Women's lived experiences become 'horror movie' tropes when experienced by men reflecting this unjust world

The struggles of being a woman are often overlooked and sometimes even disputed. It is almost impossible for men to understand certain deep-rooted fears and complications of living a woman's life. For instance, no individual would dare to give a straight-up answer when asked if women are as safe as men in society. Recently, a Texas-based teacher living in Sweden–who goes by @bardkris on TikTok–spoke about a less-discussed perspective on women's lived experiences. Kris Karli referenced a paper by Carolyn Drake that explained why women's battles in life become "horror movie tropes" when experienced by men and it was a reflection of reality.

Stitching with the video of a woman named Jordan (who goes by @jordxn.simone), the teacher added to the outlook with a perspective that he found fascinating. The woman originally spoke about how people argue that "not all men are bad." She emphasized how violence against women persists and as long as they did, women would never feel safe with men. Backing this up, the teacher used the standpoint mentioned in a research paper he came across earlier. It was about how "in horror movies, men get to experience women's lived experiences every day" and he found it a fascinating premise. "All things that we think of as horror movie tropes are things that women have to deal with every day," he added.

The reason why horror movies are scary is because of the existence of a stronger force that is capable of causing us harm. The teacher highlighted that this was how women felt every day, dealing with scary things and the feeling of having no means of escape if they were harmed. He referenced some examples, including body odor and periods that women face after reaching a certain age. Though this might be normal for women, men would never understand these experiences and it would be something out of a "horror movie" for them. He also recalled the paper's take on the film "Alien," who are "deliberately intended to look like genitalia" in movies reflect the fact that men are raped too. But for women, it's a constant fear that they have to live with all the time and not just in horror movies. 

Finally, the teacher emphasized how the famous "Man or Bear?" trend ended up in a way that normalized women's lived experiences. Women choosing a bear over a man were often ridiculed for being judgemental towards men. The teacher explained that women made that choice because their realities were quite scarier than those of men. "It's a fascinating thing that absolutely reflects on our gender and roles of today and it's horrific," he concluded. With over a million views, the perspective in this video seemed too relevant to many. 

"As a female horror author, I can firmly say that you: Get It. This is 100% correct and I think about it a lot," said @rosiesthingfactory. "My husband loves horror films and couldn't understand why I don't. I said, if I want to be terrified, I'll just walk through the park at night," noted @a.c.d.r. "This makes me want to cry. I never thought of it this way. My nana always said horror didn't scare her, real people did," added @thelunasparks.

You can follow @bardkris on TikTok for more engaging and informative content.