Gender Representation In Horror Movies

The horror genre is one of the broadest out there. Every year, there is a new movie about ghosts, zombies, or a remake of an old favorite. Horror has played a part in American culture for a long time. People can get a certain thrill while watching scary movies that does not quite come with other genres such as romance or comedy. With long franchises, twisted plots, and memorable characters, it is no secret as to why people love them so much. However, gender representation in horror films has been a debate for years. Gender roles are not always handled fairly in horror movies, and women tend to face the negative side of it.

When a female character is to be feared, the cause of it can be traced back to her sexuality. In Brian De Palma’s 1976

Robert Hiltzik’s 1983 film Sleepaway Camp is very reminiscent of Carrie. Felissa Rose plays Angela Baker, a young girl who goes away for camp for the first time. Eight years prior, she lost her father and brother to a boating accident and has been traumatized since, rarely speaking and terrified of the water. She is painfully shy and introverted, resulting in being bullied by the other campers. One by one, people are killed, from the head cook who tried to molest her, to the small children who threw sand at her; absolutely no one is safe. At first, it appears that Angela’s protective cousin Ricky is responsible for the murders, but in a climax that has been rated one of the top horror movie twist endings of all time, viewers are proven wrong. As word of a murderer in the camp is spread, police and counselors desperately search for the mysterious killer. It does not take long for Angela to be found covered in blood and cradling the severed head of her camp crush. However, this is not the twist. As Angela stands and the camera pans, she is completely naked, revealing full-frontal male genitalia. In a flashback sequence, it is revealed that the brother, Peter, actually survived the boating incident and not the sister. Because Peter’s eccentric aunt already had a son, she decided to raise him as a girl. “Angela. It means Angel. You’ll like that name, won’t you, Peter?” she croons. Present day, Angela is wild-eyed and emitting a raspy growl from her wide open mouth. “How can it be? She’s a boy!” one of the counselors state as they stare on in horror. Again, viewers are not to be sympathetic. They are supposed to be afraid of the girl with a penis. It comes off in a very black and white sense that a person is either a male or a female, and that anyone whose sex doesn’t match their gender presentation should be feared (The Shock of Sleepaway Camp). “…he’s not only a murderer―he’s a deceiver as well”