‘You’ll Like This – It’s Feminist!’ Representations of Strong Women in Horror Fiction

Lazard, Lisa (2009). ‘You’ll Like This – It’s Feminist!’ Representations of Strong Women in Horror Fiction. Feminism & Psychology, 19(1) pp. 132–136.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353508098627

Abstract

In this article, I will discuss the ways in which strong women characters are constituted in the 2005 film The Descent (Marshall, 2005). In doing so, I will unpack representations of these fictional women with a view to articulating the implications that they have for challenging both problematic feminine positionings and heterosexism(s). While the film The Descent can be read as falling short of offering a challenge to heterosexist understandings of femininity, it will be argued that viewing horror films as monolithically problematic for women may overlook the subversive potential of this genre. I will begin by outlining the plot of the film and then explain why the film became of interest to me as a feminist psychologist.

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