Gender Roles In Gold Diggers And Swing Time

During this period, musicals (which were labeled “musical comedies” at the time) were in the form of acceptable of guilty pleasures - the appeal of women and their sexuality, silly characters that made fools of themselves, or the goofy country girl dancing through the chores of the day. Ziegfeld’s Follies, Marx brother shows, and Al Jolson playing his character in blackface are great examples of these shows that focused on showing off the stars and gave little care to the

Stereotypes can be seen everywhere. It can be about a certain race, sexuality, gender, age, class, physical ability or disability, etc. They are ideas or beliefs that are oversimplified on the kind of person or thing they are. The reason why there are stereotypes is because we want to categorize and understand the world around us. But it is not that simple to break down things that are very complex and really understand them. Culture plays a part since it what shapes our experience and reality. Gender is not a universal thing. We are not aware how our culture impacts our way of thinking and perception of the world. But like gender, understanding culture depends on one’s perception and interpretation.

Social change in 1920s America was fundamental to the era earning the name the ‘Roaring Twenties’. It quickly became the societal norm to enjoy lavish parties, excessive alcohol despite the prohibition laws and dancing to new rhythmic jazz music. The social change was most evident in the roles of women. Before the First World War, women were restricted to being homemakers. Few, if any, women were employed and they never attended parties without a chaperone. During the war, however, women had enjoyed new freedom as they worked in factories while their husbands and fathers were at war. This sort of work in heavy industry encouraged freer behavior and women began smoking and drinking in public and going out unchaperoned. Fitzgerald’s depiction of Jordan Baker and Daisy Buchanan reflects the new woman of the 1920s. Indeed, even Jordan Baker’s name is unisex, reflecting the changing roles of women as they defy society’s expectations and enjoy more masculine pursuits. This new found freedom slipped into decadence, allowing parties such as Gatsby’s to be much less reserved as Nick observes women falling back upon men

The evolution of musical theater in America can be viewed through many lenses. Through the lens of hindsight, it is easy to reflect on the treatment and portrayal of African-Americans in the contextual fruition of live entertainment in the United States. Dating back to the later half to the nineteenth and into the early twentieth century, ethnic representation in musical theater underwent a gradual change paralleling a shift in societal opinion toward racial equality. Though by today’s standards, its depiction of African-Americans may seem archaic at best, Show Boat changed the way audiences viewed musical theater through its success as the first show to deal with racial issues in the United States.

The stage performance of Chicago offered a spectacle that I expected before attending the show. I knew there was going to be scantly clad girls with dark makeup and saucy attitudes. The performers brought to life all that was raunchy in the entertainment business during the roaring twenties. The lifestyle in Chicago featured jazz, booze, sex and crime. More importantly, Chicago had beautiful, young women with the dream of having their own Vaudeville act. The two main female characters, Velma and Roxy were two such women hoping to capture the public's attention. The composition of the show is a metaphoric integration of Vaudeville type acts amongst the book scenes and diegetic musical numbers.

Latarsha Rogers is an unfit mom she sells her food stamp for drugs and leaves the kids on other people why she going from car to car having sex for drugs such as weed powder pills She does it every time but when you all send dhs to the house they doesn't do anything because she tells them people lying on her but soon as dhs leave she beat those kids and go to Charleston and have them standing on corner while men's touch them for money. She tells the kids if they tell she is going to punch them in the mouth or drown them when she put them in the tub or she beat them with whatever she gets her hands on. The parent has been asked about the allegations. She will say

In Jamaica Kincaid’s story, Girl, a mother is talking to her daughter about all the proper things she must do to be considered a good girl to her family and to the public, and when she grows up, a proper lady. She must follow the rules that are given to her by her own mother and by society. The mother also teaches the daughter how to act when things don’t go her way. She is told that along with being a proper lady, she must also be able to get what she wants and be independent. This story was written in the late 1970’s and gender roles, for women, back then were not being “followed” because women wanted equal opportunities (Women In the Workforce). “Gender stereotypes are beliefs regarding the traits and behavioral characteristics given to individuals on the basis of their gender” (Deuhr). This essay will discuss the gender roles that were given to women in the story, during the late 70’s, and in today’s society.

To this day, gender inequality still exists across the world. While it squeezes itself into our society, four mainly focus on the true aspects on what it is like to experience such inequality. For example, women in the work force, the family life, the state, and sexes can lead to all forms of discrimination. Did the screenwriters correctly portray what women back then suffered from? Director, Penny Marshall’s, A League of Their Own, demonstrates a taste of what women during the 1940’s we’re told on how to act and live. The movie portrays unfairness between the character’s looks based on gender, and differences within their family. Marshall also shows when and why this discrimination was occurring. Such as including scenes that displayed the time period and the importance of continuing on America’s favorite activities after men left for war.

Gender roles were and still is a major topic in todays society. In the movie “The league of Our Own” is a great example that exemplifies what society in the 1940’s expected of men and women. When the men were fighting in World War II, women formed an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

The film’s treatment of gender and sexuality connects to course readings that are studied in our class. Elizabeth Lunbeck’s essay, Hysteria: The Revolt of the “Good Girl”, there are two main themes that correspond with Grease. The first theme is that women are hypersexual creatures that seduce men. This theme is only considered normal to men

‘Gold Diggers of 1933’ is an example of the ‘backstage’ musical where the principle characters are themselves preparing to put on a musical. From the title it is possible to deduce what the film is about, reflecting the struggle for Americans at the time. Set during the Great Depression Gold Diggers of 1933 expresses the differences in social classes as well as the representation of women at the time. The women in this film essentially live up to male expectations and yet it becomes increasingly clear that although the men hold the money in order to secure their sense of masculinity, it is the women however who are seen to manipulate the men, whether that be by getting the men to buy them material things such as the hats bought for the two

Milberg’s book dives into the popular screwball comedy genre that arose in the 1930s. The first few chapters discuss the structure and major attributes of screwball comedies, highlighting the clever dialogue, battle of the sexes, and physical elements that harken back to slapstick comedy films. Popular tropes, such as ambitious newspaper reporters, and popular stars like Cary Grant from His Girl Friday are featured. Milberg takes an in depth look at how films within the genre derived

The film which is based in the 1970’s primarily focuses on the trials and tribulations of two individuals organizing a labor union at a textile mill company located in North Carolina. Norma Rae is textile loom worker for the O. P. Henley Textile Mill and mother of three children who is opinionated about the poor working conditions, long hours and poor wages of her workplace. Her frustrations began when her mother temporarily loses her hearing at the textile mill but is not treated well by the workplace doctor. Norma Rae’s father dies while experiencing pain in his arm and requests for a break by management only to be denied at the textile mill. Norma Rae’s character is played by Sally Field whose story is based on a real life person by the name of Crystal Lee Sutton who tried to organize the J.P. Stevens textile mill.

Since the 1940’s, movies have predominately portrayed women as sex symbols. Beginning in the 1940’s and continuing though the 1980’s, women did not have major roles in movies. When they did have a leading role the women was either pretreated as unintelligent and beautiful, or as conniving and beautiful: But she was always beautiful. Before the 1990’s, men alone, wrote and directed all the movies, and the movies were written for men. In comparison, movies of the 90’s are not only written and directed by women, but leading roles are also held by older and unattractive women. In this paper I will show the variations and growth of women’s roles in movies from the 1940’s though the 1990’s.

Penny’s appearance is the first thing noticed. Sheldon and Lenard state that she is a significant improvement from their last neighbor, a 200-pound transvestite with a skin condition. Where as the introduction of Sheldon and Lenard clearly established their intellectual superiority.