In the last unit you read about representations of race and ethnicity in Hollywood films. This unit you are reading about how the South has been represented in film. I'd like you to put all of this
America on Film Chapter Information/Outline
Introduction to Part IV: What is Gender?
I. Hollywood films provide images of what it means to be a man versus a woman
II. Gender and the classical Hollywood narrative form
Privileges men as active and as heroes
Tends to represent women as more passive and waiting for rescue
III. The Industry
Sex discrimination has existed in the film industry
Although women have gained more power and privilege over time in America, discrimination based on sex still exists to some degree in contemporary America, including the film industry
IV. Defining Terms
Sex: “biological aspects of being male or female (such as chromosomes or physical characteristics), as opposed to gender, the social roles assigned to male or female beings” (p. 00)
Gender:
“social role assigned to males or females in any given historical culture.” (p. 389)
best to use the terms masculinity and femininity when discussing gender
gender is socially constructed (*although note that some theorists argue even sex is socially constructed)
we learn what our culture sees as appropriate behaviors for men and women from various agents of socialization, such as the family, education, the media, etc.
such learning may happen consciously or unconsciously
agents of socialization do not simply and unproblematically determine how we act, and some people may not “conform to expected gender roles” (p. 221)
sanctions help reinforce certain constructions of gender; sanctions are “positive or negative reactions to the ways that people follow or disobey norms, including rewards for conformity and punishments for norm violations” (Ferris and Stein The Real World 2nd Edition. P. G11)
a boy who exhibits some “feminine” traits may be sanctioned more strongly than a girl exhibiting some “masculine” traits, because masculinity is valued more in contemporary American society
when masculinity and femininity are defined in strictly binary and mutually exclusive ways and internalized by individuals, sometimes negative consequences follow (i.e. a person’s health may be affected negatively)
“gender roles and expectations permeate our culture, language, and media in ways both subtle and obvious” (p. 222)
Chapter 10: Women in Classical Hollywood Filmmaking
I. Images of Women
Representations of women in film have changed over time. Constructions of femininity have varied over time, which makes sense as gender is socially constructed.
Images of women in early cinema
Influenced by understandings of femininity in the Victorian era where:
Young women were seen as innocent and to be protected
As women got older they got married and became mothers and wives
Marriages were often arranged by the family
A middle-class woman’s life was directed by men
Women were not supposed to gain pleasure from sex
In film as well as in Victorian culture, a dichotomy was set up between “good” girls and “bad” girls, the virgin-whore complex
“Good” girls, the “virgins” often
Were virginal (a status that sometimes needed protecting)
Did not work except to cook, sew, etc.
Were rarely active in the narrative
Were devoted to men
Were “childlike” (p. 218)
Blond and blue-eyed
“Bad” girls, the “whores” were generally
Sexualized
Considered tragic
Considered immoral
Were stigmatized
Racialized as “dark” “exotic” “predatory” and “conniving” in the vamp stereotype (p. 226)
This reinforced the idea that sex outside of marriage generally leads to “ruin” (p. 224)
The Industrial Revolution, feminism, and changes in women’s rights
“White slavery” films
The flapper stereotype
Images of women in 1930s classical Hollywood
In general, throughout this period
Men were the focus of films
Films reinforced traditional gender roles
The previous dichotomy between “good” and “bad” was still in operation
Strong female characters were not completely absent
Pre-Code: Great Depression and need for industry to get people to the movies and make money
Appearance of “strong, forward, and sexualized heroines” in the early 1930s (p. 231)
Moral crusaders, Production Code, and industry self-censorship
Decline of “strong female roles” (p. 232)
More specifically, with regards to genres
Horror and Action Adventure movies
Women victims of monsters and madmen, needing saving by heroic men
Musical and Romantic Comedy
Heterosexual courtship
Women given relatively more screentime
Traditional gender roles reinforced
Women objectified as chorus girls
Women’s films
Made by men
Presented “conventional, patriarchal ideas of what it supposedly means to be a woman” (p. 233)
Recent film critics say may contain some subversive elements which challenge patriarchy
World War II and After
WWII and changes in gender roles
Women shown working at jobs and exhibiting some traits previously considered “masculine”
After the War
Women shown as housewives and mothers
Tensions
Film noir and femme fatales
1950s
Women yearning for heterosexual domesticity
