Counter-narratives of Muslim American Women
Examining the prevalence of Islamophobia in education, this week's review "underscores the need for MusCrit" as a subset of critical race theory
Posted on in Review of the Week
Mastering Fear
Halloween is just around the corner...
Posted on October 26, 2020 in Review of the Week
Mastering fear : women, emotions, and contemporary horror
Schubart, Rikke. Bloomsbury Academic, 2018
358p filmography bibl index, 9781501336713 $130.00, 9781501336720
Schubart (media studies, Institute for the Study of Culture, Univ. of Southern Denmark) offers a fascinating look at female viewership of horror, challenging the stereotype of horror as a male genre. Using the concept of play and the role of play in human/emotional development, the author demonstrates how women who view (and, contrary to gender politics, enjoy) horror film use horror as a form of play that ultimately benefits them by helping them master fear. Schubart confronts the idea of gender, addressing it as a stereotype that can be unlearned and looking at how contemporary horror television and film helps subvert gender stereotypes. Using clear and accessible examples from a variety of horror films and television shows—including Let the Right One In (2008), The Babadook (2014), and American Horror Story (2011–)—the author illustrates how horror can teach viewers (male and female) new ways to see female roles in society; this is especially the case for older females, who are often repositioned as visible and valuable. This is a landmark study.
Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.
Reviewer: A. F. Winstead, Our Lady of the Lake University
Subject: Humanities – Performing Arts – Film
Choice Issue: May 2019
Related Posts
-
-
Spinsters, Widows and Chars
Catch the Oscars last night? This week's review analyzes how aging women are depicted in British cinema.
Posted on in Review of the Week
-
Women, Subalterns, and Ecologies in South and Southeast Asian Women’s Fiction
Happy Women's History Month! This week's review analyzes South and Southeast Asian women's fiction, uncovering the "relationships between the human, animal, and nonhuman in the face of eco-disasters and climate crises."
Posted on in Review of the Week
-
We’re Not Ok
Focusing on the lived experiences of Black faculty, this week's review examines what it means to be Black in higher education.
Posted on in Review of the Week