- Teeth movie poster
This repost by Colleen Lutz Clemens appears as part of our theme week on Rape Revenge Fantasies.
Mitchell Lichtenstein’s 2007 comedic horror film Teeth plays to and with the audience’s anxiety about a young girl’s burgeoning sexuality. In a town flanked by a nuclear power plant, the main character, Dawn, grows into her sexuality while coming to terms with having a vagina dentata–a toothed vagina. In a time when toothed condoms called Rapex to prevent rape are coming onto the market, Dawn’s travails force the viewer to consider what is necessary for a woman to survive as a sexual being in a climate of violence and rape.
Early in the film, Dawn is a nymph-like virgin committed to “saving herself” until marriage. She is the poster child for the “good” girl: a loving daughter who obeys the doctrines of the church and spends her time spreading the gospel of virginity. Everything Dawn knows about the world and herself changes when her falsely pious boyfriend Tobey takes her to a far off swimming hole and tries to rape her. A confused and terrified Dawn reacts by screaming and then—much to everyone’s surprise—cutting off his penis to interrupt the rape. Little does Dawn know that her lessons about Darwin in her biology classes are taking hold in her own body.
- Tobey loses his penis
Dawn turns to the Internet to learn what has happened to her body (and I suggest you, dear reader, might want to avoid Googling “vagina dentata” if you are faint of heart) and learns that her vagina—something she didn’t want to see the picture of even before the rape—is a tool of terror, in her opinion.
- Dawn does some research
In a desire to learn about her body, to confirm what is normal or abnormal biology, she goes to another man whom should be trusted—her gynecologist. During the exam, he also takes advantage of Dawn’s vulnerabilities and assaults her. When he doesn’t listen to her protests, he loses a finger, and Dawn flees screaming at the fear she now has over her own body and it sexual nature. With little to no information about her own body brought upon by her abstinence-only education, Dawn is left confused while her curiosity mirrors that of any young woman starting to learn about sex.
- Dawn visits the gynecologist
Viewers finally relax when they see Dawn in the hands of a loving partner, Ryan, who seems to care for her. With loving embraces and tenderness, Ryan takes a nervous Dawn to bed. Her vagina dentata seems to be reserved only for instances in which Dawn needs protection, so Ryan is safe in her embrace. But when Dawn learns that Ryan has bedded her as part of a bet while he is still inside of her, Dawn’s evolutionary adaptation intercedes and Ryan is punished for his use and abuse of Dawn. So now two trusted boyfriends and a doctor have initiated Dawn into the world of oppressive sex and violence, and all three times her vagina—the thing that has left her most vulnerable—has acted as a protector.
- Ryan loses his penis
Finally, upon the death of her mother, Dawn starts to see her vagina as a tool not only for survival but also for justice. Her awful stepbrother Brad is the first to be the victim of the vagina dentata used purposefully. Having ignored the cries of his dying stepmother, Brad allows the most important woman in Dawn’s life to die a horrible death. A coy Dawn seduces Brad to punish him. His vicious dog gets to eat the spoils of the sexual encounter Brad had been taunting Dawn with for years.
- Brad’s penis (before the dog eats it)
The final scene does the most interesting work in terms of considering Teeth as part of the rape revenge genre (spoiler alert). Dawn has left her home to begin a new life as she can no longer survive in her town. After a succession of men whom Dawn should be able to trust take advantage of her, Dawn finally embraces her toothed vagina and uses it as a tool of resistance and justice as she works to protect other women from the awful men roaming the world. When hitchhiking, she is picked up by the archetypal “dirty old man” that solicits sex from her as his dry tongue licks his even dryer lips.
- Dirty old man
In the film’s final moments, the audience sees Dawn smile and go toward this encounter, and we know that Dawn will use her vagina dentata as an act of vigilante justice. She will sever the penis of this man so he cannot use it again and hurt other girls. Instead of being surprised by her vagina or using it as a form of reactive self-protection, Dawn is now being proactive and seeking out the opportunity to use her “teeth” to act as a fighter. She goes toward the encounter and accepts her body for what it is: a powerful sexual being that has adapted to a world that is often harsh and dangerous for the female species.
I have taught this film several times in my college courses. If I were to make a generalization, at the end of the film, the male students groan and the female students cheer. I suppose that is a natural response to some degree. After all, we did just witness a dog eat a severed penis as if it were a Milk-Bone. However, this film always leads me to ask the question: Is this the kind of agency that we as women want—access to violent acts? Is Dawn, as Tammy Oler calls Dawn in her Bitch article on rape revenge films “The Brave Ones,” a “satisfying fantas[y] of power and fortitude”?
