Essay

Carol Clover, in men,women and chainsaws argues that horrors representation of gender is very interesting because it frequently offers its core target audience of young males an identification with a female character, unlike any other mainstream genre. To what extent do you think horrors representation of gender challenges dominant representation?

Horrors representation of gender challenges dominant representation because of typical representation issues such as stereotypes males are shown in the media to be dominant, strong, active, independent, intellectual and authoritative while females are shown submissive, passive, have a focus on beauty, sexuality and emotionality and are defined through relationships with men. Research that has been made has found that representation of women in the media emphasized women's domestic, sexual, consumer and marital activities to the exclusion of all else. Media also has less to say about the male role and that on screen men outnumber women two to one which then make visibility an issue many groups of women are not seen in the media such as older women and black women. Some images portrayed in the media has changed to some extent as now males and females now occur approximately equally as primary characters in prime time tv adverts but then females are still shown to be at home more than males also males to have an occupation more then females.

The male gaze is also put across in media a lot as many theorists have suggested that much commercial cinema puts the spectator in the position of an appraising heterosexual male by using technical camera strategies which present women as objects to be looked at and men as subjects. The audience is put in to the eyes of a male who is usually the main protagonist techniques used to in creating the male gaze are use of CU, POV and reaction shots of the male. Also use of long shots, tilts up the body fragmentation of the body parts such as just seeing the legs often used to encourage the audience to look at the female as an object. Many argue that mainstream film is part of the sexist regime of viewing which denies women subjectivity and encourages culture to view women as objects for male pleasure. The male gaze is a sadistic, voyeuristic way of controlling women.

Carol Clover in men women and chainsaws says that through out most of the film the main girl is the victim of monstrous people but at the near end of the film she turns the tables she then herself becomes a kind of monstrous hero which she likes to call the female victim hero the final girl. She also says that the final girl looks like an adolescent boy and does not have as much male gaze put upon. Also that the possibility that male viewers are quite prepared  to identify not just with the screen females. Research that Clover has taken out has shown that young males are the target audience of horror films and boys are the unmistakable target audience of horror fanzines.

The visibility from the three horror films that have been looked at challenges gender and dominant representation because in the film Halloween  1978 there is approximately equal number of male and females which not reflect on 1992 research but in The Shining 1982 and Eden Lake 2008 men outnumber women which backs up the 1992 research even all the way into 2008. Roles in Halloween such as Linda, Annie, and Judith are shown as sex objects through the male gaze and Laurie and Annie are shown as domestic by babysitting Laurie is also the main protagonist the final girl which does not really challenge the representation. The gaze from Halloween are shown from the male gaze Annie in her underwear in the laundry room and linda naked in bed but the main protagonist Laurie is never objectified and becomes the subject the movie progresses which backs up Carol Clover. The narrative in this film has a final girl she has male features weak but surving and overcomes the monster this narrative punishes women for transgressing rules as women's deaths are 60% and men 40%.

The roles by females in the film The Shining are of Wendy who is familiar and domestic but become the main protagonist and also takes over jacks jobs which challenges the dominant representation of the male. The women in the bath is sexualized and the secretary and  a domestic role which does not challenge the representation of gender. The women in the bathtub is objectified in the male gaze but is the undermined by transformation which I think challenges the representations. The narrative in the film is wendy as the main protagonist and death count is equal which doesn't seem to punish women for transgression which is showing progress in media and is challenging the representations.

The roles in the film Eden Lake are Jenny who is a teacher and domestic, the waitress who is domestic, Paige who has a passive role in the gang and the mother who are familiar I dont think that this challenges the representations. The gang in this film look at Jenny as a sex object but their gaze in undermined in the next shots where Jenny covers herself up and the narrative in this film is that women are not punished more then men. I think that this film does challenge gender representation and dominant representation a lot more in this film then the other two which where made earlier on.

I think to some extent horrors representation of gender challenges dominant representation more then it used to because of the way that the film Eden Lake does not portray women in a male gaze and the men in the film are not more dominant as more men die then women in the film. Also in the film The Shining when the women from the bathtub is being put in the male gaze and sexualized but it is then taken away from them when she transforms. And also in the film the shining how Jack becomes weak and wendy take over his jobs which would normally be the other way round. But in the early film Halloween representation is not challenged as much as more women die but most of them are sexualized in the male gaze and die because of transgression but the final girl survives that does not challenge representation as much as the later films.