Does Gender Impact The Kind of Horror You Like

[metternich1815]

Originally Posted by Atraxi

Gender, per se, I also don't agree with the generalization that women don't like horror as much as men. I think it's just generally assumed that women don't like horror, without anyone actually asking them. It's also important to remember that the plural of anecdotal isn't data so just because a lot of the women you've met don't enjoy horror, it doesn't mean it applies to the larger population (not saying that anyone is, just saying this in general).

I completely agree with this as well because my anecdotal evidence contradicts Kandarian Demon's, for instance (no offense). From my experience, I actually know more women who love horror movies than men. Thus, our two experiences are completely different and it is unlikely, if not impossible for both claims to be true. That is why I think, as I mentioned, that there should an empirical research study to investigate these different claims.

[Kandarian Demon]

Originally Posted by Atraxi

Gender, per se, doesn't have much of an influence on what type of horror someone watches. This is actually a problematic question as it is extremely heteronormative.

It kind of is (and I say this as someone who definitely do not fit into the heteronormative box in any way - trust me LOL), but all of us, male or female, are influenced by what we are taught, even if these things aren't a natural part of our psyche. I am not suggesting that woman, by nature, do not like horror movies, but I am suggesting that a lot of them have been raised and influenced in a way that will make a great number of woman dislike it. Hope that makes sense...

Originally Posted by Atraxi

It's also important to remember that the plural of anecdotal isn't data so just because a lot of the women you've met don't enjoy horror, it doesn't mean it applies to the larger population.

That is of course true, and also - a lot of people tend to say what they think it expected of them, because "we" all want to fit in. This is true for women AND men.

If we have been programmed to think that certain things are not manly or ladylike, we will often pretend not to do them or like them even if that's not really the truth - well, I wouldn't, but a lot of people would. We might even assume that these stereotypes are true without doing our own "research".

Originally Posted by Atraxi

The way women are treated in horror is ridiculous, problematic, formulaic and unoriginal- this holds true no matter what your gender, it's all the way you think and your preference.

Well, to be honest... I don't think that torturing a man or chopping him into little pieces is in any way better than raping a woman (I'm not saying that's what you think, btw). There are certain movies of the torture porn kind that I personally do not enjoy watching, but my limits are my limits no matter what the genders of the characters are.

However if someone DOES enjoy that type of movies, well, then it's still only acting after all, and I think that if brutality towards women is not to be accepted but it's ok if it's done to a man - not only is that very far from "equal rights", but it's also kind of labelling women as "the weaker sex that needs protection".

Just my opinion of course... I actually find this conversation really interesting :)

[horrorfangirl66]

Originally Posted by Kandarian Demon

It kind of is (and I say this as someone who definitely do not fit into the heteronormative box in any way - trust me LOL), but all of us, male or female, are influenced by what we are taught, even if these things aren't a natural part of our psyche. I am not suggesting that woman, by nature, do not like horror movies, but I am suggesting that a lot of them have been raised and influenced in a way that will make a great number of woman dislike it. Hope that makes sense...

It makes a lot of sense from a psychology standpoint. Its socialization. That is the only reason we have these "gender specific" activities engraved in people's minds because we were taught that way.I know that I was taught different. That is why I think my dad's influence played such a big role is why I generally like things that are stereotypical male activities like watching horror films and playing video games.

[ChronoGrl]

I'm not a big fan of gender stereotypes. That being said one could make an argument that a woman would identify more with female characters than a male might, so when watching women raped, tortured, killed, etc., a woman might have a more personal and visceral reaction. Where there is misogyny, a woman might react differently that a man as she identifies with the victim.

I can't stand exploitation, and maybe that's because I'm a woman... But my fiancé isn't a fan of exploitation either... And he's a guy, so...

People can make an argument either way as to weather or not gender dictates what One watches - I think it's more about your personal genre tastes and what characters you identify with. I have very few friends who like horror movies in general - In terms of movie genre stereotypes I have to deal with it's the assumption that because I have boobs I must like tripe such as Dirty Dancing or Pretty Woman... That bothers me more than people who find it "interesting" that I love horror.

[ChronoGrl]

Originally Posted by Kandarian Demon

I don't think that torturing a man or chopping him into little pieces is in any way better than raping a woman

I don't know... I'd say it probably depends on who that man is.

[Geek]

Most people I meet online assume I'm a guy because of the things I'm in to.

As a kid I loved Dr Who, Star Trek and action movies. Growing up I started to watch more and more horror/thrillers and now I'll watch anything, slasher, rape revenge.. it doesn't matter.

I've always liked horror/thriller books and as a teenager I spent a long time researching serial killers, trying to get inside their head and understand them.

Around our house we have freddy's glove, the phantasm ball, the hellraiser cube and other things.

I've actually been completely categorized into horror by everyone I know, "oh they won't enjoy that it's not horror".

I am also a big anime fan and I love card craft and baking.

[Setimir92]

Going by the research I could gather the percentage of women enjoying horror films is very similar to men. However, this isn't really the case with women admitting to it or going to cinema to see a horror film, with some women actually claiming they're aware that they're not supposed to like horror films and so they don't advertise their love of the genre. I do think a lot of the stuff we think is caused by gender is caused by the pressure society puts on us to perform what is expected of our gender.

However, it does seem like women are more likely to like Gothic and suspense based horror as compared to men preferring slasher and body horror.

Does anyone ever feel pressured to like/dislike certain genre films because of their gender? As a guy the one thing I can say is a certain bias against liking rom coms that comes from other men.

[ManchestrMorgue]

Personally, I'll watch pretty much anything horror that seems interesting. Which is quite different to me in real life - I absolutely abhor mysogyny and ill-treatment of women in real life. To the point where I find it difficult to tolerate most male company for too long.

Perhaps that is part of the reason that I find horror films that contain sexual violence (either implied or overt) the most disturbing. But that is part of the thrill of horror for me - to find content that really pushes your own personal boundaries and confronts you with things that disturb you in real life. Confronting one's own fears in a relatively safe way, knowing that it's "just a movie". However see the same thing on the TV news and my reaction is much different.

[Jason is my Homeboy]

I'm a girl and I watch most types of horror movies. Slashers are my favorite, which is more stereotypical for guys to like I guess. I just love the deaths, they're my favorite part. My least favorite type would probably be ghost movies.. I just don't really like them. But I still watch them anyway.

[metternich1815]

I love slashers, but I really love ghost movies too. Those types of movies are the most likely to scare me (ghost movies). my least favorite would be torture porn, I always thought the genre was generally poor (although there are some,very few, good films in the genre, such as the first Saw film, although it is perhaps the lightest of the torture porn films).