Presenter(s): M. Joelle Ahler—Cinema, Womens, Gender & Sexuality Studies/Ethnic Studies Minor
Faculty Mentor(s): Peter Alilunas
Session 3: Beyond a Melody
Rape revenge films have been heralded as feminist iconography since their conception despite many controversial points, as the agency they award their protagonists stands out in film history . This thesis dissects the relation of gendered violence and bodily autonomy presented in traditional rape revenge films to disrupt the narrative of castration as a form of feminized vengeance . Rape revenge films from the male gaze construct female agency and castration as retributive justice, creating cyclical narratives that perpetuate binary understandings of bodily autonomy in relation to gendered power . By dissecting several classic rape revenge films through the lens of hegemonic power and social constructions of gender, this thesis will examine how the rape is represented in the film and how the avenger’s relationship to the victim—self, family member or community member—affects the severity of the revenge . These films utilize binary systems of gender and heteronormativity to dictate sexual violence and reciprocal vengeance as ‘naturalized’ forms of female agency . Conflating the relationship of castration and rape presented in these scenes, the autonomy of the victim and the assaulter are equalized as vengeance is assumedly served . This thesis finds that rape revenge narratives construct castration as a tool for vengeance and reclamation of bodily autonomy to perpetuate binary understandings of sexual violence and patriarchal systems of power within these narratives .