‘A friend who stabs you’: Abjection, violence and the female clique in film
Article
Article Title | ‘A friend who stabs you’: Abjection, violence and the female clique in film |
---|---|
ERA Journal ID | 201561 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | |
Author | Gildersleeve, Jessica |
Journal Title | The Australasian Journal of Popular Culture |
Journal Citation | 9 (1), pp. 25-37 |
Number of Pages | 13 |
Year | 2020 |
Place of Publication | United Kingdom |
ISSN | 2045-5852 |
2045-5860 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1386/ajpc_00013_1 |
Web Address (URL) | https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/ajpc/2020/00000009/00000001/art00003;jsessionid=18o6vec3jpcda.x-ic-live-01 |
Abstract | This article establishes a unique subgenre of film (the ‘female clique film’) in which the clique (and its disruption) is central to the film’s plot. It discusses four female clique films – Heathers (1989), The Craft (1996), Jawbreaker (1999) and Mean Girls (2004) – in order to consider their depiction of physical rather than relational aggression: extraordinary and even sociopathic violence occurs both within and outside these female relationships as part of the ritualized identity of the clique. It uses the logic of abjection to analyse the figure of the outsider as well as the female body, showing how social abjection and abject bodies are linked by the clique when they commit both relational and physical aggression against other girls. The article argues that the female clique film must be understood in terms of Alison Yarrow’s ‘bitchification’ – the failures of feminism in the later decades of the twentieth century. |
Keywords | abjection; female clique; feminism; relational aggression; teen cinema; violence |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 470514. Literary theory |
470214. Screen and media culture | |
Byline Affiliations | University of Southern Queensland |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q5w50/-a-friend-who-stabs-you-abjection-violence-and-the-female-clique-in-film
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