MISOGYNY BECOMES PROMINENT
WITHIN HORROR FILMS
By Angelina Provvisiero
Editor’s Note: Views expressed in this article are
solely from the author's opinions and beliefs.
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Misogyny - a term used for describing behaviors involving degradation, prejudice against, and unreasonable hatred towards women - is a broad issue that our society currently faces. Even with recognition and efforts to eliminate the problem, the horror film community is not willing to accept a change after decades of the repeated agenda. The portrayal of misogyny in horror films is prominent in several classic films, and consistently proven with many different directors.
One trope that is commonly displayed is the act of women being chased, threatened, kidnapped, and then tortured. This can be seen in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. One of the main characters named Sally undergoes physical confinement and restriction, as well as being mentally tormented with fear throughout a majority of the film. Furthermore, films such as The Den, Captivity and Alone repeat identical concepts that involve the kidnapping and torturing of women who are typically very young.
The sadistic recurrence of this trend is recognized in an article from the University of San Diego, titled “Torture the Women": A Gaze at the Misogynistic Machinery of Scary Cinema” by Sarah Hankins, stating, “The women of horror almost certainly falls victim to a cocktail of gruesome acts: she is stalked, intimidated, abused, raped, and killed, all for not only the fulfilment of the injurer within the fiction, but also the fulfilment of the viewer. The spectator, urged by the film’s cinematic composition, becomes complicit in terrorizing filmed females.”
An overwhelming unimportance of women is additionally presented in these films, usually containing a poor reasoning for their existence or having them serve a single, nearly useless role. An article from medium.com titled “Women in Horror — Are horror movies inherently misogynistic, or are they just misunderstood?” states, “A film will pass the Bechdel test if it 1) has more than one named female character, 2) if they speak to each other, and 3) if that communication is about something other than men. With a staggering average of around 43% of all movies failing, we can see that women’s representation in films are often either only through men or revolving around male character’s stories.”
Bayside High School junior Margherita Maiello comments, “Many women get little to no character development and or they are portrayed as being the cause for many faults.”
Women are also often seen as the villain, or as a figure of evil. The underlying factors of this usually sprout from a seemingly constant recurrence of mental illness, or unmanageable insanity. Bayside High School junior Kelly Liu says, “Women in films are often portrayed like the stereotypical airhead and often they do not play smart roles in films. Especially in horror movies, they are usually the first to be killed off in films - which is frustrating because women should be portrayed correctly in films and not as complete airheads.”
The degradation of women is also recognized in an article from mdcthereporter.com, titled “The Misogynistic Portrayal Of Women In Horror Films Needs To Stop” by Carolina Soto. “We see this in Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of The Shining in 1980. The character Wendy Torrance screams constantly about her husband’s descent into madness yet doesn’t show much character development. The problem with this kind of film structure is that it reduces female characters down to a singular emotion -- scared. Instead of portraying women as the multifaceted beings that they are, some horror films insinuate that women are just living representations of weak emotions.”
Overall, there is a major issue with the representation of women in horror films. I believe that women have been included in films for centuries, yet their representation is still bombarded with outdated stereotypes and misconceptions. There must be a change in the future, because little progress has been made towards this matter.
SOCIAL MEDIA PROVES TO HAVE BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS
By Ahmed Huossein
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In this modern era where technology is constantly advancing, social media has gained a following of over four billion users across multiple apps. However, with so many users, social media is not guaranteed to be a positive experience for everyone.
According to an article from Sage Journals titled “Increases in Depressive Symptoms, Suicide-Related Outcomes, and Suicide Rates Among U.S. Adolescents After 2010 and Links to Increased New Media Screen Time” by Jean M. Twenge, “Adolescents in grades 8 through 12 (N = 506,820) and national statistics on suicide deaths for those ages 13 to 18, adolescents’ depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates increased between 2010 and 2015, especially among females.” The article continues on to depict that teenagers who spent free time on social media were more likely to have mental health issues as opposed to teenagers who spent their time on non-screen activities.
On the other hand, social media can be beneficial to teenagers as it helps them connect with others. An article from Engadget titled “Survey Says Teens Find Some Benefit from Social Media” by Mallory Locklear states, “The center surveyed 743 teens, aged 13 to 17, between March 7th and April 10th of this year. It found that more than 80 percent of teens said social media helped them feel more connected to their friends, and more than two-thirds said social networks helped them interact with a more diverse group of people and made them feel as though they had a support system during trying times.”
Studies conducted each year are constantly proving that social media has a magnitude of negative effects on teenagers. The main issue with social media is the prevalent cyberbullying and harassment.
An article from the Pew Research Center titled “A Majority of Teens Have Experienced Some Form of Cyberbullying” reported, “Some 42% of teens say they have been called offensive names online or via their cell phone. Additionally, about a third (32%) of teens say someone has spread false rumors about them on the Internet.” Although being subject to hurtful comments and bullying exist outside of social media, cyberbullying mainly takes place due to the inherent nature of social media platforms that allows you to be anonymous. Although social media apps have taken actions to prevent cyberbullying, online harassment will never cease and will always continue to adversely impact teenagers.
Bayside High School Sophomore Amir Theodile says, “I use social media and think that it is harmful as it is addictive. It could be the cause of depression due to people comparing themselves to images on a screen.”
On the other hand, Bayside High School junior Zohaib Khan comments, “I believe that social media is positive because it helps you communicate and stay up to date with your friends and family. It also helps you find new friends that share similar interests.”
As the years go by, social media and research on its effects on teenagers will continue to grow. Only time will tell whether its usage becomes more beneficial or detrimental for us all.
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