2010 Student Research Conference:
23rd Annual Student Research Conference

Gender Roles Within Horror Films: A Feminist Criticism of Hollywood Stereotypes
Alexandria N. Boles
Prof. Don Krause, Faculty Mentor

Hollywood has been able to break the helpless victim mold of women with movie series such as "Scream" and "Halloween." During the first Scream film, Sidney says, "What's the point they're all the same, some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can't act who is always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door, it's insulting." The Final Girl mentality became a popular character type, and women are being seen as empowered and courageous, instead of weak and needing to be saved by a man. The words "what's your favorite scary movie" haunted society for at least five years when Scream, Scream 2 and Scream 3 were released in 1996, 1997 and 2000 respectively. This fear and the portrayal of women allowed stereotypes to form for future female roles in scary movies.

Keywords: Feminism, Horror, Films, Criticism, Hollywood, Stereotypes, Communication, Media

Topic(s):Communication
Women's and Gender Studies
English

Presentation Type: Oral Paper

Session: 10-3
Location: VH 1320
Time: 8:30

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