Two films released amidst the years of the post American Great Depression and World War II, The Women and Mildred Pierce, both similarly explore the issues surrounding the contemporary form of materialism that has made itself present in society. The economic boom the war provided America birthed a new form of ultra consumerism that swept the nation, changing everything in a matter of years. These films act as social commentaries in such a way they are able to highlight the impact materialism has made in all aspects of both the rich and middle class during this span in American history. George Cukor introduces this as one of his main themes throughout his film The Women. Using it to act as a key motivating factor for his character Mary Haines, a housewife and mother seemingly trapped in a marriage with a cheating husband due to the luxurious lifestyle it provides. All the other women in this film find themselves in similar situations yet none speak against what is happening in fear of losing their possessions and comfortability. Similarly, Michael Curtiz’s Mildred Pierce, uses the desire for things such as clothes, houses, and a generally expensive lifestyle as driving factors for both Mildred Pierce and her Daughter, Veda. Veda Pierce has been raised in a home where she has always received anything she's wanted. As she grows up we find her desires have amassed to an all time high. So much so when she learns her mother won't be able to give her the opulent life she yearns
In comparative contrast, we see Mildred’s happiness by her enjoyment in playing the role of a perfect housewife. She tries to do everything the media portrays her as. The things she does the most are listening to her seashell radios, watching the parlor walls, thinking about nothing, and talking about nothing. Although Mildred and Clarisse can’t be more different, as Mildred wants nothing more than to fit in, and Clarisse only wants to be herself, they are alike, as both characters are committed to not
In Mildred Pierce, the female characters representing Autonomy are posited against male Control. This Maternal Melodrama conflates with Film Noir so as it reflects the prevailing social context; women were breadwinners in the 40s, however, in the postwar era, hegemonic masculinity reasserted itself by divesting women of any power they had gained while the patriarchal order was suspended during WWII. Consequently, classical Hollywood narratives portrayed the impending chaos as women resisted patriarchy; such conflict was subtly present in the post-feminist era. Accordingly, in Thirteen, Tracy
The title of the chapter underscores the subservient status of women in American society. Their role in the life was restricted to the domestic sphere in which they were expected to maintain the house and teach basic skills to the children. As Zinn illustrates, their physical characteristic became a convenience for the men who could use exploit, and cherish someone who was at same time servant, sex mate, companion, and bear-teacher warden of his child. This line demonstrates that men overpower women, yet the tension between the husband and wife were confined to privacy of their homes. Zinn argues “Society base on private property and competition, in which monogamous families became practical units for
Women often appear with glamorous image on advertisements, movies. However, there are also a lot of pictures to make women soured and routine such as women in the party, velvet erotic games, etc. By taking advantage of beautiful pictures, sexy women in the media seems to make the value of women become simply. People have acknowledging that women typically only have to dep, sexy, attractive, and space for recreation. Indeed, they hardly enhance the value of women. I am really shocked to find that most of social media is making people less interested in the intelligence, curved bar, and a lot of good things that women had not simply outward beauty. The media just give people that the public wants to. The film really makes the viewer think about the true value of women in the media and society. In addition, the film effectively appeals to the audience’s emotions and empathy. Throughout the film, the writer mentions her unborn daughter and her fear of whether her daughter “could grow up to be emotionally healthy and fulfilled given our moder culture.” She mentions that becoming pregnant and discovering her child was a girl is the reason she started looking to make a change in the way society and media sees women. This is an appeal to anyone who has a daughter or wants to have a daughter. They hope that people will want to make changes, just like the narrator did, for the future of the
Although women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries faced oppression and unequal treatment, some people strove to change common perspectives on the feminine sex. John Stuart Mill, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and Virginia Woolf were able to reach out to the world, through their literature, and help change the views that society held towards women and their roles within its structure. During the Victorian era, women were bound to domestic roles and were very seldom allowed to seek other positions. Most men and many women felt that if women were allowed to pursue interests, outside traditional areas of placement that they would be unable to be an attentive
The 1950s was a time of constant advancements, which included shifts in ideals as well as the foundation of new societal norms. The ideologies involving this time were mainly focused on the extension of rights of different groups of people, particularly women. In Richard Yates’s Revolutionary Road, the role of a woman is highlighted with one of the main characters, April Wheeler, who moves into the suburbs with her husband and children soon after their birth. The move has shown a large impact on the behaviors of the couple, and especially on April who holds a different mindset than the rest of the women at this time. Compared to other women in the 1950s, April Wheeler’s unique lifestyle allows for her to be seen as divergent mainly due to her tendencies to stray away from societal norms of both women and wives at this time.
