A certain binary that comes up repeatedly in horror texts I consume is that of “feminine” versus “masculine” violence—in other words, violence perpetrated on either side of the gender binary often containing differences. Coming back to Tomie by Junji Ito from my previous post, the character of Tomie is known as a “femme fatale” or “seductress character”—she is described as such in the book’s English translation description, and enacts violence by manipulation and sexuality. She possesses the ability of immortality/duplication, which allows her to come back after death, as well as the ability to make any man or woman obsessed with her to the point of insanity. This immortality is important because this “insanity” results in men killing her in increasingly horrific ways: the men who become obsessed with her, in other words, always resort to intense physical violence and even mutilation. Meanwhile, Tomie does not usually directly commit violent acts, only playing on other people’s jealousies and other emotions.
On top of this, women in Tomie react differently to Tomie’s manipulation. Their jealousies do not lead to intense violence or mutilation of Tomie, and instead, they become manipulative and intensely angry in their obsession. This creates a clear gender binary in how those around Tomie react to her seductions, speaking to gendered violence and the confines of heterosexuality. This binary is almost entirely consistent throughout Tomie, pushing a distinct portrayal of what Tomie’s powers reveal about bringing out the worst in people through attraction and affection. While Tomie is villainous, taking over the minds of the men she seduces and manipulating their actions, their violent outbursts are consistently shown not to be a part of her conscious plans. Tomie consistently reacts fearfully in her body language and facial expressions towards the violence directed at her, and the men she renders obsessed with her consistently resort to mutilation due to their jealousy and obsession. Though this allows more pieces of her to spread and regenerate, perpetuating her curse and reinforcing her nature of torment, the fear she feels in these moments is evident. The gender binary shown, then, paints both parties as villainous: Tomie’s emotional manipulation is painted as evil, but male protagonists do not get off the hook for their violence, as Tomie and readers are disgusted again and again by it.
This is the root of what is horrifying about Tomie—her effects on those around her. Readers and characters are terrified of the concept of someone, especially a woman, being able to get revenge and justice for herself even after death, and her ability to haunt them for the rest of their lives. Men in the story, specifically, are terrified by their own insecurities: fears of rejection, fears of lacking control over Tomie/other women, and their fears of not being able to control their own insecurities. Tomie as a character and a supernatural entity is an avenue for Ito to showcase the worst parts of each side of the social gender binary: the weaponization of emotions that many women resort to in place of physical violence, the mutilation that women risk facing by heterosexual men, and the perpetration of violence and insecurity by these men.
Citations:
Itō, Junji, et al. Tomie. Complete deluxe edition. San Francisco, CA, Viz Media, LLC, 2016.
Rosenwasser, David, and Jill Stephen. Writing Analytically. Eighth edition., Cengage, 2019.