Representation of women in

the Horror genre

There are many conventions of the horror genre. These include the Male Gaze theory,
Disempowerment and the irrational voice. The narrative events of a conventional horror
genre is that it would start off with a regular situation of modern life, then the film would
introduce some shock tactics, gruesome descriptions and a ghoulish mood such as non-
diegetic sound and special effects to create the appropriate atmosphere. The characters of a
conventional horror genre consist of a mixed gender (But would mostly have the women in
the lead role of the film) to exclude a sexist representation. As always in the horror genre
there are going to be deaths because its an essential ingredient for tension and would allow
the audience think more but not be too confused. So by eliminating people within the
movie, the audience are then immediately able to narrow down who the Antagonist could
be allowing the thought process to begin. This also helps the audience realise who the
protagonist is, if not figured out yet. The threat in the horror genre is the Antagonist. The
antagonist (opponent, competitor, enemy and rival) is a character or can be a group of
characters, or institution that represents the opposition against which the protagonist or
protagonists must contend. In other words, an antagonist is a person or a group of people
who oppose the main character(s). So in this essay I will explore, in-depth the conventions
of a female role in such films as Psycho, Woman in Black, Nightmare on Elm Street and The
Ring in the horror genre and an accurate reflection of their characteristics.

Disempowerment is where we take the intelligence, capable elements and traits of a female
character and were only left with her gender and sexuality. This can be through many types
of ways including scopophilia, which is when men gain pleasure from looking at visual
images and pictures. Another way is voyeurism in which men are gaining a sexual attraction
for spying or peeping at people. The irrational voice, when a woman is shouting and
screaming while being in a vulnerable situation, such as when there is a threat from an
antagonist, she is portrayed to being acting in an irrational manner, called the irrational
voice . Irrational meaning lacking in reason in contrary to reason or logic, lacking logically
thought: unable to think logically, or unable to think clearly: lacking the normal ability to
think clearly, especially because of the shock or injury to the brain. Finally the Male Gaze
Theory and the concept of the gaze is one that deals with how an audience views the people
presented. For feminists it can to be how men look at women. In Nightmare on Elm Street,
one of the females we see disempowered is Tina. The characteristics of Tina are that she
portrayed to be innocent, vulnerable, scared, distracted, confused, sexual and attractive in
Tinas 2nd nightmare, where she is being chased by Freddy Krueger down the street and
into Tinas house; to represent how females are shown in horror genres. The evidence that
is shown in this extract is represented through what she is wearing a white shirt, which
happens to be shown open from above the cleavage to the neck with the sleeves rolled up
for a stylish and sexual presentation. The meaning of this is that she is seen as an object
instead of a person allowing her death to seem conventional due to the intercourse she had
with Rod. We also hear through the irrational voice such as the screaming, heavy breathing
and panting which are related to sexual sounds during intimate interaction.

The Production elements of a film are Editing, Mise-en-scene, Camera angles/shots and
Sound; and these elements are what bring together the effects of a superb horror movie
and with these elements were also able to identify several characteristics of a female
character. Editing is part of the creative post production which is the process of film-making.
The term editing is derived from the traditional process of working with film, but now it
increasingly involves the use of technology. The film editor works with the raw footage,
selecting shots and combining them into sequences to create and finished motion picture.
Editing is described as an art or skill, the only art that is unique to cinema, separating film-
making from other art forms that precede it. Mise-en-scene placing on stage is an
expression used to describe the design aspects of a theatre or film production, which
essentially means visual theme or telling a story- both in visually artful ways through
storyboarding, cinematography poetically artful ways through direction. Mise-en-scene has
been called film criticisms grand undefined term. The camera angles and shots mark the
specific location at which a movie camera or video camera is placed to take a shot. A scene
may be shot from several camera angles simultaneously. This will give a different experience
and sometimes emotion. The different camera angles will have different effects on the
viewer and how they perceive the scene that is shot. There are few different routes that a
camera operator could take to achieve this effect.

Sound in films is also a very essential factor as it helps build tension. There are two types of
sound including Diegetic, which is sounds that are natural or normally be heard in the
location and then theres also Non-Diegetic, which are added in post-production, such as
the soundtrack or special effects. This commonly comes in the form of the female
characters and their screaming; the high pitched string leitmotif creates as it symbolises
when the perpetrator is about to strike or to highlight danger from the antagonist.
Effectively wielded tension can help a story resonate with its receiver. An example of this is
in Psycho; Marion Crane is represented in this as vulnerable to show how females are in
horror genres. The evidence that shows this in the extract is that she is naked and she
screams when she is attacked and does nothing to prevent it. This connotation of her is that
she is weak and has no protagonist presence within can be presented by a female. In
addition with the production elements such as Sound and Mise-en-scene; the sound from
her screaming and the Mise-en-scene of her physical image which is that shes naked; this
categorises into the costume part of the Mise-en-scene.
My opinion of how women are represented in horror genres is accurate because you always
have the typical conventional female character who happens to be the damsel-in-distress.
But however, after looking at other types of female characters the stereotypical perspective
of women in horror genres is different because of the many roles women portray in these
films such as the Protagonist, Antagonist and Troublemaker. Through these roles women
have been able to establish their capabilities in film-making. Thats why Id also say that
there is a fair representation of the roles for women. An example of this is in Psycho.
Norman Bates role in the Psycho is being the killer but before that we dont know that
because of the dressing up of his mother. This affects the narrative of the film because the
characters immediately change with Marion Crane being a troublemaker then transforming
into a Damsel-in-Distress then she becomes dead which means Norman Bates is the main
focus of the film. Although the addition of the male was in that point it shows how our
perception of a character can change throughout a film because of the actions made in the
film.