Representation of women in the horror genre.

The horror genre, especially 'slasher' movies, are known for representing women in a negative way. The women are often half naked, running around, panicing and the main victims. Sometimes they are engaging in sexual activities and their punishment is to be killed by a man. Studies have shown that when the roles are reversed and the female is the murderer, usually there is a background to it and a man is actually to blame. This could suggest that females are not intelligent enough to think for themselves and the male is always the most powerful. The females also are stereotypical, in that they scream and run away from the murderer instead of trying to fight back. These stereotypes are challenged in some slasher movies because of the 'final girl.' In many slashes films there is a final girl who the murderer doesn't catch. On the other hand, this could also be seen as still presenting females negatively. The final girl is usually de-feminized which suggests that only the tom-boy girls will survive because ordinary girls wouldn't have any sense and it would be their own fault for getting killed.





Five examples of slasher films that reinforce this stereotype or challenge it are:





Halloween - the final girl is the one not indulging in sexual activities, she is smart and willing to fight to survive.


Friday the 13th.

Black Christmas.

Texas Chain Saw Massacre



Psycho.