'It's Mom's fault!' – The History of Gynaehorror Cinema

Although mothers are ideally the nurturing centers of our universe, places of trust and safety, the horror genre has been presenting a womb filled with examples that maintain the opposite. Unlike any other genre, the horror film first shows the dimensions of bad and overbearing mothers who are portrayed as abusive fanatics as in the case of single mom Margaret White in Carrie, turn into maternal monsters such as Jason’s mom Pamela in Friday, the 13^th or when thinking of Psycho’s overpowering Norma Bates whose motherly love for her son Norman exceeds beyond the grave. In her book Women, Monstrosity and Horror Film, feminist film scholar Erin Harrington has found a term for these mothers. By coining the term “Gynaehorror” she defines an entire subgenre of “horror that deals with all aspects of female reproductive horror, from the reproductive and sexual organs, to virginity and first sex, through pregnancy, birth and motherhood, and finally to menopause and post-menopause”.

The seminar will throw a critical eye on vital film examples dealing with motherly madness and imperfection, and the monstrous-maternal and concepts of m(O)thering, and will raise the question to what extent the genre itself has shaped the ambiguity of the figure throughout horror film history.

Erin Harrington. Women, Monstrosity and Horror Film: Gynaehorror. (2018) (available as e-book via UB)

The seminar requires a considerable amount of engagement and initiative as we will continue with my ongoing FEARacademy project that includes the production of a student podcast on Spotify as well as the maintenance of the social media account on Instagram.