Monstrous Feminine by Barbara Creed Read Online
Well written, well researched and engrossing. I was somewhat disappointed (and confused) past Creed's reluctance to push back against assertions that female monsters are abjectly horrifying solely because they represent castration in some form. I wish she had spent more time with the tropes of women every bit vehicles for possession, witches, and breed-mothers, rather than her expanded date with vagina dentata and femme castratrice, which took up the latter half of the book. I know everything comes back to Freud just whyyyyy must everything come back to Freudddddd.
if i read the words "freud"/"freudian theory" or "castration" simply one more fourth dimension i'k gonna snap !!!
This is a classic of picture analysis and media theory, and it was revolutionary in its way. Withal, equally a queer feminist, I disagree with 85% of pretty much everything Creed uses as a basis for her analysis. Her work is strong, focussed, and she writes well. Simply the Freudian underpinnings are simply too dank for me to be able to agree with much of her assay. The strong review is for her articulate style, first-class scholarship, and the wonderful way she clearly sweeps the legs out from under the analysis of male critics who seemingly can't see the wood for the copse eg, they can't excerpt themselves from a white, male person, western perspective long enough to fifty-fifty consider that some other perspective exists.
3.5 ⭐️
I think I concur with most of the reviews on here. Sometimes the book is painfully Eurocentric and the analyses hardly penetrate the ecosystem of textile and colonial history in which these films are bred. Usually, that would deduct more than than a few points in my eyes, simply there's a flow and rigidity to Creed'due south ideas and evaluations which are absolutely captivating, and though the foundation is at times flimsy, it is firm enough to engender serious thought and word on the psychoanalytic angles of the horror moving-picture show. Overall, thoroughly astonishing writing.
This is a foundational text, merely also it kinda sucks.
The first half of this book is amazing, but the 2d half, despite its inversions of Freud, still has besides much Freud. I have a deep, personal, and I believe entirely justified, hatred of Freud, so my eyes glazed over a little there. Which is a shame, considering if Creed had merely kept doing the stuff she was doing in the starting time half, deepening it and broadening information technology, this'd be an easy five star book.
It's a Freudian nightmare, dude. Like lxxx% of the conclusions are drawn from Freud, and she doesn't even push back confronting him until nigh halfway through, which is amazing when you consider how batshit his theories are. Too, despite 160 pages telling me how everything is "castration", I'm non convinced! Finally, it'south all from the male person perspective - like okay I get that when she wrote this, in that location weren't a lot of female person writers/directors in horror, just there's near two lines because the perspective of a female audience.
I'll never watch horror films in quite the aforementioned mode again! At times, not the easiest read,probably as this is my first foray into the realms of film theory,then I did take to do some reading around the topic to get a better grip on the field of study matter, (I understood information technology's premise better having read upwards on Kristeva) but I'm sure this will prove to be an indespensible text for my dissertation. Now I'chiliad noticing the monstrous-feminine everywhere!
It's totally acceptable to judge this book past its embrace.
freud activates my fight or flight response. yet, i vibe with the analysis + research.
She really went off on this one.
