Female Ghosts In Horror Films Are Proof That Women Need More Than A Lifetime To Seek Social Justice!
Halloween is right around the corner and if you don’t have any plans of stepping out, I’m sure you have a series of spooky films lined up to keep you on the edge of your seat for this holiday. TBH, I’m a fan of horror films. I’m one of those, who just sits and waits for the horror story to being and then gets disappointed due to all the same old boring jump scares! We really do need films that incite fear and don’t just give us jump scares, don’t we? You turn on a film and there’s a man who seems to have fallen asleep on the couch with the remote in his hand while watching television and suddenly a hand touches his shoulder and a voice whispers in his ear asking him to wake up. The man jolts up and looks around and suddenly the television switches off on its own and in the reflection of the television screen he sees a woman standing behind him. Ufff, as spooky as that is, my love for horror films has made me come to the conclusion that be it Hollywood or Bollywood, most of these spirits and ghosts in the films are women.
From Bhool Bhulaiyaa’s Manjulika to the classic woman in white to Bloody Mary to the girl from The Ring, we’ve seen them all. Most films in the horror genre either have female ghosts or women who get possessed. And it’s far too common to pass it off as a coincidence. And in most of these cases, these ghosts are women who have been wronged in their lives in some way or the other.
Do Female Ghosts In Horror Films Proof Of Misogyny?
Well, we cannot deny the sexism in showcasing female ghosts. I cannot ignore the misogyny in these stories. These female ghosts are almost always shown as unhinged women who either did something crazy and then died and came back to haunt the world or they’re just women who died prematurely after being wronged. Now, I’d like to take a feministic look at these female ghosts and understand them properly instead of passing them off as unhinged women who did something nuts in a moment of rage or got angry about something which is ‘not such a big deal’ and came back to seek revenge. Another thing to note is that in most films it’s always a woman who gets possessed. Why? Well, of course, because she’s the weaker sex and easier to possess! TBH, horror films reek of misogyny and there’s no denying that, be it the possession or portrayal of an unhinged female ghost. And let’s not even get started on horror films showcasing women as witches. That’s a whole different can of worms.
Why Do Horror Films Have The Scariest Female Ghosts?
To begin with, most of these female ghosts are women who have been wronged. A woman who died after going into a state of rage because her husband cheated on her and came back to haunt him and his new girlfriend, is just being human. These ghost stories show women as those tied down by social norms and gender stereotypes and they come back with a vengeance to have their moment and make noise. And let’s be honest, isn’t this the reality of our lives? As women, we’ve all been tied down by social norms, asked to stay quiet and deal with the patriarchy and sexism and suffer in silence and even in death, a woman doesn’t get to have her moment of peace. Even women’s dead bodies are dressed up as per patriarchal norms for the final journey. But after welcoming death, I believe women come back to seek retribution and unleash the rage they have been holding onto all their lives.
In most cases, they come back to seek revenge on a person who wronged them (which, in most cases, is a man) or to just avenge their suffering (usually caused by a patriarchal society or a man) but at the same time their acts are a way to destroy patriarchy, essentially making them a feminist figure and a symbol of female power that men fear. I mean look at Manjulika. She came back to seek social justice after her own sister killed her out of jealousy and let’s be honest, isn’t it the society that has been pitting women against each other for forever? While the first part of Bhool Bhulaiya, talks about mental health issues, it’s essential to understand that in this case too, it was a woman wronged by a man and society. Just like all of us, Manjulika was another woman who was full of rage due to oppression, no thanks to patriarchy. And we women seem to be achieving things in death that we cannot in life.
Also Read: ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet Of Curiosities’ Review: This Horror Anthology Fails To Do The One Job It Had – Scare Us!
Are Female Ghosts A Representation Of Feminine Power?
Why wouldn’t they be? Let’s look at the crime rate. Out of a total of 6 million crimes committed across India in 2021m 4,28,728 cases were of crimes against women. What’s worse is that this number indicates a rise of 15.3% in crimes against women in 2021 as compared to 2020. And let’s not even get started on all the crimes that go unreported. In today’s world, women live in fear of getting assaulted at every step and they have been struggling to keep their heads above the water and just survive. From the second they wake up to the moment they fall asleep, women consciously live in fear and take every step with caution to ensure that they do not get attacked by a man or by society. Women are like birds struggling to break free from a cage but they’re always tied down by social norms. But when they come back from death, they’re not bound by social or patriarchal norms and they’re just out to seek social justice.
If you’ve watched Stree, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s the story of a female ghost who instils fear in the hearts of men and ensures that they do not roam out at night fearing abduction by a ghost. Well, haven’t we women been told all our lives to not be out too late because “it’s not safe”? This ghost haunts men because she was wronged by them in life. The woman was a courtesan who was once desired by all men but was killed by jealous men after she found true love and married him.
Also Read: 5 Horror Books That Will Give You The Creeps And Chills This Halloween!
In simple words, when this world refuses to let us women speak out two cents and live our lives, why wouldn’t we want to come back with a vengeance? A lifetime of horrors is what makes women come back to seek social justice. This world would be a better place if only society would hear our voice and give us the justice, respect and safe life we women crave and then maybe women wouldn’t need to come back and haunt the world.
First Published: October 31, 2022 11:19 PM‘All Of Us Are Dead’ To ‘Sweet Home’, 5 Horror K-Dramas That Will Spook You Out This Halloween!
