Sinful women and slasher horror: female protagonism in X (2022), by Ti West

Abstract

Recent studies of horror cinema have highlighted the presence of the slasher subgenre, known for the presence of serial murders and explicit violence in its narratives. Given this context, the question arises: how are women — and their bodies — represented in a production of this genre? To answer this question, the film X, directed by Ti West, is used as the object of this study. This article aims to understand the representation of women in slasher horror cinema, using studies related to horror and women in its theoretical framework. It is hoped that this work will contribute to academic discussions on gender and sexuality studies, feminism and horror cinema.

Keywords
feminine body; female protagonism; horror movies; slasher