Barbara Creed (born 30 September 1943) is a professor of

cinema studies Film theory is a set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of film or cinema studies that began in the 1920s by questioning the formal essential attributes of motion pictures; and that now provides conceptual frameworks for un ...

in the School of Culture and Communication at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb ...

. She is the author of six books on

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most culture ...

feminist film theory Feminist film theory is a theoretical film criticism derived from feminist politics and feminist theory influenced by Second Wave Feminism and brought about around the 1970s in the United States. With the advancements in film throughout the years ...

, and the horror genre. Creed is a graduate of Monash and La Trobe universities where she completed doctoral research using the framework of

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might ...

and

feminist theory Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's social roles, experiences, interests, chores, and femin ...

to examine horror films. She is known for her

cultural criticism Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.T ...

Early life

Barbara Creed is a well-known Australian commentator on film and media. She is a graduate of Monash and

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria a ...

, completing her doctrinal thesis and research on the cinema of horror. Creed pursued the use of feminist theory and psychoanalysis in her examination of horror films. She currently works within the School of Culture and Communication at the

where she is a professor of

Cinema Studies Film theory is a set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of film or cinema studies that began in the 1920s by questioning the formal essential attributes of motion pictures; and that now provides conceptual frameworks for un ...

. Her current research includes human rights and

animal ethics Animal ethics is a branch of ethics which examines human-animal relationships, the moral consideration of animals and how nonhuman animals ought to be treated. The subject matter includes animal rights, animal welfare, animal law, speciesism, ...

on screen. Overall, Creed's work is of interest to

and

and how these theories can be applied to horror films. Her work seriously considers the subjects of feminism, psychoanalysis, and post-culturalism. Her themes of investigation incorporate, horror cinema, depictions of sex, and

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

. Creed's work relies on a number of theorists including

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...

, and

Julia Kristeva Julia Kristeva (; born Yuliya Stoyanova Krasteva, bg, Юлия Стоянова Кръстева; on 24 June 1941) is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, semiotician, psychoanalyst, feminist, and, most recently, novelist, who ha ...

is one of Creed's major feminist influencers, as she studied Kristeva in great depth, particularly with her examination of the abject. Creed wrote an essay on Kristeva and film in 1985 for the British Film Journal. Creed's ''The Monstrous-Feminine'' was published in 1993 and clearly draws inspiration from her earlier work on Kristeva.

Key focuses

Women in horror films have been consistently represented and portrayed as weak, submissive, and highly sexualized. Creed argues that within horror films, the male gaze is oftentimes the central focus. isonceptions of female sexuality are inherent within the horror genre, as a common motif is that virtuous or "pure" women survive to the end of the film, and women who exhibit sexual behaviour commonly die early into the narrative. This exemplifies how sexually active women are

harlots Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

, who warrant their own death, wherein only the "pure" women deserve to live. On the other hand, women depicted as villains are portrayed as innately evil, and their monstrosity is connected to their

reproductive The reproductive system of an organism, also known as the genital system, is the biological system made up of all the anatomical organs involved in sexual reproduction. Many non-living substances such as fluids, hormones, and pheromones are a ...

bodily functions.

Kristeva's Abjection

Creed further acknowledges the influence of

, by examining the notion of

abjection Abjection is a concept in critical theory referring to becoming cast off and separated from norms and rules, especially on the scale of society and morality. The term has been explored in post-structuralism as that which inherently disturbs conve ...

. According to Kristeva, abjection is the failure to distinguish what constitutes as "self", and what is "other". It is a breakdown of borders between human existence and non-existence. Creed argues that abjection theory is profoundly engrained within the horror genre. She explains this by focuses on how horror emphasizes boundaries of humanity and beyond. Within horror films this theory of a border and the breaking of rules and norms is important as it relates to the formation of the monstrous, which suggests that anything that navigates or exists across this "border" is abject. Kristeva's theory therefore can be applied to the monstrous feminine, particularly the themes of the mother-child relationship and the mother's womb, which both relate to the ‘

archaic mother Archaic mother (primal mother or ''Ur-mutter'') is the mother of earliest infancy, whose continuing influence is traced in psychoanalysis, and whose (repressed) presence is considered to underlie the horror film. In psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud r ...

