Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings.   Today’s post is going to be about how body horror in films and the monstrous feminine are related.    In particular, I want to focus on why feminine body horror can be seen to mirror anxieties over the female body as something unknown and fears relating to female sexuality.   I will explore this concept by discussing three films that feature some form of female body horror and the monstrous feminine.   For ease, I have decided to write about each film in its own section and organize them by release date. 

GINGER SNAPS (2000)

~I want to begin with my all-time favorite werewolf movie, Ginger Snaps.    Obviously, as far as the monstrous feminine is concerned, Ginger literally gets attacked by a werewolf and begins to transform into a werewolf herself.   Her attack takes place on the night of her menarche, her first menstrual blood, and utilizes an alignment between the cycle of the moon (as it is a full moon when Ginger gets bitten) and the menstrual cycle of women.    So, this film mostly serves as an examination of the menstrual cycle and an examination of a girl going through puberty utilizing the lens of the monstrous feminine.   In the case of this film, the fear of the female body is more in line with the fear of growing up in girls, not fear coming from men or society as a whole (although the boy that Ginger sleeps with does seem to fear her, especially when he begins to turn into a werewolf himself).   Ginger and Brigitte both hate the idea of becoming women and the fact that Ginger begins to open up in her blooming sexual desires, explored largely through bloodlust, showcases the horror a young girl feels about her body changing during puberty.   I think that this film does an excellent job of showing the horror a young girl can experience during a time when her body does not feel like her own!

TEETH (2007)

~Moving on, the second film I want to focus on is the horror film Teeth.   This one is about a teenage girl named Dawn who is very much not at home in her own skin or own body.    She desires to remain a virgin until marriage, which further exemplifies her fear of getting in touch with her own physical body, and possibly like Ginger and Brigitte a fear of growing up.   As she begins to have sexual desires and grows to have a crush on a boy, her world also begins to turn upside down.    When she is assaulted, her rapist begins to scream in pain because her vagina has bitten off his penis.    Now, I know this is obviously dark and messed up, but the teeth within her vagina served to protect her.   The genetic anomaly of the teeth served to show the fear of female sexuality men often have, both with women they find attractive, or their fear for daughters who may be harmed (in which case the teeth are a positive thing).    In the case of this film, we see the monstrous feminine as a way to protect yourself from abuse (harkening back to the theory that Medusa’s curse was really a form of protection after her being raped by Poseidon).   It also serves as an analysis of a young woman finding herself and getting in touch with her own body, as the teeth do not cause harm if Dawn desires the sexual contact!

THE LURE (2015)

~Finally, I want to focus on the Polish Mermaid musical, The Lure.    This is a more obvious form of the monstrous feminine, as the Mermaids in the film, named Silver and Golden, are traditional Sirens.   They enjoy luring people to their deaths, and even feeding on humans, the film is even titled after the fact that they like to act as lures.    During the film, they come onto land and join a group of musicians, transforming into human form, but without human sexual organs.   That is where the body horror lay in this film, they are humanoid, but are unable to experience female sexuality, even though they are symbols of feminine sexuality!    One of the Mermaids is happy to be full of bloodlust, while the other falls in love with a human, in a bit of a call back to the classic The Little Mermaid type of love story.    There is even a tragic end, embracing much of Andersen’s original tragic end to the story.    As far as fear of the female body and female sexuality, this is explored through Mermaids literally luring people to their deaths, feeding on people, and using their sexuality as a weapon.    

~I hope you have enjoyed this look at the monstrous feminine and body horror.    What is your favorite of these films?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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