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Destined for equality : the inevitable rise of women's status / Robert Max Jackson.

Jackson, Robert Max. . Destined for equality : the inevitable rise of women's status / Robert Max Jackson. 067405511X (alk. paper) series Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1998.
Call#: Van Pelt Library HQ1236 .J33 1998

Feminism and film / Maggie Humm.

Humm, Maggie. . Feminism and film / Maggie Humm. 0253333342 (cl : acid-free paper) series Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press ; Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c1997.
Call#: Van Pelt Library PN1995.9.W6 H86 1997

Feminism and film comes from women's studies where media representations are the daily visual vocabulary of women's social, political, and economic disadvantages. All variants of feminist theory tend to share three major assumptions: gender is a social construction that oppresses women more than men; the male domination of social institutions; women's experiential knowledge best helps us to envision a future non-sexist society. Molly Haskell created a descriptive, emotional ‘historiography' of Hollywood cinema showing how women's conventional roles, for example, as mothers or girls next door, had little real-life representation on women's identities and experiences. According to these critics, mainstream cinema did no represent women's lived experience but only stereotypes of women's social status, or, in fact lack of status. From the perspective of psychoanalysis, Kaplan argues that film creates masculine structures of looking. This gaze is the main mechanism of film control and this gaze is also predominantly male. Thus, cinema relies on three kinds of gaze: ‘the camera, usually operated by a man looking at women as objects; the look of male actors within the film which is structured to make their gaze powerful; and the gaze of the spectator, who is presumed to be male, voyeuristically identifying with the camera/actor gazing at women represented in fetishistic and stereotypical ways.'

Although in Spellbound, Dr. Constance Peterson's role as a psychiatrist was outside of Haskell's theory of conventional roles as well-to-do mothers and girls next door, the three male gazes are clearly seen. The cameraman films her in close-ups which emphasizes her beauty and, causes her to have little movement as possible, making her more like an object. Throughout the film, Peterson is surrounded my males, in the asylum she is the only female psychiatrist, center of attention of all the other males, and criticized by the males in a scene when Peterson comes to the dining hall late with grass and mustard on her shirt. her. The male doctors have a keen gaze on her, eyeing her up and down, commenting on her appearance, and knowing about her whereabouts. Even though she is portrayed as a psychiatrist, she is still the attractive female, which demeans her importance as a doctor. And of course, the gaze of the spectator presumed to be male, would also look down upon her

"Sweet Sorrow": The Universal Theme of Separation in Folklore and Children's Literature.

Bates, Laura Raidonis. "Sweet Sorrow": The Universal Theme of Separation in Folklore and Children's Literature. The Lion and the Unicorn 31.1 (2007) 48-64. The Johns Hopkins University Press. 2007

In this article, Laura Bates looks at a common storyline for females in fairytales: separation, trials/tests, and reunion. In it she examines six stories: “Hansel & Gretel”, “The Juniper Tree”, “The Deserted Children”, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, “The Wizard of Oz”, and “Peter Pan”. She argues against the idea that women are portrayed weakly in fairy tales only to be saved by a prince Charming. Alternatively, in these stories the women not only successfully take care of themselves, but often take care of others as well. The men become dependent on the women. In the tales, the first stage of the story is separation. Sometimes the separation is caused by the parents as in Hansel and Gretel, but sometimes the separation is due to the child’s action as in The Wizard of Oz or Peter Pan. The next stage of the story is a quest or a trial. Girls often initially respond with fear or tears, as would be expected from society for a young girl. However, they always have to summon some sort of inner strength to overcome obstacles. Dorothy’s quest is to follow the Yellow Brick Road to eventually return home. Her quest is both psychological and physical. She discovers things about herself she didn’t realize such as her courage and empathy. The last stage of the story is the homecoming and reunion. Bates states that homecoming is a natural desire that stems from separation, but it is not a guaranteed outcome. In Dorothy’s case, she vanquished the wicked witch and discovered (with the help of Toto) the deception of the Wizard. However, we learn that Dorothy didn’t really need to do those things and perhaps all she needed was the ability to believe in herself.

This common theme in stories is important because it must help lend to their popularity. The common stages of separation, quest, and reunion are seen time and time again and thus must contain some quality that is attractive to the mass audience. In this sense, this aspect of the Wizard of Oz can also help lend to its popularity. The question, however, remains as to why such storylines are favored. It is perhaps due to the general idea of female empowerment that people enjoy. Alternatively, Bates suggests that gender roles allow female lead characters to incorporate magical beings into the story because females embrace their natural surroundings, while males separate themselves from it. Humans may have an innate desire and fascination with magic and thus these types of stories allow them to be incorporated. Whatever the reason, Dorothy surely goes through the three stages identified by Bates, and shows that a girl can be just as heroic as anyone else.

JSTOR: PMLAVol. 102, No. 3 (May, 1987), pp. 304-315

In this article, Tania Modelski offers a feminist interpretation of Blackmail. She explores the issues raised by attempted rape and the silencing of women. She notes that the painting of the jester is used to put women back in their place. The jester represents the laughing male to both Alice and her fiancé Frank. The jester shames Alice and stops her laughter at the end of the film. As for Frank, the jester reminds him that he has been had by Alice when he finds her glove in the studio. Essentially, it reminds Alice that she is the joke and not the one in control and laughs at Frank that for Alice's deception towards him.

