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Stepford Daughters

Tools for Feminists in Contemporary Horror
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( 33 ratings, 6 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Stepford Daughters by Johanna Isaacson delves into a new wave of horror films that intertwine class and gender horror. It examines how these films, often misunderstood, provide a space for oppressed people to confront a disturbing world. Through movies like Hereditary, The Babadook, and Get Out, Isaacson highlights women's struggles under family and work pressures, while "coming of rage" films such as Assassination Nation and Teeth reveal heroines who resist and transform into powerful avengers.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for readers interested in film studies, gender studies, and social critique, especially those fascinated by horror as a lens on societal issues.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

In Stepford Daughters, Johanna Isaacson explores an emerging wave of horror films that get why class horror and gender horror must be understood together.

In doing so, Isaacson makes the case that this often-maligned genre is, in fact, a place where oppressed people can understand, navigate and confront an increasingly ugly and horrifying world.

Films like Hereditary and The Babadook show women coming apart at the seams as the promises of both the family and waged work fail them. In Get Out, we see how poor women and women of colour perform the invisible labour that holds up our society, experiencing domestic work as a kind of possession.

In "coming of rage" films such as Assassination Nation and Teeth, we see the ways social reproduction leads to a futureless horizon. Robbed of their dreams but not their power to resist, these heroines emerge as the monsters and avengers we need.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781942173694

Publisher: Common Notions

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 17 November 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Common Notions

Illustration: Illustrations

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 12.0mm

Width: 139.0mm

Height: 215.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 244

About the Author

Johanna Isaacson

writes academic and popular pieces on horror and politics. She is a professor of English at Modesto Junior College and a founding editor of Blind Field Journal. She is the author of The Ballerina and the Bull, has published widely in academic and popular journals, and runs the Facebook group, "Anti-capitalist Feminists Who Like Horror Films."

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