FRAGMENTED FEMINEITY: A CRITICAL STUDY OF HEADLESS FEMALE IMAGES IN HOLLYWOOD THRILLER MOVIE POSTERS

Abstract

This study critically studies the occurrence of headless representations of women in Hollywood thriller posters, focusing on headless or partially concealed female figures. This research incorporates Charles Sanders Peirce’s semiotic theory and Erving Goffman’s frame analysis, the research analyses the visual encoding of power, objectification, and gender in ten iconic film posters, including Suicide Squad, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Wonder Woman, and The Wolf of Wall Street. The analysis reveals how the partial or complete erasure of women’s faces in these posters functions as a strategic tool to both eroticize and objectify female characters. Identifying fragmentation such as posture, attire, ornaments, accessories or body placement, where women are holding weapons signifying the duality of women as both powerful agents and passive objects of desire. Through Goffman’s framework, the study underscores how these disembodied representations perpetuate stereotypes of femininity, subordination, and sexualization, while also reinforcing a hierarchical gendered power dynamic. Ultimately, the findings illuminate how Hollywood thriller posters exploit the disembodiment of female characters to negotiate their place within the broader cultural discourse on gender, agency, and visual spectacle.