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 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. 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 вЂ archaic motherвЂ™. 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. She explains this by focuses on how horror emphasizes boundaries of humanity and beyond. Creed argues that abjection theory is profoundly engrained within the horror genre. It is a breakdown of borders between human existence and non-existence. According to Kristeva, abjection is the failure to distinguish what constitutes as 'self', and what is 'other'. Kristeva's AbjectionД¬reed further acknowledges the influence of Julia Kristeva, by examining the notion of abjection. On the other hand, women depicted as villains are portrayed as innately evil, and their monstrosity is connected to their reproductive bodily functions.

This exemplifies how sexually active women are harlots, who warrant their own death, wherein only the 'pure' women deserve the live. conceptions 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. Creed argues that within horror films, the male gaze is oftentimes the central focus. Women in horror films have been consistently represented and portrayed as weak, submissive, and highly sexualized. Creed's The Monstrous-Feminine which was published in 1993 and it clearly draws inspiration from her earlier work on Kristeva. Creed wrote an essay on Kristeva and film in 1985 for the British Film Journal. Julia Kristeva is one of Creed's major feminist influencers, as she studied Kristeva in great depth, particularly with her examination of the abject. Creed's work relies on a number of theorists including Sigmund Freud, and Julia Kristeva. Her themes of investigation incorporate, horror cinema, depictions of sex, and feminism. Her work seriously considers the subjects of feminism, psychoanalysis, and post-culturalism. Overall, Creed's work is of interest to feminist theory and psychoanalysis and how these theories can be applied to horror films. Her current research includes human rights and animal ethics on screen. She currently works within the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne where she is a Professor of Cinema Studies. Creed pursued the use of feminist theory and psychoanalysis in her examination of horror films. She is a graduate of Monash and La Trobe University, completing her doctrinal thesis and research on the cinema of horror. Early lifeД«arbara Creed is a well-known Australian commentator on film and media. Creed is a graduate of Monash and LaTrobe universities where she completed doctoral research using the framework of psychoanalysis and feminist theory to examine horror films. She is the author of six books on gender, feminist film theory, and the horror genre. Barbara Creed FAHA (born 30 September 1943) is a professor of cinema studies in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne.

Barbara creed the monstrous feminine