First Advisor

Michael Clark

Date of Award

Spring 6-15-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in English and University Honors

Department

English

Language

English

Subjects

Body Horror, Feminism, Audre Lorde, Horror Literature, Male gaze, Pregnancy

DOI

10.15760/honors.1692

Abstract

While most discussion around the subgenre of body horror focuses on its birthplace of film, the richest iterations come from women writing body horror fiction to explain the experience of womanhood. As body horror focuses on fear of painful or absurd mishap with the body. Women experience pain or absurdity in their own bodies every day with processes like menstruation, pregnancy, puberty, and heightened chances of becoming a victim of sexual assault. Furthermore, women experience society's forceful shaming and fear about natural processes of the body and experiences such as anger and sexual desire. Using this idea as a framework, how can we describe how body horror in literature uniquely encapsulates women's experiences with their bodies and societal oppression? Why do we construct society to make people feel horrified at the female body, including women themselves? How can we deconstruct this narrative and take back our bodies so they are not objects to be feared, but beautiful beings that contain the very unshameful necessities of life?

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/43797

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