’. In her 1987 paper, "From Here to Modernity: Feminism and Postmodernism", Creed's approach to understanding the monstrous male figure also draws on Kristeva's notion of abjection. Creed examples that in examples where the monster is clearly defined as male, its status as male identifies it with a lack, and hence defines it as feminized. In this, "lack" signifies the female, wherein male monsters are identified as abject, lacking; ultimately feminine.

Work

Primarily, Barbara Creed's works focus on the horror genre, and the impact of patriarchal ideologies upon the genre. Creed focuses on Freudian psychoanalysis and

's work on semiotics. Creed's work using the

framework validates its usefulness in the feminist film theory field.

The Monstrous-Feminine

The Monstrous Feminine refers to the interpretation of horror films conceptualizing women, predominantly, as victims. Throughout the book, Creed observes how women are positioned as victims within the horror film genre, and challenges this overriding

patriarchal Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males ...

and one-dimensional understanding of women. Creed challenges this

masculine Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors ...

viewpoint by arguing that when the feminine is fabricated as monstrous, it is commonly achieved through association with emalereproductive bodily functions, or through

matriarchal Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general En ...

traits and tasks. Creed uses the expression "monstrous feminine" because it accentuates the significance of gender in relation to the construction of monstrosity. Creed refrains from using the term "female monster" as it suggests a mere "role reversal of the ‘male monster". Creed argues that the monstrous feminine horrifies her audience through her sexuality, as she is either constructed as a virgin or a whore. She explains that concepts of the monstrous feminine within horror arose from male concerns regarding female sexual difference and castration. Creed asserts that there are a variety of different appearances of the monstrous feminine which all reflect female sexuality: archaic mother, monstrous womb,

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

, possessed monster,

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...

, and castrating mother.

Monstrous-Feminine and the Types of Monsters

Barbara Creed's ''The'' ''Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis (1993)'' investigates the types of monsters that women are portrayed as in horror films, particularly examining

s, and mythological adaption's of characters. Creed analyses women as monstrous through their roles in horror movies playing

witches Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

s, archaic mothers, possessed monsters and mythical creatures, such as

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

. In her discussion of the many "faces of the monstrous-feminine", she draws on Kristeva's concept of

to describe how the patriarchal society separates the human from the non-human, and rejects the "partially formed subject". Creed first considers women as

Vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

s in such films as ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...

(1992) and The Hunger (1983),'' wherein she discusses the image of the ‘archaic mother’ with the female vampire being ‘mother’ and her lover or victim as ‘child’ whom she promises eternal life to. Creed also interrogates at the portrayal of desire and lesbianism in the horror film '' the Hunger (1983),'' arguing that when the two female vampires kiss there is an eruption of blood in the women's mouths, which represents how lesbian relations are deadly and consequential. The ''Monstrous-Feminine'' also investigates the monstrous figure of witches. Creed critically examines the history of the "witch" from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

to the rise of

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. She identifies that early historical definitions of ‘

’ were associated with healers and users of magic, but during the fourteenth century in the period of

witch trials A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The Witch trials in the early modern period, classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and European Colon ...

and witch hunts,

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

was believed to be a sin and in service to the devil. Barbara Creed examines '' Carrie'' and T''he Exorcist'', and critiques the way in which they represent adolescent young women as ‘possessed’ or ‘demonised’ during

puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a ...

and

menstruation Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized by the rise and fall of ...

. Creed argues that the use of blood and gore are meant to depict women as demonized or monstrous. Moreover, oftentimes possessed women are on the verge of menstruation and their blood is meant to symbolize or suggest a fear of

castration Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharm ...

