Gender and Horror

In the Horror genre, there is a lot of debate about how gender is portrayed- especially the female gender. Furthermore there has been an increase in the number of female viewers of the Horror genre, as it used to be dominated by male viewers. 

In the first season of American Horror Story, different types of women are shown, as T Schull analyses in her Wordpress article about the series. She writes about the female characters, placing them into individual archetypes of women in Horror, some of which are listed below;

- The Scorned Woman : Vivien Harmon played by Connie Britton, whose husband cheats on her with a younger women. In spite of what she goes through in her personal life, she is unlike a damsel in distress because she stands up for herself and doesn't just take what life throws at her. 

- The Femme Fatale : Moira played by Alexandra Breckenridge, who is seen in two forms depending on who is looking at her. To women she appears as an old housemaid but to men she appears as a french maid who uses her beauty to entice them in and reveal their secrets. 

- The Cougar : Constance played by Jessica Lange, who is in equal parts the 'Boss' character of the series. She has a lot of power, which a lot of female characters don't seem to have in the Horror genre. 

When I looked for articles on gender and horror, I found a lot about how nowadays women are being seen to be having their 'revenge' because they are being shown in more powerful roles, even being the 'monster' rather than the victim or 'damsel in distress'. (Donahue, 2014) Instead of waiting for men to come and rescue them from a serial killer, they are more empowered and fighting back. This could be seen as a reflection of changes in society, with feminism becoming a more prominent part and equality between the genders being campaigned for very publicly also. This could be why there is an increase in the number of women who are watching the Horror genre.  I think that if the film industry continued to show weak female characters being overpowered by men then they would have a lot of complaints, especially considering the society we live in now.