Monstrous bitch a history of terrifying women Eleanor Johnson

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Johnson, Eleanor, 1979- Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Monstrosity in literature.

Monstrosity in motion pictures.

Women in literature.

Women in motion pictures.

Monsters in literature.

Monsters in motion pictures.

Mythology.

mythology (literary genre).

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Princeton University Press, 2026.

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton University Press [2026]

Summary:

"How an ancient myth about a sexually voracious, baby-slaying, loudmouthed demoness became the defining misogynistic archetype of Western civilization. For as long as human societies have been telling stories, the patriarchy has felt threatened by women. In this book, Eleanor Johnson provides an engaging cultural history of a figure she calls the monstrous bitch, the notorious female who has haunted the patriarchal imagination for centuries, feared for her sexual promiscuity, her exercise of reproductive agency and control, and her outspoken way of contesting patriarchal power. In a narrative brimming with insight, Johnson traces the origins of female monstrosity to the demoness Lamashtu of ancient Mesopotamia, showing how this infanticidal, hypersexual, loudmouthed monster appears in different guises throughout history. In classical Greece, she reemerges as the sorceress Medea, the child-devouring monster Lamia, and the vengeful Furies. In the medieval and early modern periods, she is an oversexed, baby-slaying, spellcasting witch; in the Romantic and Victorian eras, a vampiress; and in the modern age of psychoanalysis, a mental patient. After this longue durée history, Johnson shows how monstrous bitchery has been challenged and reinterpreted in contemporary cinematic popular culture, becoming an expression of heroism and resistance in films like Ginger snaps, Jennifer's body, and The witch. She demonstrates how deeply embedded the roots of misogyny have become, and why it is more critical today than ever that we expose and address them. An irreverent look at a pervasive trope that runs through four thousand years of Western culture, Monstrous bitch reveals that while representations of the powerful woman have evolved over time, the fear and demonization of her remains the same."--Provided by publisher

Contents:

Monstrous bitches of ancient Mesopotamia : demons and goddesses Greek monstrous bitches : screaming Furies, angry queens, sorceresses, and sexy infanticides Roman witch-bitches : the persistence of Lamia Taming and reframing the monstrous bitch The season of the witch : dramatically questioning witch ideology Monstrous bitches in the Age of Enlightenment : vampiresses Crazy bitches of the 1940s and 1950s Possessed bitches of the 1960s and 1970s Sexy vampire bitches of the 1970s and 1980s Monstrous bitches bite back Back to Babylon

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-312) and index

Print version record; title from PDF title page (De Gruyter Brill, viewed August 19, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version Johnson, Eleanor, 1979- Monstrous bitch

ISBN:

9780691291680

0691291683

9780691295343

0691295344

OCLC:

1612239555

Publisher Number:

CIPO000421088

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license