- Dawn looks powerful
The film seems to argue that Dawn’s growth is a requirement, a form of natural selection–that a young woman growing up in a white, suburban, Christian, capitalist society MUST develop such a “mutation” in order to survive a patriarchal world. Dawn’s vagina dentata is the epitome of her biology teacher’s earlier lesson on natural selection, that along with the help of the effects of the nuclear power plant combined with the need to survive, women will start to adapt and grow vaginal teeth. Though she is still monstrous (the film isn’t called “Dawn,” but is instead named after the thing that makes her a monster), she also has access to mobility—she is leaving—and sexual power—she is about to control the sexual situation for the only the second time in her sexual life. Sadly, though this situation is one of power, not of love.
We do see earlier in the film that she can control her teeth when having sex in a loving environment, so the adaption will not hold her back from having a healthy sexual encounter that is safe for both partners. But when that safety is compromised, the audience is to assume that Dawn will always have the upper hand. Or should we say the upper jaw?
Colleen Lutz Clemens is assistant professor of non-Western literatures at Kutztown University. She blogs about gender issues and postcolonial theory and literature at http://kupoco.wordpress.
This movie definitely poses a roller coaster of emotions, and as Dr. Clemens stated full of anxiety. When watching this movie I felt the anxiety started almost immediately when Brad (Dawn’s step brother) touches her and gets his finger tip bit off. I was immediately curious to what was going to happen between them while the audience can see his attraction to her as they grow older. I would most definitely consider “Teeth” as a rape revenge text; I completely agree with this post. While watching this film it was clear that her innocence of a pure female that was ridiculed but promoted the purity she held of “saving herself” was altered by the end of the film. In the first seen that Dawn is sexually violated is when she is raped by her boyfriend Tobey and you can feel the disguised and fear she is experiencing; however, the last seen with the “dirty old man” and Dawn in his car hitchhiking definitely expresses power tied with the smirk she gives the views. If Dawn was not raped or sexually assaulted at all she may have lost her virginity the way she had hoped and she may have never learned of her vagina dentata. Therefore, this movie is suggesting that it took a woman to be raped and sexually assaulted in three instances to find the power to hold the upper hand on a sexually situation as a female.
One question this post posed was the idea of agency; it questions “is this the kind of agency that we as women want- access to violent acts?”. This movie as I stated before is only given a woman the power after she is raped, giving her agency in her violence. This film included a “mutation” to make Dawn powerful; should that be the message we are sending? I don’t think so; I agree with the statement that everything including the title of the story suggests that she as a woman is not powerful, but she containing vagina dentata is powerful. I feel woman should be able to have power in other ways then violent mutations given to the females’ reproductive organ, the vagina. This film gave Dawn power by taking it away from the “males” assaulting her by committing an act she has strongly been against committing, which is sex for any other reason but love.
In her post, On Milk-Bones, Toothed Vaginas, and Adolescence: ‘Teeth” As Cautionary Tale, Colleen Clemens makes the point that it took a woman to be raped to find the power to stand up against a man when being sexually assaulted. At the beginning of the film when Dawn first learns of her Vagina Dentata, we can see that she is scared and confused. As the film progresses, there is a shift from Dawns lack of control to complete control and exertion of this adaptation. We see this particularly in the scene where she has sex with Ryan. Feeling safe, the viewer sees Dawn finally able to enjoy the embrace of a man. This sense of protection causes her vagina Dentata to reverse. When Dawn learns of the bet Ryan has with a friend to have sex with her, Ryan’s genitals are dismembered. In the last scene when Dawn is in the car with the creepy old man, the smirk on her face expresses that she now realizes this power she has over men.
Dr. Clemens presents the question of whether or not this is the kind of agency that we as women want-access to incases of violent acts. Overall, I disagree with the message that this movie sends about rape. It should not be left up to women to develop an adaptation in order to protect us from acts of violence. I believe that this film sends a message about gender stereotypes against women. Dawn is only empowered once she learns what her adaptation is capable of. This film makes it seem that the only way a women can be in power is if she has a mutation. Women should also be able to have power over men physically and mentally, and not just sexually.
I read and familiarized myself with the Bitch Flicks Rape Revenge Roundup article entitled “On Milk-Bones, Toothed Vaginas, and Adolescence: ‘Teeth’
As Cautionary Tale” written by Colleen Lutz Clemens. In the article, Colleen stated that the movie Teeth caused feelings of satisfaction and vindication in many typical female viewers. Some viewers may covet Dawn’s unusual and fail-safe vagina. While the film appears to posit that a mutation such as Dawn’s is necessary for female survival in a “patriarchal world,” the author of this blog questions whether this kind of violent power is the answer for us women. The content of this film reinforces the fact that women shoulder most of the responsibility for their own sexual safety.
