Name: The Monstrous-Feminine
ISBN: 9781136750755

Barbara Creed

In almost all critical writings on the horror film, woman is conceptualised only as victim. In The Monstrous-Feminine Barbara Creed challenges this patriarchal view by arguing that the prototype of all definitions of the monstrous is the female reproductive body.With close reference to a number of classic horror films including the Alien trilogy, T

Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis

The Monstrous-Feminine

In almost all critical writings on the horror film, woman is conceptualized only as victim. In The Monstrous-Feminine, Barbara Creed challenges the mythical patriarchal view that woman terrifies because she is castrated, by arguing that woman primarily terrifies because of a fear that she might castrate. With close reference to a number of classic horror films including Alien, The Brood, The Hunger, Carrie, The Exorcist, Sisters, I Spit on Your Grave and Psycho, she presents a sustained analysis of the seven faces of the monstrous-feminine from a feminist and psychoanalytic perspective, discussing woman as monster in relation to woman as archaic mother, monstrous womb, vampire, witch, possessed body, monstrous mother and castrator. Her argument disrupts Freudian and Lacanian theories of sexual difference, as well as existing theories of spectatorship and fetishism in relation to the male and female gaze in the cinema, to provide a challenging and provocative re-reading of classical and contemporary film and theoretical texts.

The Monstrous-feminine

elif sinem

Really great analyses and takedowns, with some insane interpretations thrown on the occasion. I can see where she comes from with the fear of the vagina dentata thing, but sometimes it was just thrown in there without much of a logical conclusion, at least to me. I think given in the time it was released (1993) it makes sense that it doesn't discuss the effect it has on female viewers, but I still missed that a lot. I'd love to see a continuation of this in regards to 2010s horror cinema and with women / feminist takes of common horror tropes, like Raw or Thelma.

The Monstrous-Feminine Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis

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