She’s the wife of a scientist studying paranormal activity in a famously haunted house (the titular “Hell House”). Take for example Edith from the 1971 novel Hell House, a very well-celebrated piece of classic Horror literature. It makes people cringe to see women embrace their sexuality confidently, especially if that woman hasn’t been designed/styled to be sexually appealing to a presumed straight, male audience. It’s the fact that this concept - female sexuality and pleasure - is so taboo that it finds itself embedded within Horror media so often. This aversion to sexuality is much more potent when it comes to women seeking and receiving our own pleasure (as opposed to just acting as an object for male pleasure). Sexual imagery and themes in media are seen as uncomfortable, awkward, and maybe even gross to some. Images from: Too Much Horror FictionĪmerican culture is often referred to as “ repressed” and squeamish when it comes to the topic of sex. Two covers for Hell House, both depicting women passively terrified. I’d like to delve deeper into the tropes and cliches that misogyny have influenced Horror media. Games, movies, books, everything Horror-related has been an important part of my life for nearly 2 decades - I watched my first scary movie ( Hellraiser) at 3 years old! This trend upsets me not only because I’m a woman myself, but for the pure fact that this genre is a passion of mine. However, it seems there’s one type of media, one genre of fiction in particular, that still finds itself immersed in regressive, old-fashioned ideas about women. It’s difficult to go anywhere, speak to anyone, or look at anything influenced by our culture without having some implicit misogynistic message sent your way.ĭespite this issue, we as an international community have greatly improved the way we represent women, especially in media. Misogyny permeates every part of our society, that’s just the nature of oppression.
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