We usually expect to see women objectified in films and this is very often in a way that concentrates on their sexuality and narrowly defined physical beauty. Stereotypically they are emotional, submissive and defined through their relationships with men. Female characters rarely seem to be given a very strong identity and as a result we, as the audience, find it more difficult to identify with them compared to how easily we could identify with a stereotypically strong, dominant and independent male character. Women are weak and presented as damsels in distress who must be saved by a male character both physically and emotionally.
Cinematic techniques are used to show women as objects to be looked at and men as subjects who look at them. This is known as the 'Male Gaze' because the audience are literally put into the eyes of the male characters (usually the main protagonist). Camera shots and movements that help to objectify the women include shots from the males' point-of-view and reaction shots of the male when he looks at a woman. Long shots are used of the women which discourages identification with them as we don't see their facial expressions clearly and therefore we are unable to know their emotions easily. Tilts up the body including fragmentation of certain body parts e.g. the legs concentrate on a woman's physicality and acts as a sexual display for the male's advantage. The 'Male Gaze' is a sadistic and voyeuristic way of denying women their own identity.
According to Jeremy Tunstall (The Media in Britain, 1983) representations of women in the media are emphasised by the women's domestic roles (domestic), their sexuality (sexual), the idea of women as consumers (consumer) and the women's roles in the family (marital).Many of the dominant ideologies mentioned above are challenged by the female protagonist in the horror genre, which is interesting as this is the only genre in which it is obviously and almost always done. Although the protagonist challenges the above ideas there is no denying that there are still sometimes less important female characters which help to reinforce the stereotypical ideas of women.
Instead of a weak submissive female character the horror genre often provides us with a stronger more independent female protagonist who survives until the end of the film. She is known as the 'Final Girl' and instead of being an object of sexual desire she is often boyish and not obviously beautiful. In 'Halloween' (John Carpenter, 1978) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LydgEmQWOp0) the main protagonist, Laurie, is virginal and this appears to be a possible reason as to why she manages to survive. Her friends Annie and Lynda are both sexuality active and are killed before or after having sex. They are presented as sexual because of this and also through what they are wearing. Annie gets her normal clothes dirty and so spends most of her time on screen wearing just a man's shirt which clearly draws attention to her legs. These two characters therefore reinforce the idea of women as objects.
The idea of the final girl is interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly because her appearance is not the most important thing but also because she is independent and does not need to rely on a male character to help her out or to define her identity, as in other genres. Jeremy Tunstall said that one of the ways in which women are presented in the media is through their family roles (marital). This sometimes appears to be the case in horror films but as the plot progresses we often find that this idea is then challenged. For example, in 'The Shining' (1980) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfout_rgPSA) and 'Eden Lake' (2008) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6j3K4MmOKs) the main female characters are first presented as wives. However, as both the films progress the husbands are separated from the women either physically or mentally and this allows for the women to show their own identities.
The female protagonist is presented as a subject rather than an object and the male gaze is not used on her. Instead we are able to identify with her because close-ups are used on her which allows us to see her emotional reactions and POV shots from her perspective allow us to see things from her eyes and therefore we feel that we are in the situation with her.
The audience identify with her further because as well as being a hero she is a victim. Her victim/hero role allows us to create an emotional attachment to her as her escape from the villain is not easy. For example, in 'Halloween' Laurie discovers her friends are dead and is then pursued by the killer herself and is alone in trying to defeat him. Interestingly, the female is often demonised in her struggle and ends up harming and sometimes killing other characters in order to survive. We see this in 'Eden Lake' when the protagonist kills two of her enemies without really thinking because she had gotten to a point of desperation and her own survival has become the only thing that matters to her. Even though it could be argued that she has become evil herself the audience still feel a connection to her and want her succeed because we have identified with her and feel that we are in her shoes. We have followed her struggle and distress throughout the whole film so understand why she has resorted to extreme measures.
The horror genre represents women in a much less sexist way than other film genres. Even though there are sometimes still female characters that fit in with the stereotypically objectified and helpless representations of women, horror films adopt a strong female protagonist who challenges the 'classic' ideas of women and appears to take on a more typically male role by being independent, intelligent and powerful. She doesn't rely on others to survive and manages to come out on top despite having to fight her way there without any help. As a result of her 'male characteristics' she has her own identity and therefore the audience are able to identify and relate to her.
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