v/v: Vampires, aliens, monstrous wombs, toothed vaginas, and Freud all in one book? Sign me up. Besides, off-white warning, Plate 15: Woman's subconscious genital rima oris. A surreal displacement in Maggrite's The Rape scarred me for life and it might scar y'all too. First of all, I was curious to see what other people thought of Creed'southward piece of work so went ahead and read a few reviews before writing mine. I came beyond a few problem areas that I hadn't really noticed while I was reading. I can see them now that they have been pointed out to me. All the same, I'thou giving this book a v/five rating because my initial reaction was positive and enthusiastic. I picked information technology up for supplementary inquiry but ended up reading it for the jaw-dropping ideas. Plus, I exercise so beloved it when academics attempt to practise a 1-lxxx on Freud, peculiarly on his 'the all-mighty penis must be protected at all costs' theories. It cracks me up. The guy might have been a genius in the field but he certainly had some rather boyish ideas about women. One of the problem areas that caught my attention was the sole focus on the representation of women from the male person perspective. I call back that most, if non all of the films Creed mentions have been directed by men. At first, I thought that that was the indicate of the book, to recontextualize Freud'due south ideas and explain the origins of stereotypes associated with the woman-as-monster trope in film. So I didn't actually pay much attention to it. I also thought that at that place weren't that many female person directors in the 90s who could have offered culling (and, more than authentic) representations of women. I was incorrect. I did a quick search on google and discovered there were loads of female directors, especially from the 60s onwards that directed horror. I'm not quite sure how many of them featured the woman-as-monster and whether or not their depictions were more accurate or based on the male perspective but they exist. So that'south a chip confusing. It would have been great if Creed could have included a section where she is doing a comparative reading, as in, women in horror through men'due south optics versus women in horror through women'south eyes. I think that would have made the book a flake more than balanced. There are likewise sure passages where she does come beyond as obsessively adamant to shred every unmarried affair that Freud always said just, honestly, I found that more funny than annoying. One of my favorite chapters was Woman As Vampire: The Hunger. I am obsessed with all things vampires so this affiliate was the one that captivated me the about. Creed had some interesting things to say about the female vampire every bit a sensual lesbian that I hadn't encountered earlier, at least non in the bookish world, and she actually got me hooked. She also referenced Kristeva'due south essay on Abjection which is a work I have read but have not been able to fully grasp withal. Withal, Creed's using it in the context of the female vampire somewhat enlightened me. Another captivating chapter was Medusa's Caput: The Vagina Dentata and Freudian Theory. That one fabricated me chortle. In hindsight, it'south quite unsettling to picture women as castrating/castrated monsters and even more unsettling to call up that men in myth and aboriginal and mod societies (Freud I am looking at you lot) truly believed that stuff. But if y'all have a pace back and read considerately, it is morbidly hilarious. To conclude, if you love female-equally-monster horror films and want to read in-depth analyses on them then this is the volume for you. I guarantee you lot volition never look at a horror motion picture the same way. Also, I feel like I should add a warning; people often react strongly to Freud's theories (and they accept every right to, some of them are bonkers) so if you feel that information technology would impact y'all negatively to read about them (and trust me, Freud'due south proper noun is featured on nigh every folio) then I advise you skip this volume. But if y'all call up you would benefit from reading Creed's reconceptualization then, by all ways, give it a shot. It'south a fascinating ride!
Really slap-up analyses and takedowns, with some insane interpretations thrown on the occasion. I can see where she comes from with the fright of the vagina dentata thing, just sometimes it was merely thrown in there without much of a logical decision, at least to me. I think given in the time information technology was released (1993) information technology makes sense that information technology doesn't hash out the result information technology has on female viewers, but I still missed that a lot. I'd love to see a continuation of this in regards to 2010s horror cinema and with women / feminist takes of common horror tropes, like Raw or Thelma.
I'm all for the analysis of the feminine in film and was really excited to read this book, merely I wish I had noticed the mention of psychoanalysis on the cover. The focus of the book is great, but the lense is onetime and broken.
I probably would have enjoyed the book more than if I was more into psychoanalysis, merely I did thoroughly enjoy watching Creed tear apart Freud's phallocentrism.
I am going to tear the unabridged field of psychoanalysis limb-from-limb as though it came upon me atop Mount Cithaeron. How's that for the monstrous-feminine, Creed?
if i have to read the word "castration" one more time... i s2g..
This was a life-changing book for me. Information technology was assigned during motion picture school and going into it I was super excited to dive into what was, at the fourth dimension, my very favorite film genre: horror. At present... not so much. Women as the abject are oftentimes at the heart of every horror film and thus the volume neatly discusses the vii types of the monstrous feminine by using a particular film to view and talk over the various elements. Fascinating work, well-written and researched, by far one of the best books to brainstorm to pare back some of the multiple layers in moving picture that depicts women in a patriarchal society. Go a step further and look at the directors lives likewise... what was going on in that era, women's rights, personal problems such as divorce are highlighted inside a pic. Really, a must read for every female who has ever wondered why a woman e'er falls when being chased or dies after having sex, ameliorate yet why the virgin always lives. Life altering -must read- truly.
