Your first thoughts

Women in Film

Representation of women in the horror genre.

OK this is a sensible area to look at but you need a much clearer focus. Firstly, you should tell me what texts you will look at.

Secondly you should try to explore some texts where the females are objectified helpless victims and some where the story is more complicated.

You’ll need to look at a few theoretical approaches, notably the idea of “the final girl” which is explored in a book called Men Women and Chainsaws, by Carol Clover. You should also read The Final Girl: A Few Thoughts on Feminism and Horror by Donato Totaro. I will give you a copy.

The most interesting thing about the final girl theory (the final girl is the girl who may be weak but survives to confront the monster) is that on some level her existence means that the genre encourages teen boys (the core horror audience) to IDENTIFY with a female, rather than OBJECTIFY her. That’s the theory at elast. Perhaps your primary research could explore this – ie get boy horror fans to comment on who they are identifying with in “showdowns” between “the final girl” and the monster…