When I read the Oler article I underlined, again and again, the section that talked about the Rapex condom. Rapex is a “toothed” female condom, developed in South Africa. The makers encouraged women to wear them “should you have to travel long distances alone, on a train, working late, going out on a date with someone you don’t know too well, going to clubs, or in any situation in which you might feel uncomfortable or even just not sure.” The Rapex condom article reminded me of something I read over the summer. It was about a group of men who invented a nail polish that a woman could wear any time she anticipated being in an unfamiliar or risky situation involving liquid refreshment. If the woman felt threatened, she simply dipped her fingertip in her drink. The nail polish would change color to indicate the presence of Ruffalin (the date rape drug). Protecting oneself from rape is obviously necessary. However, making women solely responsible for their own sexual safety is scary, and misguided.
While watching the movie Teeth, I was actually very surprised all of this happened. I felt bad for Dawn, when she finally figures out that her vagina is dangerous, and has teeth. She’s a young woman who is going through many changes, has family issues, and is trying to keep up with her school life. Dawn has a lot going on, and to top it off, she then is raped by someone she trusted, and someone she generally loved. When Dawn ended up severing Toby’s penis off because of his attempted rape, it seemed as though Dawn was sad, at first. You can see this because Dawn goes looking for Toby after he hasn’t been around for a few days. To me, Dawn felt bad about her powers at first, but in the end of the film, I think she likes having a toothed vagina.
In the blog post, it is argued at first that Dawn saw her vagina as a “tool of terror”. I disagree with this. Yes, at first, I believe Dawn was scared about her toothed vagina, but I ultimately think that it protected her. When she first realized she had a toothed vagina, she was scared because she didn’t know what was going on, and she was now different than any of the other girls in her age group. There was no one for her to relate to. But, once Dawn realizes she can use the toothed vagina to her advantage, she becomes
empowered. Dawn’s toothed vagina is almost a safety net for her; it protects
her and keeps her safe sexually, just like when Ryan has sex with her, but onlyfor the sole reason that there was a bet, and once she learns that, her
protector kicks in, and slices off his penis. Women are being constantly told
by society that we women need to prevent and stop the rape. Usually the woman is the one to blame. We shouldn’t be walking at a certain time of night or we shouldn’t be wearing certain clothes. So, instead of being a victim, Dawn prevents rape by having a toothed vagina, and she also saves other girls from being hurt by these men as well.
I have to start off by congratulating C. Clemens on coming up with a brilliant title for this article…”On Milk-Bones, Toothed Vaginas, and Adolescence: ‘Teeth’ As Cautionary Tale.” Dawn grows into her sexuality while recognizing the fact that she is unique regarding her feminine parts. She must come to terms with the fact that she has vagina dentate. C. Clemens discussed the idea of the toothed-condom, know as Rapex, that was created for women that were wanting to take precautions when worrying about rape. Throughout the first part of the movie, Dawn was portrayed as the damsel in distress; she was the innocent, virgin, “good” girl, as C. Clemens shared. I find it interesting that C. Clemens brought up the lesson that was covered in class that Dawn missed which talked about Darwin. This scene caught the attention of viewers, especially when the teacher specifically called Dawn out and stated that she missed the class discussion and that it was a shame because it was about her. C. Clemens made a point to say that Dawn’s vagina, which was once something that made her vulnerable, is now something that acts as a form of protection for her. This statement is essential because it allows readers of the article and viewers of the movie to bring aspects together.
Dawn’s vagina represents the vulnerability that she faced as a virgin in the beginning of the movie, the fact that she herself was scared of what her body was doing, and also represents the fact that society focuses on the female sex as vulnerable for the simple fact that we, as women, have vaginas. Lastly, C. Clemens includes details about the final scene of the movie where Dawn realizes her true strength; she comes to the realization that her toothed vagina can be used in order to form justice against men in society. When she feels that her vagina’s unique feature can be used as a tool to protect herself, her thinking changes and she realizes that she is not only protecting herself but she is also protecting other women from men that are looking to take advantage of “vulnerable women.” C. Clemens touches on this scene, which is known for the dirty old man. This scene in particular relates to Monster and the court case when Aileen states that she was justifying her murders because she was helping to clear those types of men off of the streets. The smile says it all; I agree with C. Clemens that Dawn’s smile showcases a form of power and growth from the time we were first introduced to her. Although I agree that the film makes it seem as if Dawn must show growth, I have been looking at her development throughout the movie as a strength, as something she has accepted, and as an evolution of some sorts. I also feel that her smile at the end, which can be viewed at the bottom of C. Clemens’ article, also showcases a sense of mysteriousness, excitement, and mischief.
