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 womens roles within media texts. From
his results he found that representation of women in media emphasised womens 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 womens 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 womens 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 womens magazines fall into two categories, those that focus on beauty and fashion
and getting a man and those that deal with the three Cs which are known as cooking, cleaning and
caring.
It was Laura Muvelys 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.