An excellent overview of Kristeva and engaging use of her symbolic/semiotic duality. Yes, reading almost Freud's idea that the woman is terrifying every bit she is but a castrated man is gross, and we are all really tired of that. But I think information technology'south important to remember that horror genre's ancestry were likely heavily influenced past Freudian frameworks. The ramifications of that are still present in modern horror, and then it is inevitable that this type of analysis will very probable be useful. Perchance Creed's blazon of appointment with the genre's monumental works volition encourage a monstrous feminine film "subject" where the abject other (the woman or the monster) tin can experience liberation and inspire us all. If you are a fan of lesbian vampires, witches, pregnancy, and rape revenge as they relate to feminist theory, this is the volume for you.
well, that was a slog. i think my center slid over entire passages without taking in anything. nevertheless, its unlocked some really valuable tools for me when it comes to reading gender and misogyny in media. the stuff abt medusa and the vagina dentata & mostly a psychological fear of women has really opened my eyes. while its super long-winded and most of the stuff feels unnecessary, i besides experience that but existence immersed in this perspective to that extent is the best way to get the picture. the office about psycho was the near valuable to me out of these different films analysed, because its the only 1 i accept any existent familiarity with. i call up i'll have to do a lot more than watching and reading before i come back to this one and encounter what it offers on a reread.
Probably not bad theory for some people, but it didn´t practise information technology for me. I experience almost sorry about how salty I audio in the coming paragraph: I bought the book in the hopes of reading something interesting, after a professor provided me and my swain students with the introduction. What I got instead is pages filled with the same concepts explained over and over with different examples to explain them on. (Give thanks me after for the all-encompassing short-version of this book.) Information technology took me ages to consummate this volume. By completing I mean deciding to skip the last 100 pages entirely -- especially afterwards the "Hans" chapter.
It more or less reads like "Freud this Freud that, and oh, men are generally afraid of woman in position of ability."
An incredibly Freudian analysis of horror that, like its inspiration, stretches its estimation to near breaking or broken at times, and seems to provide more insight into the psychosexual preoccupations of its writer than its subjects. But the elaboration of the idea of abjection is well done, and sticking to very popular horror ensures a bones familiarity that impresses the bespeak though eliminates some of the complication or interest of a diverse option. Like a lot of introductory texts, its principal purpose is to provise yoi a foundation for your own explorations, especially once yous get past the "everything is genitals" analysis.
A look at representation of female person characters in horror that is highly critical of the Freudian arroyo to psychoanalysis. An alternative to Clover from just a few years after the original article to analyze the terminal daughter. Relies heavily on the work of Kristeva and the question of the feminine and abjection.
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March 16, 2021 I don't rate theory. it didn't literally take me two months to read this (i took a break) just god, did it take a while. information technology's pretty interesting, has some very insightful takes, although i don't know if i hold with the overall conclusion. i'yard but becoming more and more aware of how much psychoanalysis and especially freudian theory is not my affair when information technology comes to media criticism.
For a book that's supposed to be focused on feminism, we spend an awful lot of fourth dimension talking about Freud'south fearfulness of having his wiener stolen. Manner as well much discussion of Freudian theory slows the pace to a halt and I forgot that this was supposed to talk nigh horror movies at several points. Still, a worthwhile read in the study of horror films.
Information technology'southward definitely eye-opening. Creed is a genius, both analytically and literary. I'g non used to reading that kind of books, but as a horror fan I must say - it was a delight. It really helps to understand the trouble with depiction of women in all kinds of horror genres.
just ever employ this site to log what i've read but making an exception considering this was so good and y'all should all read it. i got it out the library and read information technology all in one day considering it was so interesting (and piece of cake to read and understand). highly recommend
"In this sense, every encounter with horror, in the cinema, is an encounter with the maternal trunk constructed [...] as non-symbolic by the signifying practices of patriarchal ideology. Adult female's abjectification is crucial to the functioning of the patriarchal social club."
Creed gets into seven different female person archetypes in horror films ranging from the castrator/vagina dentata, to femme fatales/vampires, to monstrous mothers/wombs and checks Freud on some of his misguided readings/explanations of why men are so afraid of us :P
Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Three Stars
Source: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/395435
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