American Horror Films and Sexuality

Kelly Caner

Professor Simon

ENGL 345

November 16, 2015

Sexuality in American Horror Films

            What is it about a young woman, with bare shoulders, drenched in blood that is so appealing in American horror? Sex in American horror has been prevalent since this dawn of the genre itself. The start of the genre saw a lot of films with vampires and ghastly monsters, both of which were lusting after distinctly young women and eventually led to them snacking down on them, resulting in some form of blood. And now if we look at the horror films produced in American today, it is outlandishly gory and sexualized. I have many theories on why the genre continually generates bloody women running for their lives, half naked.

            Overall, I cannot give a clear and distinct answer as to why this male dominated audience is so eager to watch young girls get murdered, but here are a few ideas. Boiled down, are humanity is nothing more than about life and death, surviving and making sure we make more of us to carry on our species. So what are the two most primal instincts in a human? Sex and death. Watching young women as they strike the age of puberty and being coated in blood is such an important symbol. Instinctively, this is very appealing to audiences because we are watching the story of humanity. Another idea is that for audiences that are sexually attracted to women, watching knifes and various other objects striking women, cutting them open is a very strong image of penetration and sex. The sexuality in American horror is so intense, but it is so addicting to watch because it is connecting to our primal instincts.

            An interesting, almost comical thing to take note of is that when two people in horror films are having sexual relations, it almost automatically calls for them to be murdered. But, why? Are our characters who are engaging in intercourse being punished? I believe that the horror genre celebrates the virgin and terrorizes the women of the film that are overtly aware of their sexuality. In any horror film that portrays a woman who is confident in her sexuality and is shown having sex or talking about sex, they are automatically a target. Many times, it is the shy, virgin lead that saves the day. This is such an interesting concept in horror films that truly reflects the way American culture views women. The women that are confident in themselves and are proud of their sex life, must be punished, but not before exposing them. This is a very strong message that is sent out into audiences.

            One thing to be recognized in horror films is that yes, our female characters are tortured, abused and murdered, but they fight, and they fight strong. While a lot of horror films don’t show the females giving a good shot to survive, there are a lot that do. We see women attacking with full force and getting so close to defeating the monster or villain. So should we at least give our writers and directors a pat on the back for showing a little bit of female empowerment? Maybe.

            I find the horror genre extremely fascinating, and the way we view women in these films. Even when I was researching on this topic, I Google searched, “Women in horror films” and the list of links all were titled “15 Sexist Horror Films…” or “Hottest Women in Horror…” Why should being terrorized by a murder half naked make us all so excited? There are many reasons why, and without a doubt there will always be a constant stream of films that give into this formula.