Exploring Mutilation: Women, Affect, and the Body Horror Genre

Abstract

This paper discusses affect and body horror through the lens of abjection, specifically how we react to viscera and extremes of the body. Body horror’s usage of female protagonists creates a dichotomous space of both feminism and anti-feminism, agency and oppression. In this paper, the character archetype of the female mutilator is proposed as a foil to the final girl trope, one who takes back her power through explicit gore and violence. Using three key filmic texts (Nicholas Pesce’s The Eyes of My Mother, Richard Bates Jr.’s Excision, and Lucky McKee’s May), this paper approaches the concepts of abjection and the monstrous feminine as they converge at the feminine grotesque in order for the female mutilator to actualize her identity. Keywords: affect, abjection, horror studies, film studies, body genresAs a generic entity, horror forces us to evaluate the way terror impacts our bodies. The subgenres of horror propose a variety of emotional responses: unease, shock, disgust, anxiety. Whether the affect of horror impacts the viewer in the moment or long after watching, the audience is forced to address the way that emotion is manipulated through the destruction of the body. Body horror broaches complex feelings that we associate with humanity and what it means to disrupt the human experience. When the body is twisted and turned in ways beyond our understanding, or when viscera is treated as an aesthetic object, the audience is forced to confront the border between the human and the monstrous. The feminine grotesque in body horror creates an abject space for the mutilated and mutilating body to flourish, presenting a feminine heroine that embodies voluntary abjection and elicits empathy despite her depraved tendencies.