While Modelski argues that Alice is objectified and not given a voice, I would argue that the jester in the film doesn't win. The portrait of the jester that condemns and shames Alice is stabbed and carted off by the police at the end of the film. The jester is punished for its crime of passing judgment. While the males in the movie attempt to speak for Alice and keep her from speaking, they are not entirely successful. Alice takes control of her anxieties towards her sexuality and usurps the male role by killing Crewe and stabbing the portrait.

JSTOR: PMLAVol. 103, No. 1 (Jan., 1988), pp. 62-63

In response to a letter from a male critic, Tania Modelski argues that male critics specifically give Alice the trial that she does not receive in Blackmail. She asserts that the law is patriarchal and that since it is considered impartial the male view of justice becomes the accepted one. It is then interesting that Hitchcock did leave out the trial and judgment of Alice that Modelski claims is prevalent in the male perspective of the film. Perhaps it is an acknowledgment by Hitchcock that the law is not impartial and would have been unfair to Alice. By removing the judgment of Alice in the film, Hitchcock might be trying to remove a primarily male perspective.

Sexual politics and narrative film : Hollywood and beyond / Robin Wood.

Wood, Robin. "Three Films of Mizoguchi: Questions of Style and Identification." Sexual Politics and Narrative Film: Hollywood and

Beyond. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998. 227-247.

In this chapter of Robin Wood's collection of essays on the role of sexual politics in narrative film, Wood examines the work of Mizoguchi. Wood divides Mizoguchi's work into five periods, each representing a change in the sociopolitical situation of Japan. She places Sisters of the Gion in Mizoguchi's "radical period", during which the director committed himself to a Leftist protest movement and experimented with "radical" form and content. Wood then explores Sisters of the Gion, stating that the film examines the victimization of women within patriarchal capitalism. However even more, Wood believes that the film criticizes a system in which everyone--both male and female--ultimately becomes a victim (e.g. Furosawa is a victim of the business world, Umekichi a victim of her conformism). Wood also uses some formalist analysis to further her points, particularly in determining how the film's techniques cause us to identify with Omocha. She looks explicitly at the importance of Omocha's closing statement, the impact of which, she claims, is heightened by the sudden change from long, distant shots to short close-ups. She also points out that the lack of depth in the film's shots contributes to a claustrophobic space that increases our discomfort with the exploitation of the women in the film.

Wood's analysis not only contextualizes the work of Mizoguchi within his development of an auteur but within the greater current of modern history. While the book may be concerned primarily with sexual politics, learning of Mizoguchi's association with Leftists allows us to consider the film as embodying the clash between capitalism and communism that dominated the interwar period in many countries (including France, Spain, and Germany). Rather than being motivated by her modern views regarding men, what if we consider Omocha's efforts to overcome her poverty and rise in the capitalist system? If we view her actions as being primarily motivated by a desire for greater wealth, her then failure points to the socioeconomic immobility that Mizoguchi ascribes to capitalism. Rather than being a criticism of geisha, her final lines ("Why are we made to suffer so? Why are there geisha? Why do we exist?) reflect the plight of the lower class as a whole. Still, despite her failure, the film causes us to identify with the younger, educated Omocha rather than her more conservative sister. This suggests that while Mizoguchi does indeed believe that Omocha's modern ideals should triumph, he finds failure in her attempt to exploit the capitalist system rather than making an effort to redesign it.

Between Identification and Desire: Rereading Rebecca

Harbord, Janet. “Between Identification and Desire: Rereading ‘Rebecca.’” Feminist Review, No. 53, Speaking Out: Researching and Representing Women (Summer, 1996), pp. 95-107.

Janet Harbord begins her discussion by introducing the tangents between psychoanalysis and the romance novel – though they seem to be totally separate disciplines, both engage a dialogue between past and present, defining time as an inevitable sign of progress. The appeal of repetition arises due to the comfort inherent in familiar patterns, bringing to the forefront the fundamental human tendency towards stability, sought after both in psychoanalysis and romance narratives. Furthermore, that which is forbidden also appeals to us equally as much, though often more fleetingly so, and it is upon this basis that Harbord suggests the implications of homosexual desire in Rebecca.

Interestingly, it is the very normative, repressive structure so often found in romance narratives that encourages the breaking of such boundaries through textual exploration of possibilities apart from the conventional. Thus, quite opposite from the championing of the traditional heterosexual household, romance narratives such as Rebecca in fact often subtly subvert accepted cultural values by implying the option of other alternatives – in this case, lesbian desire. Such storylines appeal primarily to women for the simple reason of reflexivity, for as women question their own societal and sexual roles, literature and film provide a useful avenue for self-reflection and relief in resolving the conundrum of individual identity.

Distinctive visual symbolism in Rebecca enhances the exploration of issues such as class, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality. Rebecca herself, an eerily absent center of desire throughout the film, serves as the ghostly epitome of the white, upper class married woman, yet simultaneously represents raw sexuality and hence evokes lesbian desire. The symbolic emphasis on her clothing, for example, introduces the fundamental dichotomy between the exterior façade as opposed to the true nature of an individual. Ultimately, Rebecca’s appeal is her transgression of traditionally delineated boundaries, as she crosses lines of class, gender, and, most centrally, female sexuality.

Suggestions of Feminist Ideology in Hitchcock's Rebecca

Alfred Hitchcock