How does the horror genre represent gender?

When looking at the horror, Halloween, from 1978, starring Jamie Lee Curtis in her early acting career, we can see the same ratio of men and women throughout the film. This shows that there is an equal amount of visibility however it doesn't mean that the way in which we are made to view the men and women are equal as well. When looking at the female characters' roles we can see that Lynda and Annie are both seen as sex objects and as the viewer we are made to objectify them due to their sexual and provocative behaviour. In addition we are also made to see some of the other female characters to be domestic and very familal which is a very typical stereotype of women to be either seen as sexual or domestic, making this very conservative. Furthermore, when looking at the female gaze in this film, we can see that we are made to identify with Laurie the majority of the time who is very gender neutral. Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) is seen to be very virginal, so we are not made to objectify her in any way, she has short, boyish hair and dresses quite masculine. Even the name Laurie itself is quite gender neutral, making her, in general, a very typical and conservative final girl. We also see Laurie playing the role of a child carer, which is a very domestic role to play, thus adding to very stereotypical representations in the horror genre. The narrative of this movie explores the idea that the main antagonist, Mike Myers, witnessed his sister and her boyfriend in the act of sex and thus causing him to believe, from a very young age, that sex was wrong. As a result he 'punished' every 'teen' he caught having sex by murdering them. This is clearly shown through the narrative as every murder completed throughout the film were murdered for their sexual behaviour, making Laurie an even more poignant character for the final girl.

The next film i wish to look at is 1982's 'The Shining'. In this we can see that the visibility of men outnumbers women by the ratio 2:1, making it a very male orientated film. The female roles in this film are mainly domestic because she is a wife and a mother and completes all of Jack's work around the hotel for him while he writes. She is also made to seem weak and submissive and tolerates Jack's abusive manors towards her. However we do also see a woman, naked in a bath tub which is either a figment of Jack's imagination or could be a ghost of the previous caretaker, Grady's wife. We, as the audience, are made to objectify this woman as she is very promiscuous towards Jack at first which is then changed once the woman becomes suddenly aged and decayed. As a result the male gaze is ultered and the audience returns to identifying with Wendy in a domestic way as oppose to sexual. Furthermore when looking at the narrative of this film we see that the final girl is in fact Wendy and it is suggested at the end of the film that she does in fact survive and manage to escape. This would be a conservative representation of gender due to us, as the audience, being made to see her as purely domestic and un-attractive. However when studying the narrative closely, we can see that there are a higher number of female deaths as opposed to male deaths in this film.

The last film i wish to analyse is 2008's 'Eden Lake' which challenges the norm of the representation of gender in the horror genre, to some extent. Firstly the ratio of visibility between men and women is the same as 'The Shining' 2:1, making men the more viewed gender. In addition the female roles both challenge and agree with the normal horror genre representation of gender because Jenny (the main female character) is a primary school teacher and although she does in fact work, her job title is very feminine and slightly domestic because even though they are not her children she is caring for, she still has a motherly role to some degree, much like Laurie from 'Halloween' baby-sitting the children, does. Furthermor we do not objectify her and yet we dont see her as domestic because she is not promiscuous and she is not a 'stay home' wife, however she does except her boyfriends engagement ring which then makes her more domestic in our view. On the other hand, the other female character, Paige, is very aggressive and boyish and yet, uses her body to intimidate others, for example when she accuses Steve of looking at her chest when he was clearly giving her an ashamed or disaproving look, making eye contact. However she is quite submissive among her group of male companions. As a result the final girl would seem to be Paige if it followed the typical conventions of representation of gender in the horror genre which is why this film challenges it because Paige is also one of the main antagonists. In addition, we do see some example of Jenny being objectifyed, however it is not by the audience but by the group of antagonists within the film and she also reacts in a negative fashion and because we are made to identify with her throughout the film, we too are displeased. Finally the narrative structure also challenges the norm of representation of gender as there is no final girl. Throughout the entire film we assume Jenny will be the final girl because she has battled through so much conflict and grief as well as torement and pain. This, as a result, makes the audience long for her to survive and yet the film ends with us knowing she is going to be brutely murdered through pure revenge.

I feel that all three films support the normal conventions of horror and it's representation of gender to some extent. This is because in all three films, the female protagonists are seen to be either domestic or sexual, making them objectified by the viewer, in some way. Furthermore, both 'Halloween' and 'The Shining' have a final girl who is quite boyish and the audience can identify with them. However 'Eden Lake' does not have a final girl, in the viewers eyes because although she is still alive when the film ends, we know that she is being sent to her fate in the bathroom. However i still feel as though it supports the representation of gender in horror genres, much like the other two films.