GENDER AND FILM

Introduction to film studies

Todays lecture

To understand the notion of male gaze To critically evaluate the sex/gender dichotomy Analyse popular culture (re)presentations of gender To discuss sexual / gender identities in the work of Pedro Almodovar (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown), David Cronenberg (Crash) To analyse the representation of masculinity in Fight Club To analyse the representation of women in Legally Blonde

Starter
Annotate the body outline with the features, signifiers of traditional masculinity/femininity. Be as creative as you like.

Sex/Gender

First wave mid-C19th to C20th: rights (including to property, divorce, and the vote), but also life-style choices (education, sexuality etc). More or less ended with the vote (1917 in Britain) because equality had been won, women could now do everything men could etc, or at least the battles were now smaller, winnable; also fatigue. Second wave 1960s till??? rights in the workplace, to equal consideration in health, education, reproduction etc; but life-style and self especially: the personal is political. Third-wave critique of 2nd wave (too white & middle class) Post second-wave feminism: - feminist ideas have won, theyre part of the mainstream; women are equal with men now (or fast approaching); young women can do whatever they want.

Sex/Gender binary 2 perspectives

1.

The first - insists that gender differences are based in biology The second draws on postmodernist arguments to claim that even biology does not provide the basis for classifying people into two fixed and mutually exclusive sexes.

2.

Sex/Gender

Radical feminist analysis has shown that gender is not simply about individual attributes, but it is also a basic principle of social organisation. In societies as they exist today, this means that it is about power. To learn masculinity or femininity is therefore to learn about subordination and domination; it may also entail learning about resistance (Connell, 2005: 47).

Femininities / Masculinities

In everyday language, femininities and masculinities do not map onto biological sex. In any one culture, certain behaviors or practices may be widely recognized as feminine or masculine, irrespective of whether they are adopted by women or men. Femininities and masculinities are not descriptors of sexual orientation

Femininities / Masculinities

Femininities and masculinities are plural there are many forms of femininity and many forms of masculinity.

What gets defined as feminine or masculine differs by region, religion, class, national culture, and other key social factors.
How femininities and masculinities are valued differs culturally.

Where do gender systems come from?

bodies signifiers

clothes

activities

t-shirt skirt dress shopping jeans feminine testes handsome energetic sports nurturing sari muscles breasts guy pretty girl engineering architecture parenting oestrogen arts science sissy muscular breasts tall petite exotic aggressive

shirt

Dispositions

Where do gender systems come from?

bodies signifiers

shirt

clothes

activities

t-shirt skirt dress shopping jeans feminine testes handsome energetic sports nurturing sari breasts guy pretty girl engineering architecture parenting oestrogen arts science sissy muscles breasts tall petite exotic aggressive

Dispositions

A Gendered Structure
Girl Shopping Ovaries make-up dress nurturing gentle petite sari skirt oestrogen shopping home arts gentle woman man guy boy masculine aggressive t-shirt testes jeans muscles handsome work engineering tall architecture sports

A Two Gender System: Binary Oppositio ns

Three gender system

Kathoey (lady-boy) - males that dress and carry out their identities as women. Although they are born genetically as male, kathoeys claim to possess a female heart which is the gender they truly are Two-Spirit (native americans) individuals were viewed as having two spirits occupying one body. Their dress is usually a mixture of traditionally male and traditionally female articles. Hijra (India) - physiological males who have feminine gender identity, adopt feminine gender roles, and wear women's clothing

Doing Gender

Gender is something we do (a performance) not something we are (an identity)

cf.

Judith Butler Gender Trouble

Masculinity and Femininity are beliefs and guidelines for appropriate behaviour they are beliefs that guide us into doing gender. Because gender is something we do all the time, we experience it as identity

Hegemonic Masculinity

Not necessarily normal but normative: it sets the standard of what a man should be Not a fixed idea, differs over time and from place to place The power of hegemonic masculinity requires men (and women) to act in relation to the set of beliefs that are hegemonic
adoption

complicity, privilege, defence of status

Hegemonic Femininity?

Hegemonic Femininity vs Emphasized Femininity

Debate over whether forms of femininity can be called hegemonic (because feminity is more often than not culturally devalued compared to masculinity) Can we assume that masculinity is always hegemonic (powerful) and femininity emphasized (subordinate)?
As with Hegemonic Masculinity, emphasized femininity is normative it sets standards in relation to which everyone in society must act.

The Male Gaze Laura Mulvey

The concept behind the creation of the Male Gaze is to identify the way the audience view the female characters presented on screen as well as how they are portrayed. The Male Gaze is a rather feminist approach. It

Male Gaze

Common features Include the camera lingering on the curves of the female body and highlights revealing areas such as the midriff, bust, and legs. This supports the idea that the females are represented as sexual objects. Women are represented within the context of a mans reaction, therefore insinuating that female characters are passive and dependant on males. The majority of protagonists are male which allows male audiences to experience the view of the character. Female audiences must also experience this narrative and therefore identify with the male gaze.

Film Analysis

Outline the plot/story how does the film deal with gender?
how does it speak about women/men? Are different kinds of women/men represented? is a heterogeneous femininity/masculinity established?

What myths is the film (re)producing? Outside of the narrative, what cinematic codes are used?

construction of characters, mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, sound.

Almodvar and Gender

Pedro Almodovar
Women on the Verge of a Nervious Breakdown

Artificiality and anti-naturalism Parody and Intertextuality Excess and exaggeration Womans director

MASCULINITIES
Were designed to be hunters and were in a society of shopping

- Tyler

Masculinity: Social Context Feminism

Traditional male roles: Cowboy; Hunter; Defender; Achiever; Warrior; Breadwinner Exposed as myths by the feminist movement Men left without a clear identity after Feminism questioned the role of man Traditional Male roles/unachievable images of strength ALSO imprisoned men Repressed male rage Frustration about: The Feminization of Man and an increase in consumption Repressed Raw Masculinity The dehumanizing effects of corporate consumer

CRASH