. Another prominent monstrous figure that Creed discusses in her work is

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...

and her severed head.

is a mythological creature that's stare can turn people to stone, particularly men, and has a head covered in snakes which Creed argues is a deadly symbol of the vagina dentata. The term vagina dentata was coined by

and follows the myth that female genitalia are monster-like, having teeth. Creed discusses how this creates a fear that women are allegedly actively trying to castrate men. Barbara Creed frequently mentions in her work that horror movies play on this fear of the vagina dentata and even include it visually in films, through enormous toothed

monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

s or

aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

, to settings such as dark and narrow hallways, deadly traps and doors, and spaceships such as that in ''

Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

.''

Types of Monstrous-Femininity

Archaic mother Archaic mother (primal mother or ''Ur-mutter'') is the mother of earliest infancy, whose continuing influence is traced in psychoanalysis, and whose (repressed) presence is considered to underlie the horror film. In psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud r ...

in ''Alien'' (1979). * Possessed Monster in ''The Exorcist'' (1973). * Monstrous Womb in ''

The Brood ''The Brood'' is a 1979 Canadian psychological body horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, and Art Hindle. Its plot follows a man and his mentally ill ex-wife, who has been sequestered by ...

'' (1979). * Vampire in ''The Hunger'' (1983). * Witch in ''Carrie'' (1976). * Femme Castratrice in ''I'' ''Spit on Your Grave'' (1978) and ''Sisters'' (1973). * Castrating Mother in ''Psycho'' (1960).

The Monstrous Womb

A woman's reproductive system has long been depicted as abhorrent and intimidating. Creed places emphasis on this idea of the monstrous-womb, as the maternal body has been considered a source of anxiety to the

male gaze In feminist theory, the male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world in the visual arts and in literature from a masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the heteros ...

. Creed argues that a woman's deep connection to natural events such as reproduction and birth is considered ‘quintessentially grotesque’. Creed reflects back to the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

where the

uterus The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', plural ''uteri'') or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more embryos until birth. The ...

is depicted in connotation with evil and the devil. The

reproductive system The reproductive system of an organism, also known as the genital system, is the biological system made up of all the anatomical organs involved in sexual reproduction. Many non-living substances such as fluids, hormones, and pheromones are ...

within horror movies is often depicted as monstrous, for example, the 1979 film

clearly depicts this theory. These ideals are clearly imbedded within phallocentric philosophy. Creed's ideology of the woman's reproductive system is similarly analyzed within the works of Kristeva.

Freud, Psychoanalysis and Women as Castrator

The ''Monstrous Feminine'' discusses the psychoanalysis theories of

, primarily ideas of

and the female genitalia as monstrous. Creed examines Freud's

psychoanalytic theory Psychoanalytic theory is the theory of personality organization and the dynamics of personality development that guides psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology. First laid out by Sigmund Freud in the late 19th century, psy ...

of sexual difference, and the marking of female sexuality as dangerous, as Freud believed women had vagina dentata and that they were castrators of men. The idea of

is derived from Freud's concepts of sexual difference, believing that women are substantially different from men, and that all women desire to be a man or masculine-like, suffering from a penis-envy.

's works on

theorizes that women once had penises, and are themselves castrated, resulting in the formation of female genitalia, and due to this "penis envy", seek to castrate men of their penises to make them as lacking as women. Freud applies this theory to

, as Creed explains that Freud's compares the female genitalia to Medusa as men fear castration from the sight of her.

Other works

Media Matrix: Sexing the New Reality

Barbara Creed's ‘''Media Matrix: Sexing the New Reality’'' explores the impact of media and technology on subjects such as the self, identity,

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied wit ...

and representation in the public sphere. She includes a definition of "Matrix" in the book's introduction, which she describes as a, "

womb The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', plural ''uteri'') or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more embryos until birth. The ut ...

