and ‘getting a man’ and those that deal with the three C’s which are known as cooking, cleaning and caring.

It was Laura Muvely’s threoy, the male gaze, in Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, which suggested that the camera “looks” at women in a particular way. Many have argued that women are objectified, denying them as an identity and treating them like objects.