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Violent Women in Cultural and Artistic Theatres

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Violent Women in Contemporary Theatres

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Abstract

In this chapter Taylor Porter examines how violence has been historically and contemporarily gendered. Because of the threat violent women pose to not only male dominance but also our survival, they are typically stereotyped, demonized, or sexualized into monsters, psychotics, or babes. But a psychological and sociological examination of women’s violence reveals its incidence is much more widespread than is publicly acknowledged and its occurrence more “normal” than typically assumed. Gender norms can have the impact of debilitating women’s prosocial uses of force, which can put their own lives or their children’s lives in danger. Not surprisingly, women are victimized by violence in drama but are rarely the wielders of weapons or initiators of aggression. If based on accurate research, theatre can be a powerful forum for examining women’s use of force. Taylor Porter discusses dramaturgy and theatrical style as she develops a feminist aesthetic for plays about violent women. After discussing issues surrounding audience reception and outlining her rubric for evaluating the plays and productions in the rest of the study, Taylor Porter analyzes the practice of stage combat.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Theatre, Illinois College, Jacksonville, IL, USA

    Nancy Taylor Porter

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  1. Nancy Taylor Porter
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Correspondence to Nancy Taylor Porter .

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Taylor Porter, N. (2017). Violent Women in Cultural and Artistic Theatres. In: Violent Women in Contemporary Theatres. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57006-8_1

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