; place in which thing is developed", which closely relates to her discussion of the monstrous feminine. In the beginning of this piece, she discusses '' The Matrix (1999)'' and '' Strange Days (1995)'' in relation to the concept of ‘jacking-in’, that is the use of technology to alter reality and experience life in other people's minds much like virtual reality. Creed argues that the development of technology in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries has allowed people to experiment with reality and time, and disassociate one's self from their own reality, as well as challenge ideas of "fixed personal identity". ''Media Matrix'' also examines the role of media and news in the modern era, with a particular interest to how an overwhelming majority of fiction showcases the horrific, evokes fear, and the

abject Abjection is a concept in critical theory referring to becoming cast off and separated from norms and rules, especially on the scale of society and morality. The term has been explored in post-structuralism as that which inherently disturbs conve ...

. Creed defines this "crisis TV", wherein news reporters focus on disasters to provoke anxiety and immediacy, and bring the abject into reality.

Phallic Panic: Film, Horror and the Primal Uncanny

In ''Phallic Panic: Film, Horror and the Primal Uncanny'', Barbara Creed reflects on the representation of men in the horror genre, with a specific focus on how they are portrayed in comparison to women. This piece offers a feminist analysis on sexual and gender difference in the horror genre, as well as the symbolic order in which male monsters challenge innate

masculinity Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors ...

and is "caught between the opposing forces of culture and nature, the civilized and primitive". Throughout this piece, she makes connections to the notion of the ‘primal uncanny’, which suggests that men as monsters are often connected to women, death and animals. The ‘primal uncanny’, as Creed looks at, was firstly discussed in Freud's work as just the ‘uncanny’ that linked to ideas of psychoanalysis and castration. Yet,

Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...

only really considered death and the feeling of horror in relation to male monsters and didn't examine the role of women, nature and animals. ''Phallic Panic'' draws on many examples of male monsters from the classic film adaption of

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...

and the male

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...

, to vampires and mad scientists, as well as the relationship between ‘beast’ and man.

Darwin's Screens

In ''Darwin's Screens: Evolutionary Aesthetics, Time and Sexual Display in the Cinema,'' Barbara Creed examines the uncanny through

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

's works regarding

sexual selection Sexual selection is a mode of natural selection in which members of one biological sex choose mates of the other sex to mate with (intersexual selection), and compete with members of the same sex for access to members of the opposite sex (in ...

and origins. Creed uses films that were influenced by Darwin in the nineteenth century to analyze film techniques related to Darwin's works.

Awards and committees

In 2006 Creed was elected a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australia ...

. She is on a variety of worldwide editorial panels. At the University of Melbourne in 2013, Creed establishe
the Human Rights and Animal Ethics Research Network.

Publications

Barbara Creed has published a multitude of material on gender and horror, including: ''The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism. Psychoanalysis'' (1993), ''Media Matrix: Sexing the New Reality'' (2003), ''Phallic Panic: Film, Horror & the Primal Uncanny'' (2005) and ''Darwin's Screens: Evolutionary Aesthetics'', ''Time and Sexual Display in the Cinema'' (2009).

Notes

Bibliography

*''The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis'' (London and New York: Routledge, 1993) *''Media Matrix: Sexing the New Reality'' (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2003) *''Pandora’s Box: Essays in Film Theory'',

Australian Centre for the Moving Image ACMI, formerly the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, is Australia's national museum of film, television, videogames, and art. ACMI was established in 2002 and is based at Federation Square in Melbourne, Victoria. During the 2014-15 fina ...

, (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2004) *''Phallic Panic: Film, Horror and the Primal Uncanny'' (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2005) *''Darwin's Screens: Evolutionary Aesthetics, Time and Sexual Display in the Cinema'' (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2009)

Filmography

*''Homosexuality – a Film for Discussion'' (1975)

External links

Barbara Creed's Staff Page
at the University of Melbourne.
Human Rights and Animal Ethics Research Network (HRAE)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Creed, Barbara 1943 births Living people Monash University alumni La Trobe University alumni University of Melbourne faculty University of Melbourne women Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities