Gender Roles in Horror

Teenagers make up a large, if not the largest, percent of horror movie viewers (Walters, 2004:6), leading many researchers to ask what about this genre draws them in. One theory, proposed by Glenn Walters, is that since independence and identity play a large role in many horror films, teenagers who are dealing with these same issues are able to relate to the characters they encounter. Walters points out that the settings for many horror movies are in high schools, homes, and neighborhoods. High school is obviously a time during which a lot of self-discovery takes place and both the home and neighborhood are seen as conflict zones as teens struggle to gain more independence.
In 1986 a study was done in which college students watched a clip of a horror film with a member opposite-gender who was instructed to act distressed, comfortable, or indifferent. The study revealed that the men enjoyed their viewing experience more in the presence of a distressed female while the women enjoyed their experience more when accompanied by a man who seemed in control and didn’t display fear (Walters, 2004:10). Many movie critics have also noted the gender roles played by the characters in movies. Feminists often criticize the traditional “...man as subject and the female as object of his gaze” (Nelson, 2009: 111).
Media is, in many ways, how people develop their sense of identity. We read magazines and watch movies to figure out what clothes to wear, how to do make-up, and what the cool places to shop are. It’s easy to forget the potential influence that horror movies can have on those ideals, but scary movies are a huge source of entertainment for many teenagers. If the movies are telling us that men are supposed to chase after women, whether it’s to love or to kill, we are still learning that women are passive objects. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, and there are horror movies featuring female killers, but the norm is the male monster/killer lusting and chasing after the innocent female victim.

Works Cited
Walters, Glenn D. "Understanding the Popular Appeal of Horror Cinema: An Integrated-Interactive Model." Journal of Media Psychology 9.2 (2004).

Nelson, Diane M. Reckoning the Ends of War in Guatemala. Durham, N.C.: Duke UP, 2009. Print.