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A large portion of contemporary film and theatre has been lacking in substance. More often than not, we are presented with a “been there, seen that” scenario. One such exception to this rule is Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a film by John Cameron Mitchell that was released in 2001. Set primarily in post-Cold War America, Hedwig is a film that characteristically breaks convention. Our story follows Hedwig, a forgotten and confused homo…trans…well, human being. Growing up in East Berlin during the Cold War, Hansel Schmidt (John Cameron Mitchell) lives what I would call a horrible childhood in the bleak landscape of communist occupied Germany. He falls in love with an American soldier, and undergoes a sex change in order to marry him and leave East Berlin. The operation is botched, leaving him/her as a physical contradiction. Not quite a man, but not yet a woman, Hansel (now Hedwig) has what she describes as an “angry inch.” When describing it in lighter terms, she calls it a “Barbie doll crotch.” Upon arriving in America, the soldier leaves her the same day the Berlin wall comes down. Destroyed, Hedwig spends some time discovering her new self and eventually finds a soul mate in a young boy named Tommy Speck (Michael Pitt). They collaborate musically and romantically, but upon discovering Hedwig’s secret he leaves with all of their music. He becomes a huge rock star, living Hedwig’s dream while simultaneously leaving her in the dust. From then on, Hedwig and her band “The Angry Inch” follow Tommy as he tours the nation while Hedwig tries desperately to gain the notoriety she deserves for her music. Viewing this film through the lens of a feminist gender perspective, I find that Hedwig is a pioneer on the forefront of changing the gende...
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... gender equality struggle. If we truly wish to respect our species as humans instead of socially constructed labels, perhaps we all need to experience the lifestyle involved with having an “angry inch,” if only for a moment.
Works Cited
Butler, Judith. "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory." Theatre Journal 40.4 (1988): 519-31. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. 11 May 2011.
Flocke, Hillary. "“You Kant Always Get What You Want"?: Hedwig and the Angry Inch as a Postfeminist Film." The Vassar Quo. Vassar College, 21 Feb. 2007. Web. 12 May 2011. .
Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Dir. John C. Mitchell. Perf. John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor and Stephen Trask. 2001. DVD.
Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: a User-friendly Guide. New York: Routledge, 2006. 85. Print.
Ross, Janice. “Judson Dance Theatre: Performative Traces.” TDR: The Drama Review 53, no. 2 (2009): 161-164
Led by Laura Mulvey, feminist film critics have discussed the difficulty presented to female spectators by the controlling male gaze and narrative generally found in mainstream film, creating for female spectators a position that forces them into limited choices: "bisexual" identification with active male characters; identification with the passive, often victimized, female characters; or on occasion, identification with a "masculinized" active female character, who is generally punished for her unhealthy behavior. Before discussing recent improvements, it is important to note that a group of Classic Hollywood films regularly offered female spectators positive, female characters who were active in controlling narrative, gazing and desiring: the screwball comedy.
‘Lad flicks’ or ‘lad movies’ is a type of film genre that emerged in the late 1990s. They are defined as a “‘hybrid of “buddy movies”, romantic comedies and “chick flicks”, which centre on the trials and tribulations of a young man as he grows up to become a ‘real man’. ‘Lad flicks’ respond in part to the much-debated ‘crisis in masculinity’” (Benjamin A. Brabon 116). This genre of film explored what it meant to be a ‘real man’ in the twentieth century and in order to do so, they would have to grow up and leave their juvenile ways behind to enter the heterosexual world. Gender relations in ‘lad flicks’ portray masculinity as a troubled, anxious cultural category hiding behind a humorous façade and also rely greatly on a knowing gaze and irony. The two ‘lad flicks’ that will be analyzed are The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Judd Apatow 2005) and Role Models (David Wain 2008).
Mainstream movies are about men’s lives, and the few movies about women’s lives, at their core, still also revolve around men (Newsom, 2011). These female leads often have male love interests, looking to get married or get pregnant. Strong independent female leads are still exist for the male view, as they are hypersexualized, or the “fighting fuck toy,” (Newsom, 2011). This depiction has created a culture where women are insecure and waiting for a knight on a horse to come rescue and provide for her as well as the acceptance of women
Throughout the plays, the reader can visualize how men dismiss women as trivial and treat them like property, even though the lifestyles they are living in are very much in contrast. The playwrights, each in their own way, are addressing the issues that have negatively impacted the identity of women in society.