Blond bombshell
Suburban housewife
Melodramas
Reveal tensions over changing gender roles
II. The Industry
Early female filmmakers
In film’s early days, some women were filmmakers
Existed in a “male-dominated” environment (p. 228)
Often White women
Often upper to middle-class women
Even in 1912, there were multiple independent film companies run by women
Researchers estimate half all of U.S. films made during the 1910s and 1920s were written by women
Women argued they could be filmmakers because of their “natural” creative and motherly abilities
As the studio system developed, women had less opportunities in the industry and some issues that were previously discussed in films were banned
Women played some roles in the industry, however, such as secretaries, seamstresses, film editors, and screenwriters
As the industry became more of a business enterprise, opportunities for women further decreased
The classical era
The classical Hollywood studio system “afforded special privileges to men” (p. 223)
Men held the more prominent roles in financing, directing, and producing
The classical Hollywood narrative form gave men “active and central roles” (p. 223)
Before and during the classical era, it was often assumed that women “were unsuited” for certain “professional positions” in the industry because of assumptions about the “nature” of women [implying there are essential differences between the sexes] (p. 223)
However, despite these challenges, some women were successful in producing, in directing, and in other seemingly “masculine” roles in the industry
***Chapter 11: Exploring the Visual Parameters of Women in Film
This chapter focuses on film form.
I. Rise of feminism
Considerations of form in Hollywood films
Understandings of the objectification of women
The male gaze
Women’s complicity
Mulvey’s arguments
Narcissistic pleasure of identifying with male characters
Voyeurism and the male gaze
Objective shots versus subjective shots
“The three gazes that comprise cinema in the first place…are all inherently male, even when the actual spectator is a woman.” (p. 247-248)
“Women in the audience are forced either to identify with the objectified female or else inhabit the male character’s point of view.” (p. 248)
Women’s sexualized bodies
Use of lighting to make women “alluring” (p. 248)
Men as active and women whose power comes from their “ability” to use their “sexual allure to arrest the narrative action” (p. 249)
Attempts to contain female sexuality
“Mysterious” women who transform into “good” girls
“Bad” girls who are punished by men
Fetishization
II. Contrasting the objectification of men and women
The male body on display in our society is often seen as feminizing
Men not objectified as much as women (perhaps because it seems homoerotic)
Makeup used differently by men
Men’s bodies displayed in action sequences
III. Critiques of Mulvey’s Arguments
Chapter 12: Masculinity in Classical Hollywood Filmmaking
I. Studying Men
It is important to study how masculinity is constructed and not just femininity
Gender studies “denaturalize the hegemonic superiority of males, and show that masculinity and femininity” are often set up in opposition to each other (p. 259)
In American society certain behaviors are thought of as masculine, e.g.
“Aggression” (p. 259)
“Strength” (p. 259)
“Leadership” (p. 259)
“Lack of emotion” (p. 259)
Privilege works to keep men blind to the opportunities afforded to them in American society
However, masculinity can be hard for some men to embody, and taking on stereotypically masculine traits can lead to some problems for men (e.g. negative health effects)
Some agents of socialization into gender roles
Homosocial groups
Mass media and sports
Spectator sports which encourage men to imitate or measure themselves by “male athletic superiority” (p. 260)
Advertisements which suggest consuming certain products will help men become like men shown in the ads
T.V. shows and movies which represent men as “powerful active agents sexually desired by women,” and which “eradicate or denigrate any possible homoerotic or feminized aspects of masculinity” (p. 260)
II. Men in the Hollywood Film Industry
Historically founded and dominated by men
Many of the roles in the industry were considered masculine and better held by men (such as producing and directing)
As the industry developed, specialization through apprenticeships and guilds worked to exclude women
Unions sometimes did not allow women to be members
Male actors since early 1900s have managed how they present themselves, working to make sure that they are not too “feminine”
III. Images of Men in Hollywood Films
Although the way genres are labeled sometimes suggests films are focused on men’s issues or women’s issues, all films arguably are about both “masculinity and femininity in some way” (p. 261)
The existence of a women’s film genre and absence of a men’s genre suggests most films are implicitly men’s films
Overall, men are represented as active in contrast to more passive women in Hollywood films over the decades….with men and masculinity privileged
