Trigger Warnings: horror, violence, IPV, DV, assault, revenge, murder, rape culture, gendered discussion, gaslighting
Horror but make it warranted. The ‘good for her’ genre usually starts with violence towards the protagonist and them getting some sort of revenge. We sorta, kinda root for them (at least some of us do). It is the dis-enfranchised regaining their power and against overwhelming systems that normally take them away. I think what separates these from the John Wick’s of the world is the justice is delivered by the one’s who are viewed as ‘helpless’ and/or often dismissed.
Feminist therapy is not just for women, although it came about in the 1960’s feminist movement. Feminist therapy is looking at oppressive systems that keep others down and the interventions include looking at how we can empower ourselves and communities to break out of those systems and/or circumvent them.
In film, Stephen King’s novel adapted to the big screen by De Palma, Carrie’s bullies (including her religious mother) underestimate the raw power of the telekinetic teenager until she is pushed too far. In Aster’s Midsommar, a more subtle gas-lighting (specific term from the 1938 play/1944 movie Gaslight) abuse from her partner paired with finding community within a violent cult ends in an emotionally complex realization for both her and the audience. And in Ti West’s X, an adult film star who was raised by a pious religious bully confronts another set of abusers while navigating adulthood.
Other film examples include Tess from Barbarian who is thrust into an unsettling situation right away, not knowing who to trust and it soon turns into pure nightmare fuel where the decisions she has to make to save herself are narrow and hard-to-watch. In 2007’s Teeth, Dawn is a coming of age woman whose upbringing has been steeped in religious purity culture (sensing a theme here?!), has little to no knowledge of her body, and discovers during a sexual assault that she has the mythical condition of “vagina dentata”, which is actually a representation of male anxieties. Throughout the film she is traumatized by more than one person in what should be a “trustworthy” role (friend, doctor, etc). And in Trachtenberg’s Prey (2022) Naru is the daughter of a tribal leader who goes against her expected role of a daughter in her tribe and encounters both an other-worldly predator and domestic predators while being underestimated.
So let’s think about what systems & dynamics have been in place throughout history and are still very much present that keep people marginalized. Here is one example of the rape culture pyramid on the left and how it continues to get upheld. A lot of people do not realize that the things below the top of the pyramid are the situations that are upholding the horrendous things at the top. These are often also normalized when they shouldn’t be. And the circle on the right are ways to which we can change the norms of this culture that is unfortunately deeply ingrained in purity culture. The images are from the The Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance:
The World Health Organization in a 2018 study across 161 countries found that an estimated 1 in 3 (30%) women across the globe will experience physical/sexual violence in their lifetime and that it is usually through intimate partner violence. Yes, men also experience violence towards them at lower rates than women and sometimes from women but overwhelmingly it is from other men. Ideally, all people would feel like they could come forward and get support when something happens to them. Feminist therapy incorporates all categories of dis-empowerment with the goal of pushing back against them and calling people in when appropriate to thwart continued trauma with community support.
Due to the amount of disenfranchisement towards certain groups, it makes sense that there are specific representations of the fantasy of ‘getting justice’ or regaining one’s power.
Some of the horror films considered ‘Good For Her’ (GFH) horror: Carrie, Midsommar, American Mary, Audition, Ready or Not, The Witch, The Invisible Man, Barbarian, Alien/Aliens, Fresh, Teeth, Oddity, Pearl, X, Jennifer’s Body, Prey. Honorable ‘non-horror’ mentions: The (Swedish) Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Revenge, Kill Bill
References:
Barbarian. Directed by Zach Cregger, 20th Century Studios, 9 Sept. 2022.
DeLeonardo, Sidney. “Will You Light the Gas Please?: A Brief History of the Term Gaslighting and the Movie behind It.” The Illinois Coalition against Domestic Violence (ICADV), www.ilcadv.org/will-you-light-the-gas-please-a-brief-history-of-the-term-gaslighting-and-the-movie-behind-it/. Accessed 26 Apr. 2025.
DVSN. “September 2024: Male Victims of Domestic Violence – Distinct Challenges & Barriers to Disclosure and Support – Domestic Violence Services Network, Inc. (DVSN).” Domestic Violence Services Network, Inc. (DVSN) – a Coordinated Community Response to Domestic Violence, 17 Sept. 2024, www.dvsn.org/september-2024-male-victims-of-domestic-violence-distinct-challenges-barriers-to-disclosure-and-support/. Accessed 26 Apr. 2025.
“Ending Rape Culture – Activity Zine | Community Solutions to Sexual and Domestic Violence: VIRGINIA.” Www.communitysolutionsva.org, 28 Sept. 2020, www.communitysolutionsva.org/index.php/resources/item/ending-rape-culture-activity-zine.
Good Therapy. “Feminist Therapy.” Goodtherapy.org, 15 Sept. 2009, www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/feminist-therapy. Accessed 26 Apr. 2025.
King, Stephen, and Lawrence D Cohen. “Carrie.” IMDb, 16 Nov. 1976, www.imdb.com/title/tt0074285. Accessed 26 Apr. 2025.
Lichtenstein, Mitchell. “Teeth.” IMDb, 3 Apr. 2008, www.imdb.com/title/tt0780622. Accessed 26 Apr. 2025.
Natarajan, Madison, et al. “Decolonizing Purity Culture: Gendered Racism and White Idealization in Evangelical Christianity.” Psychology of Women Quarterly, vol. 46, no. 3, 5 May 2022, p. 036168432210911, journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/03616843221091116, https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843221091116.
Prey. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg, 20th Century Studios, 5 Aug. 2022.
Women’s Aid. “Domestic Abuse Is a Gendered Crime.” Womens Aid, 2019, www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/domestic-abuse-is-a-gendered-crime/. Accessed 26 Apr. 2025.
World Health Organization. “Violence against Women.” World Health Organization, 25 Mar. 2024, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women. Accessed 26 Apr. 2025.
X. Directed by Ti West, A24, 13 Mar. 2022.
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