This paper will look at the different conceptions highlighted by Bulman in his article through the use of different methods used by the actors in the play. Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare captures the different conceptions of gender identity and different sexualities within the Elizabethan period.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical centered on a confused individual named Hedwig. Her plight grows out of a botched sex change operation. She ended up with neither the working penis she had to begin with, nor the working vagina she had been attempting to gain. However, Hedwig, by nature, is neither completely male nor completely female, even when she had fully functioning male genitalia. Instead, she is something called gender fluid. John Cameron Mitchell, by writing a character that is gender fluid such as Hedwig, destroys the gender binary in order to illustrate that by avoiding polarizing concepts like male and female characters, stories can explore a more diverse range of human experiences.
While the film focuses mainly on the theme of media responsibility and covers US’s politics in the early 1950s, it also encircles around other crucial themes such as sexism. This essay discusses about how this film is used as a tool for objectivity, agenda setting, stereotyping within gender, and how these has impacted the characters in the movie and viewers.
In Brenda Cooper’s article “Chick Flicks,” she argues, the film, Thelma and Louise employs mockery as a narrative tool, and functions to produce a defiant narrative which fiercely confronts and denounces patriarchy. Societal norms are able to create a kind unconscious compliance, resulting in self-imposed coercion and oppression. A film like Thelma and Louise brings consciousness to women’s own complicity in social norms like patriarchy, so they can no longer blindly follow these norms. This leaves women in either a state of denial and resistance or a state of evolution and change. Through mockery this film sheds light on accepted norms, and in some, causes a defensive response, as it
... comedies rather than tragedies in their source form the original characters from the source plays are revealed. Strong, ‘masculine’ women of the source are only revealed through the intertextuality of genre and the reassigned direct quotes from Shakespeare’s iconic plays. The feminist perspective of Shakespeare’s plays, which was there all along, could only be revealed by the strong use of intertextuality in MacDonald’s play. MacDonald relies on the iconic meta-theatre and intertextuality to magnify the feminist perspective within the Shakespearean plays. When turned in upon itself, Shakespeare’s plays reveal their distinct feminist perspective that could not be uncovered without the extensive and brilliant use of intertextuality such as that of Ann Marie MacDonald. Therefore the metatheatre’s intertextuality reinforces and supports the traits of the feminine.
Near the end of his well known treatment of transgression and surveillance in Measure for Measure, Jonathan Dollimore makes an observation about the world of the play that deserves further consideration by feminist scholars:
Gender roles are extremely important in the way people view women in both modern and historical societies. Throughout history women have been characterized as weak and subservient to males and although one might argue gender roles and stereotypes have gotten better as time has passed, it is still apparent in how women are portrayed in theatre. Most, if not all, of the first playwrights, were male and because of this they had very different views of how women were to be seen in their plays. In the play’s Agamemnon by Aeschylus and Trifles by Susan Glaspell, the characters, Clytemnestra and Mrs. Wright defy the normalized gender roles and stereotypes to reinforce the plays vengeful theme.
Garner, Shirley Nelson, and Madelon Sprengnether, eds. Shakespearean Tragedy and Gender. Bloomington, Indianapolis: Indian U, 1996.
Judith Butler’s essay “Performative Acts and Gender Construction: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory” explains and explores the performativity of gender, and problematizes Simone de Beauvoir’s understanding of “What is a Woman?” Riva Leher, artist and author, reflects on the intersections between sex and disability in a personal essay, “Golem Girl Gets Lucky.” Both texts aid us in exploring how we must examine disability as a feminist issue, since oppressive forces faced by women are part of the same social construction as the forces which oppressed disabled people.
Looking back in history, it can be easily argued that the role of the actress in society has gone through a notable evolution. During the 16th century, it was a rare occurrence for a woman to be seen on stage. Women’s roles were played by young boys. It wasn’t until the 17th century that women first appeared on the English and Parisian stages. However, it was considered improper because women were expected to remain in the shadows, and actresses had to put themselves on display in order to work. As the role of actresses evolved and they were seen more frequently on stage, society considered them to have bad morals and be prostitutes. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that the view of an actress in society had reached a respectable level.