In Some Like it Hot, the director combines two major issues during the time. First, the usage of men in drag was a nouveau technique and rising issue in America. Secondly, the depiction of the men and women (Marilyn Monroe) raises issues about gender roles and continuing sexist dogma. The scene at the train station introduces Sugar Kane, played by Marilyn Monroe. In Some Like it Hot, Monroe has various parts of her body highlighted. During the train station scene, Lemmon's character calls Monroe’s butt "Jell-O on springs." Moreover, when Josephine and Daphne formally introduce themselves to Sugar, the camera angle is intelligently framed to depict Monroe’s bare thigh and garter belt. Finally, during the scene where Marilyn sings "I Wanna Be Loved By You" she wears a sheer see-through gown that teases the viewer as to what might lay underneath. This “love goddess” motif is very prevalent in this movie and during this time period. This motif also encourages the male chauvinism. It attracts the gaze and inherent sexual wonder. It degrades the female actress simply for her looks and furthers the sexist belief that women are object to ogle at by men. However, Sugar’s interesting choice of men counters most of the accepted relationships of the time. Sugar's preference for men, who aren't just millionaires, contradicts the stereotype of the time. Each also wear glasses because to her they seem "much more gentle, and sweet, and helpless." This directly contradicts the typical male choice. Her character, unlike many typical female characters in movies then and now, rejects the usual large brawn type and opts for sweet instead. Sugar wants a man to depend on her instead of being dependent on them. Her active independence is a refreshing sw...
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...he applies these new characteristics to the feminine traits. Catherine demonstrates her masculine qualities, by recklessly outmaneuvering Nick in car chases. The complete disregard for traffice laws including reveals her courageous self-confidence. Next, being a bisexual woman, she breaks the traditional boundaries of heterosexuality. She is often sexually involved with women. Moreover, her cold and scheming demeanor, seen by setting up the psychiatrist Dr. Beth Garner, allows her to perfectly pass the polygraph. Finally, Catherine demonstrates that she can think logically and outwit an entire staff of professional men. She illuminates their incapacity to complete a job by out maneuvering her with mental games. This indirectly implies that the new feminine can compete just as well as the masculine. The movie shows the possible destruction of the patriarchal society.
The female characters in Young Frankenstein and One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest are, stereotypically, satiric and parodic renditions of oppressed or emotionally unstable feminine personalities. The theme of the treatment of women is not only played out in the external relationships the women interact within but also in the basic mentality and roles they embody within their personality. The women of Young Frankenstein add a comical element to the film which a direct contrast to the insignificance of the female in Mary Shelley’s novel. The women of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest are either almost terrifying when thinking of the potential evil lurking just beneath the surface or effectual props in the healing of those who need it.
The sexual dominance of male characters over their female counterparts in the plays establishes their superiority and control. Both playwrights suggest that a degree of personal status is acquired by sexually dominate women. The rape scene shows Stanley’s use of power sexually through rage and strength, used to illustrate his final defeat of Blanche and establish himself as ‘King’ of his territory, ‘limited to expressing basic desire’ . ‘Since earliest manhood… his life has been pleasure with women... giving and taking of it... with power and pride’. It is a power he can achieve over women that they cannot over him. ‘Let’s have some rough house! [He springs towards her, overturning the table. She cries out... he picks up her inert figure… carries her to the bed]’. The use of stage directions portrays Blanche’s passivity, and gives the audience a better understanding of how the event empowers Stanley; also the enjambment, ‘Don’t you come towards me another step or I’ll-‘, intensifies Blanche’s lack of power comparatively with Stanley’s. Similarly Albee shows men’s power through the ability to overpower; George asserts ‘I’d take you by force, right here on the living room rug.’ It is telling that at the end of the play he takes her to bed, after destroying her illusion. Albee also uses sexuality as a tool for battle, Martha says ‘I was necking with one of the guests’ in an attempt to antagonise her husband; his nonchalant response undermines her quest for power, ‘... Good... Good you go right on’.
In society, constructs of correctness have been formed on the basis of expected, gendered behavior. Individuals have traditional roles that they play which are based on the historical performance of their gender. Although very rigid, these traditional roles are frequently transferred, resulting in an altered and undefinable identity that exists beyond the boundaries of gender. These transgressions into the neuter role are characterized by a departure from the normal roles of society which, if successful, complete the gender transference and allow the individual to live within a new set of boundaries. The Female Marine, or the Adventures of Lucy Brewer is the fictional autobiography of a woman who recounts her experiences in the navy and life as a cross-dressed male. Throughout her narratives, Lucy is able to successfully leap back and forth between gender roles without repercussion. On the other hand, Hannah W. Foster's The Coquette is a sentimental seduction tale that narrates the tragic demise of a young woman who attempts to exceed acceptable behavioral boundaries by establishing herself as a virile, independent individual, a role established by Simone de Beauvoir to be associated with the male (Beauvoir 405). Because of the similarity in the situations of these women there lies a need for an examination of their narrative purpose. The differing results of success with these women are found in the author's reflection of their audience's narrative expectations that deal with the social outcome of women who attempt to move beyond gender-identified behavioral roles.