When I was watching Teeth, I was incredibly uncomfortable the entire time. After the movie, I had to reflect on why I was uncomfortable. I couldn’t figure out if it was solely because of the intense gore scenes and different instances of sexual assault, or was it something more. Some sinister anxiety-producing possibility that is so incredibly well-articulated in this article. I didn’t know how to put the feeling into words, but this is the feeling to a T. That feeling was the fear that the reason why Dawn had these teeth was because of an evolutionary need for them. It’s terrifying to think that in today’s society vaginal teeth would be “what is necessary for a woman to survive as a sexual being in a climate of violence and rape.” (Clemens) That is what this movie, and this article, make us think about: a society where rape is so prevalent and victim blaming is, for some godforsaken reason, a lot of people’s response to sexual assault, women would need to adapt to this type of threat. “The film seems to argue that Dawn’s growth is a requirement, a form of natural selection–that a young woman growing up in a white, suburban, Christian, capitalist society MUST develop such a ‘mutation’ in order to survive a patriarchal world.” (Clemens) This point is really eye opening and made me really consider the validity of this thought process. My conclusion is that, sad as it might be, it’s true. The way our society is, some type of “protection,” for lack of a better term, is needed. We all know someone who has been sexually assaulted, 1 in 6 women has been the victim of rape. That number is astounding and unacceptable. With those kind of statistics it’s incredible we haven’t already started growing teeth in our vaginas.
I think the reaction of your students is interesting, as I am one of them. I’m not surprised by the generalized reaction at all. Females in mainstream media aren’t really shown as being violent on their own or have a lot of agency. There are some strong female characters who are violent, but they’re always the victim first. Whether they were sexually assaulted or abused in a romantic relationship, there is always some type of rationalization for their violence. Even Dawn’s teeth are a result of this thought that women’s violence needs to be rationalized, but when Tobey was raping her his rationale was, “I haven’t even jerked off since Easter.” (Teeth) For him, that was a perfectly good reason for taking advantage of a girl who trusted him. Men have an incredible amount of strong characters representing them from live-action superheroes (Superman) to cartoon video game characters (Wreck-It-Ralph.) Mainstream media is rife with admirable, yet violent male characters. Just watch literally any movie ever. Even the movies where the violent men are depicted as villains, they’re still loved by fandoms and fans. I think the reaction of the students reflect how society reacts as well, the men are disturbed because women aren’t “in the kitchen making them sandwiches” and are enacting violence against men. The women are excited to see someone taking revenge because of what has been done to them, even if that revenge is sometimes excessive (ie Kill Bill.)
I totally agree with Dr. Clemens argument that the “growth [of teeth] is a requirement… that a young woman growing up in a white, suburban, Christian, capitalist society MUST develop such a “mutation” in order to survive” because (as of 1998, so I’m sure it’s higher now) 1 out of every 6 American women has been victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (RAINN.org). Every time I look at a statistic like this, I’m disgusted with the world we live in. The very IDEA that there is a myth about teeth in a woman’s vagina is mind boggling to me because when you actually sit down and think about it, the person who came up with this myth had to have gone through a rape or something similarly traumatic to even get the idea of the myth.
The rapes are the driving force of this movie and without them, there would be no need for vagina dentata. What I absolutely can’t see though, along with most of my classmates, is this movie as a cautionary tale for men; something that was blatantly said in the movie’s trailer. It shouldn’t be just the woman’s job to prevent rape, men should also be taught not to rape. If men were taught not to rape, then, hopefully, there wouldn’t be a need for “cautionary tales” such as these.
Personally, I loved this movie. I found the female empowerment very uplifting in a society where men are usually seen as the heroes and vigilantes. It was very refreshing. On the other hand, if I had to deal with something like that, I would not know what to do. I would be completely lost. It puts a lot of thought into body positivism after Dawn finally comes to terms with her respective condition. She took it with a shred of confidence with accepting it and even giving her a position of power and agency. She uses it to her advantage. It was also very ironic that they were just covering darwinism in her class right before she found out about this evolutionary trait she was gifted with. It is genuinely one of my favorite female empowerment movies. When I came across it, I went into it blindly not knowing what it was about, as I assume most men do with a topic such as this. I always suggest this movie to friends who do not know what to watch.