Representation of Gender in horror films

Gender is the most common category we separate human beings into, male or female. Elements of our own identity and the identities we assume others to have, come from concepts of gender. Many things in the media, not just humans but objects as well are represented by the media to be, both masculine or feminine, this happens a lot in advertising and as we grow older we develop an awareness of what is seen as acceptable in terms of representation.

A typical masculine is represented in the media as tough, hard and sweaty whereas females are represented as being fragile, soft and fragrant.

Representation of females in the media has become very constant nowadays and the majority of female representations are the same. Although the changes in women’s roles have changed dramatically, their representation it is still seen as worrying now that how they are portrayed has become very common.

Representations of women across all media:
beauty (lots of make-up)
size/physique (slim)
sexuality (mainly straight)
emotional dealings
relationships (independence/freedom)

Women are usually part of a team or group that work together when represented in the media. They are usually passive rather than active in films and usually take up the role of the helper (Propp). The women that do make it onto the screen are very stereotypical. The way woman are represented in America compared to Europe is very different, the Americans portray their woman as well behaved. When an American remake of the British film ‘Pasty and Edina’ had to be severely toned down because of the way they represent their woman but it proved to be a flop compared to the UK version.

In horror films women are the victims the majority of the time, they are portrayed as vulnerable and as an easy target for the evil guy in the film. The killer and bad guy in horrors usually tends to be a man as of course in the general media they are portrayed as tough, hard and sweaty.