The Monstrous Feminine

Our final theme of this season is femcel horror and we’re kicking off with the 1997 anime ‘Perfect Blue’, directed by Satoshi Kon. 🎤🎀👁

In this episode, we explain the history and origin of the term "femcel", discuss the dangers of internet stan culture and delve into the exploitative nature of the music and television industries.

The Coven: Louisa, Tyia and Zeba

Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*

Violence, death, murder, discussions of stalking, misogyny, rape, sexual exploitation and mental illness

The final movie for our hagsploitation theme is the 2022 horror drama ‘Barbarian’, directed by Zach Cregger. 🚪🍼

We dissect the evolution of the hag in horror into something monstrous, discuss women's necessary hyper-vigilance around supposed “nice guys” and debate whether the use of the hag figure in horror is inherently misogynistic.

The Coven: Louisa, Tyia, Mila and Zeba

Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*

Violence, death, murder, discussions of incest, sexual assault, misogyny and ageism

The next movie for our hagsploitation theme is the 2022 slasher ‘X’, directed by Ti West. 🎥🪓

In this episode, we interrogate ageist attitudes towards sex and discuss how "the hag" character suggests a de-feminisation of postmenopausal women. We then debate whether this film perpetuates ageist stereotypes even as it attempts to bring awareness to them.

You can find us on most platforms @themonstrousfemininepodcast, and on Twitter, @themonfempod. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Engage with our content across all platforms to be our next ‘Witch of the Week’. For bonus content, support us on Patreon! ✨

The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba

Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*

Violence, death, murder, brief mention of symbolic rape, discussions of pornography, exploitation, ageism and misogyny

Our new theme for this month is hagsploitation, and the first film we are going to tackle is the iconic 1962 psychological horror ‘What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?’, directed by Robert Aldrich. 🎀🎤

We provide an overview of hasploitation, and discuss how Crawford and Davis serve in this film. We also delve into the relationship between sexism and ageism, as well as how this is linked to female competition, fertility, innocence, transphobia and much more.

The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba

Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*

Violence, death, murder, mention of sexual assault and abortion, discussions of ageism and misogyny

Our last episode featuring horrible men in horror is the 2023 psychological film ‘Clock’, directed by Alexis Jacknow. 🕰️👶🧸

We discuss how this film accurately captures the valid psychological and physical fears of pregnancy as well as the overwhelming familial, cultural and societal pressures to bear children - grounded by the main character's Jewish heritage. We also explore how Jacknow uses female medical procedures as a mechanism for horror.

The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba

Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*

Violence, death, discussions of misogyny, anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, abortion, vaginal medical procedures and suicide

Perhaps the most on-brand film for our ‘horrible men in horror’ theme is the 2022 British folk horror film ‘Men’, directed by Alex Garland.🌲🍎

We think this film deserves more attention. In this episode, we dissect how biblical imagery is used, discuss the monstrous birthing scene and debate whether it works as a feminist film.

The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba

Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*

Violence, death, discussions of misogyny, domestic violence, emotional abuse, birthing trauma, religious oppression and suicide

We’re back and better than ever! Our theme this month is horrible men in horror, and of course we couldn’t do this film without talking about the 2000 classic ‘American Psycho’, directed by Mary Harron. 👔🪓

In this episode, we discuss how different demographics have interpreted this film over the years: incels and finance bros have idolised Bateman, most women have recognised it as a campy satire of masculinity, and queer people have read Bateman as a closeted gay man. We also discuss gender, sexuality, consumerism, capitalism, liberalism and the ‘Batemanization’ of American politics.

The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba

Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*

Violence, death, murder, discussions of toxic masculinity, misogyny, race-motivated homicide, psychopathy, narcissism and sexual assault

HAPPY PRIDE QUEERS! 🏳️‍🌈 For this Pride Special, we revisit a film we covered in our very first episode: the 2009 cult classic ‘Jennifer’s Body’, directed by Karyn Kusama. 💅💋 💄

In this episode, we debate the differences between desire and envy in young female friendships, investigate the queer subtext and female gaze of the film, and uncover its true villain: CHIP. 😠

The Coven: Louisa, Mila Tyia and Zeba

Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*

Violence, death, murder, discussions of sexism, misogyny, underage sexual harassment, sexual assault, femicide and rape

For our last mermaid episode of the month, we’re talking about the 2022 American psychological thriller ‘Nanny’, directed by Nikyatu Jusu. 🕷️🧜‍♀️

We discuss African deities as agents of chaos, the sense-making function of legends, and how the Mami Wata informs this film's gender, race and class commentary.

The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba

Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*

Violence, death, war, discussions of anti-Black racism, classism, xenophobia and mentions of a child drowning

Continuing with our mermaid theme, we’re talking about the 2017 Swiss fantasy drama ‘Blue My Mind’, directed by Lisa Brühlmann. 🐟🧜‍♀️🌊

We discuss how this film effectively uses body horror and fantasy to portray adolescence, and is particularly anxiety-inducing because of the seemingly unavoidable sexualisation and predation that all young teen girls experience.

The Coven: Louisa, Mila Tyia and Zeba

Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*

Violence, discussions of body dysmorphia, eating disorders and self-mutilation (specifically, female genital mutilation and self-harm), discussions of sexual assault (specifically, gang rape), underage female sexualisation and predation, the exploitative nature of the porn industry, paedophilia and mentions of suicide