Feminine anger and the exploration of such emotions have been commonly discouraged. Rage has been stereotypically categorized as a masculine emotion, which is historically accepted and a praised characteristic of the male population.
However, it is the complete opposite for women in the eyes of the patriarchal society, making female rage something scarcely depicted in mainstream media. This lack of depiction includes film, particularly in the horror genre, where women often take on the role of the damsel in distress or the victim rather than the monster or villain.
The stigma around female rage has resulted in women not being able to fully express the depth of their emotions without the fear of being called hysterical or irrational. All in all, this questions a woman’s ability to make sound judgements, thus silencing her at the same time.
With the representation female rage has had in the past, women have been presented in a way that affirms sexist beliefs and ideals and satisfies the male gaze. An example of this is the trope of the girlfriend who is cheated on by her boyfriend and is now seeking revenge as the “psycho ex,” which emphasizes the fact that a woman’s anger in these kinds of films is hardly seen as something virtuous.
Little by little, the idea of the female anti-heroine as the lead has been increasingly included in the media in a way that begins to combat gender stereotypes. The reality is that women have been taught to suppress feelings of anger or rage when it is an entirely valid emotion that should be taken the time to be acknowledged and understood.
Female rage is so captivating to me because of its previous lack of presence onscreen, and it is so powerful to see explored and unfolded. With that being said, here are two of my favourite movies that perfectly encapsulate female rage and that I wholeheartedly recommend watching for yourself.
X and Pearl, directed by Ti West
These films are the first two in Ti West’s trilogy, with X set in Texas during the ‘70s and following a group of young adult filmmakers. They rent a guest house as the setting for the film, all while under the noses of their elderly hosts. When the elderly couple catches on, the group finds themselves in grave danger from an unlikely killer.
This film is an example of The Final Girl trope, with the cutthroat aspiring adult film actress Maxine Minx being the sole brutal survivor of the massacre. The antagonist of X then takes the lead in her own origin story, Pearl, which focuses on her rise to madness and violent pursuit of stardom while trying to escape the dreadful life she had on her parents’ farm in 1918.
Piggy, directed by Carlota Pereda
This film follows an overweight teenage girl named Sara who is the victim of regular bullying by a trio of girls in her town. A traumatic incident culminates in the girls attempting to drown her at the pool, but the tables are turned when a serial killer witnesses the incident in action and kidnaps the three girls. With the police investigation into their disappearance underway and the number of murder victims increasing, Sara is torn between keeping quiet and saving herself from future torment or revealing the hard yet crucial truth.