The Nature of Gender and the Status Quo

The concept of gender has played a large role in the evolution of horror films. Since the conception of horror movies, the nature of the monster has had various formulations, while the victim has consistently been that of a vulnerable young woman. In the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, we come to recognize how the nature of gender affects our perceptions, and how we feel about the victim and the killer. Here Clover states, “If the killer has over time been variously figured as shark, fog, gorilla, birds, and slime, the victim is eternally and prototypically the damsel. Cinema hardly invented the pattern.” According to Clover, the various forms of monsters have adapted and changed over time, however the victim in general has always consisted of a damsel in distress type of persona. This structuring of identities in films has caused a systematized perception of the characters, such that the monster is always of a masculine variety, and the victim expresses feminine characteristics. This sort of oppression is an example of the status quo, and is further illustrated by the reversal.

Specifically, with the introduction of the final girl, we see a change from our original identification. While originally we may identify with the killer, and see things from his point of view, we eventually change our inclination and side with the final girl. Clover goes on to say, “We are linked,
in this way, with the killer in the early part of the film, usually before we have seen him directly
and before we have come to know the Final Girl in any detail. Our closeness to him wanes as
our closeness to the Final Girl waxes—a shift underwritten by story line as well as camera

position.” This kind of shift involves a change with regards to the protagonist, and the status quo. Essentially, while we may have been rooting for the monster in certain situations, our impressions then change and we side with the final girl. This notion is contradictory to the status quo, in which the male figure is usually the victorious one, and the character with which we can identify with the most.

This issue was clearly illustrated in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, where Sally finally escapes Leatherface, and enters the winning role we wish to see, whereby she defies the status quo and contradicts the long standing oppression we have seen in movies. Here we can see how the structuring of films has involved a gradual shift, and the nature of the hero has changed from that of a male lead, to other potential genders, including the victimized female.

Carol J. Clover. “Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film.” Representations, No. 20, (1987)