More specific representations of the masculine ideal have changed over time
Early Cinema
In this period, societal changes were taking place where men were taking on “less masculine positions” (p. 262)
Resurgent masculinity associated “pure brute strength and heavy manual labor” (p. 262)
Narrative films encouraged men to identify with images on screen, such as urban action oriented roles, or rugged outdoor heroes
As role of the movie star developed, studios worked to make sure stars embodied certain masculine and feminine ideals, and that male stars did not become “feminized objects of an erotic gaze” (p. 264)
Classical Era
“Emasculation” of men off-screen as the result of the Great Depression seemed to “necessitate an even stronger image of masculine prowess on American movie screens” (p. 265)
Some male actors spoke more “gruffly and tersely” (p. 265)
Increased violence towards women on screen
Difficulties demonstrating masculinity in certain genres like musicals
Screwball comedies with verbal and physical battles between men and women, and where male dominance and patriarchal norms not as clearly demonstrated as in previous era (some suggest the Production Code may have “helped to construct a public notion of sexuality tinged with violence and brutality”) (p. 267)
World War II and Film Noir
Images of tough American soldiers in movies but who could work in teams
Images of male bonding
Suppression of emotional scars and stress of war during wartime but explored in some postwar social problem films
Film noir expressions of “postwar gender relations” (p. 271) where hegemonic patriarchy less certain
Men express a “masculinity in crisis” (p. 271) and femme fatales represent “the threat that women in postwar society seemed to represent to men” (p. 272)
1950s
Continuance of strong masculinity as well as:
Images of a softer type of masculinity
Images where men struggle to uphold masculine ideal
Patriarchy still reinforced by end of film albeit a more “sensitive” version (p. 276)
Chapter 13: Gender in American Film Since the 1960s
Although there are more women in the film industry since the second wave of the feminist movement, “most Hollywood films still center on men…and still tend to objectify the image of women as sexualized spectacles. …Masculinity and femininity are still constructed by the movies…[to] promote the separate and unequal status of men and women in America” (p. 278).
Further, movies with these constructions of gender continue to generate money.
I. The Industry
The industry did not fundamentally provide more opportunities to women filmmakers in the 1960s as a result of second wave feminism
More women have come to participate in the film industry in the past 20 years
Institutionalized sexism still exists in the Hollywood film industry
Even with more women working in the film industry, the content of films has not necessarily changed as a result
To be successful, women “often find themselves forced to abide by Hollywood’s ideological formulas” (p. 290)
There are more opportunities to create films that address “feminist concerns” in independent and avant-garde filmmaking (p. 290)
In new millennium, women have gained more access to roles in the film industry as writers, directors, producers, executives but there are still barriers
II. Images in Film
Second Wave Feminism
Understand what first and second wave feminism were about in general
Hollywood generally produced “standardized genre films” (p. 280) in response to second wave feminism rather than films with fundamentally changed content and roles for women
Hollywood’s treatment of women’s liberation as a sexual movement
Sexploitation cinema
Pessimistic male buddy films where women functioned to emphasize men are still heterosexual despite homosocial bonds
MPAA Ratings System
More violence allowed
More sexuality allowed
Increasing violence against women shown in films
1960s and 1970s begin to address women’s issues
1970s use of the sensitive man image
Into the 1980s
Understand the kinds of backlash against second wave feminism that existed in society
1980s Hollywood films
Popular nostalgic Hollywood blockbusters which often reinforced traditional gender roles
Some representations of women in the workplace but these sometimes minimized issues important to second wave feminism like institutional sexism
Slasher films (subgenre of horror)
Debates over whether these films represent sexism and misogyny and reinforce the virgin-whore complex
Neo-noir
Gender at the Turn of the Century
Females with leading roles in formerly male dominated genres, i.e. female action heroes
Chick flicks, post-feminism and third wave feminism
Dumb White guy comedies
Question of whether they reinforce traditional masculine ideals
9/11 and reassertion of American masculine strength through superhero films, but included smaller and smarter male heroes
Celebration of geek-culture
Traditional buddy films with arrested development
Merger of chick flicks and dumb white guy comedies into female-friendship comedies
Backlash for women in some prominent roles
