I Spit On Your Grave

I will be recommending this movie to no one. Really not worth the time, in my opinion. Although Jennifer cutting off her rapist's dick was kind of a redeemable scene for me. I don't really think it was that well done, but it definitely has an undeniable "wow" factor.

Something that I was trying to wrap my mind around was the contradictory definitions offered by Creed in her chapter on "the femme castratrice". She asserts that men fear women both as castrated and one who castrates. I Spit On Your Grave is unique in that, Jennifer occupies both of these positions. What seemed at odds to me in Creed's definitions, was that the castrated female is punished for her transgressions in patriarchal society, whereas the castrating female apparently is rarely punished for her behavior and seen as justified in her actions. What I wanted to know is how do we reconcile these two theories in one character? Jennifer fulfills the role castrated woman, for as a successful, single, writer from New York, she defies the traditional role of women in a male dominated world. For this, she is punished by the male country dwellers to remind her of her rightful place. But seeing that Jennifer also becomes a literal castrator by the end of the film, she evolves into a women who is now righteous for committing the murders. The situation has flipped, as it is the men who are deserving of death in the later half of the film. And I guess I am not sure what to make of this and it raises more questions than I feel like I can answer. Can we really see this as a "feminist" film just because she kills the men in the end and evades punishment? Or is it just a half-assed attempt to rectify the brutalization of the female body for a male audience? Neither the female castratrice nor the castrated female seem to fit into proper feminine roles, but how come only one is punished and the other heroicized? And what does that say about the audience watching and their expectations of females?