...ng it through Grace’s mother and Mrs. Humphrey. The novel depicts this construct of gender identity through society by molding Grace to believe women are subordinate and need to get married and be good housewives to be successful. This construct is seen through emotion as women who are emotional are seen as “abnormal” and sent to asylums, while men had to power to do so. The societal construct of gender identity was seen as men were to bask in their sexuality and be assertive, while women were to be passive and suppress their sexuality. Mrs. Humphrey challenged this construct as she was assertive and the instigator. Lastly, the societal construct of gender identity was challenged through Grace’s mother as she took over the males position of being the provider. Overall, women were looked at as subordinate to men in the Victorian age and Atwood challenged this belief.
... of equality in marriage. When Nora began to understand Helmer didn’t love her, he loved the idea of her as a pretty woman he was married to, Nora realizes how degrading her role as a woman in the household was. She saw the freedom of Mrs. Linde to be able to obtain a job in her husband’s bank, and the freedom of being a single woman to think, act, and do what she wanted to do, not what her Father wanted her to do, or her husband. Nora realized her identity was solely in her Father, and in Helmer, and the unhealthiness of this reality. Nora wanted to be treated as a human being and not as an object. To be accepted as such would be the struggle of women in the 1800’s and early 1900’s. Nora thought in leaving Helmer she was leaving the problem of feeling like an object all together. Little did she realize she was going to have to face the other Helmers in society.
stowaway. As the alien kills off the men at the refinery, she begins. to see the true enemy. Some Like It Hot stars Marilyn Monroe as Sugar Cane. Sugar Cane is a very typical blonde and is the stereotypical image of a blonde woman.
The much praised and Oscar winning film Crash presents an uncompromising insight into what is considered to be a modern and sophisticated society. The film challenges viewers to examine the issues of race, gender and ethnicity and to which extent they plague society even now, thirteen years after it’s theatrical release.
The most important events of this film all revolve around the female characters. While there are some male charac...
Worse, when women swallow the emptiness, loneliness, and naked violence that comes with their gender performance, their ability to develop self-awareness on matters such as academic, sexual, reproductive, safety, and health care rights no longer exists. When characters such as Ruth from Green Girls come to believe that womanhood means being on display and having to perform their roles as women in public spheres despite the feelings of wanting to shield oneself from strangers, they lose their freedom and become fettered to performative roles. Their performance of gender becomes, as Butler mentions, the result of both subtle and blatant coercions. These coercions offer a script of life that women must follow in order to remain the star of their
Some Like It Hot is an American screwball comedy film directed by Billy Wilder and featuring Marilyn Monroe as Sugar, Tony Curtis as Joe, and Jack Lemon as Jerry. Joe and Jerry are struggling musicians who accidentally witness a mob hit and become targets. To hide from the mob, they flee the state as members of a traveling women’s band, where further complications set in. They quickly become besotted with the lead singer, Sugar, who in unable to recognize that her band mates are really men masquerading as women.
Consequently, they must then take on parties, dates, auctions, beach days, and fashion shows, all while concealing their true male identities. While doing this, the movie portrays extreme stereotypes of gender roles and expectations. Although the portrayal of female expectations and characteristics is exaggerated for comedic effect, the underlying points and issues still remain. The way the brothers dress, speak, act, and understand their new social life as females, all contributes to the obvious contrast in gender specific qualities. The consistent sexualization of women and over pompous attitudes of men throughout the film provides exceptional evidence that society has established acceptable norms for both genders. These established roles of femininity and masculinity conflict within the undercover agents as they struggle to act poise, arrogant, non-confrontational, and sexy like their fellow female friends are, yet this is completely out of the norm for them as they are truly males. However, when they slip-up and allow their defensive masculine traits to show through it allows for not only a comedic break, but an exceptional
Sexism is still commonly found all over the world. What was sexism like back in the
...ereotypes and patriarchal norms (Annie baking, Helen being a rich step-mom, the wedding itself), it also undermines patriarchy at the same time. At one point or another throughout the film all of the female characters go against the common conception and portrayal of women being proper and passive. They can be raunchy, drink, use vulgar language, and show they aren’t that different from men.
They will even be seen as an associate of being a part of the law of heredity, if the discrimination of females attributable to their gender is seen as a classification, transmitted from girl to girl over centuries. There are questions in the play I believe are feminist in society but was actually never talked about in Proof. In the ending of Proof, David Auburn lets the viewers undertake that Catherine breaks through her sex class and will not be a part of the traditions and customs Naturalism put on gender. At the end of the play, Hal eventually believes in her and trust that she found the answer to the question, causing Catherine to resuscitate her assurance in that society. This conclusion and the standpoint of Catherine is not patterns of Naturalism. However, Auburn exhibits signs at the end of the play that displays a traditional, Naturalism feeling to it. Auburn shows the viewers that Catherine cannot live without male representative, Hal, and suggests that she is staying at her father’s house instead of moving New York with her sister, Claire. The majority of the accompanying signs indicates Catherine with a sexual orientation part of being a housewife. Catherine 's profound respect for her mathematics and science ability appears like her prosperity forever yet by perusing this play, her prosperity could just originate from her association with a man. As Bryner states, “The responsibilities of family caretaking still fall disproportionately on women 's laps. So women often choose the stay-at-home-mom position or their household responsibilities make it nearly impossible for them to meet the long hours required for a high-level faculty position.”
One of the most intriguing aspects of As You Like It by William Shakespeare concerns the issue of gender. This issue generates a lot of interest and discussions due to its complexity. The main reason for such a concern in the play is the cross-dressing and role-playing. The central love interest between Rosalind and Orlando calls into question the conservative wisdom about men and women and their gender roles. It also challenges our presumptions about these roles in courtship, love, and relationships.