Technically his book, The Sublime Object of Ideology, was published in 1989, so one can only wonder about whether Zizek would have included commentary on the quasi-Cinderella romantic comedy, Pretty Woman, released in the following year. It certainly warrants a more exhaustive study, but focusing briefly on a few key points in the movie – particularly in the light of theory concepts such as ideology, fetishism, and the commodity-form – should prove equally interesting. While some critics attacked the movie's fantastical plot – charming hooker/heroine Vivian Ward, played by Julia Roberts, is “picked up” and essentially “rented” by troubled corporate mogul Edward Lewis, played by Richard Gere, with the pair eventually falling in love and living “happily ever after” – it was a complete box office success. The film has brought in 178 million dollars since its release in 1990, placing it among the top 50 grossing movies of all time (Internet Movie Database Ltd.).
The women of the story are not treated with the respect, which reflects their social standings. The first image of the women that the reader gets is a typical housewife. They are imaged as “wearing faded house dresses and
The Enlightenment is known as the revolution that brought to question the traditional political and social structures. This included the question of the woman’s traditional roles in society. As the public sphere relied more and more ?? and the advances in scientific and educated thinking, women sought to join in with the ranks of their male counterparts. Women held gatherings known as salons where they organized intellectual conversations with their distinguished male guests. Seeking to further their status, enlightened women published pamphlets and other works advocating for educational rights and political recognition. Even with this evolution of woman in society, many still clung to the belief that the role of the woman was solely
What do Betty from "Pleasantville," June from "Leave it to Beaver," and Donna Reed from "The Donna Reed Show" all have in common? They all represent the image of the perfect housewife in the 1950s. They represent women who gladly cooked, cleaned, dressed in pearls and wore high heals while waiting for their all-knowing husbands to come home. They represent women who can only find fulfillment in male domination and nurturing maternal love. Tillie Olsen, as a single mother with four children (204), provides readers with another view of women. Through the representation of the narrator in I Stand Here Ironing, Olsen contradicts the image of the 50s ideal woman, a happy housewife and a perfect mother.
Literature is not simply a reflection of society; it is in actuality much more powerful. Literature draws upon society and creates its own meanings and images. It possesses the power to either nourish or discourage societal values and ideals. Hence, stereotypical views on gender relations in society are reinforced by literary depictions of men and women. The American literary canon is a collection of books that are widely accepted as influential in shaping Western culture. Stereotypes are evident throughout these texts, and often serve to justify the continuance of traditional roles. More specifically, women seem to be the target of cataloguing and other negative depictions. Classic books that are identified as part of the American literary canon tend to portray female characters in a way that emphasizes their inferiority. The depiction of females in classic American literature promotes a stereotypical view of women in American society.
This movie helped change America’s perspective on the male parent. Another theme of the movie is that the male should appreciate his wife and all of her house duties. At this time in America men were more focused on their careers than they were focused on their wives. This led to depression and other mental illnesses on women at the time.
Since its humble beginnings in the later years of the nineteenth century, film has undergone many changes. One thing that has never changed is the filmmaker’s interest in representing society in the present day. For better or worse, film has a habit of showing the world just what it values the most. In recent years, scholars have begun to pay attention to what kinds of ideas films are portraying (Stern, Steven E. and Handel, 284). Alarmingly, viewers, especially young women, are increasingly influenced by the lifestyle choices and attitudes that they learn from watching these films (Steele, 331). An example of this can be seen in a popular trope of the “romantic comedy” genre in this day and age: the powerful man doing something to help, or “save” the less powerful woman, representing a troubling “sexual double standard” (Smith, Stacy L, Pieper, Granados, Choueiti, 783).
Written by John Stuart Mill in 1860-1861, as the Victorian era took place in England, “The Subjection of Women” is a critical piece of analysis in regards to the status of women in society and their unequal relationship with the opposite sex. During Mills lifetime, women were considered to be inferior to men by custom and laws, therefore, it was expected of them to be submissive in nature and to drive their aspirations as far as those of a homemaker, wife and mother could go. Deeply influenced by the ideas of his wife Harriet Taylor Mill, and John Stuart Mill’s own beliefs, “The Subjection of Women” was published in 1869, becoming a piece of literature that would not only challenge the common views of society at the time, but will advocate for different approaches in light of modern times.
The presentation of women on screen is another highlighted issue in many of the gathered sources. Because men were ultimately in control of what went on the screen much of what the audience perceived were women from the male imagination or fantasy. Bernard Beck elaborates in his article Where the Boys Are: The Contender and other Movies about Women in a Man’s World that, “…women have been used to dress up a male story or motivate a male character” (Beck 15). Women were often insignificant and trivial characters. Although, Kathe Davis disagrees to a point. In her article, Davis offers a dissonant opinion to the fore-mentioned insignificance of the female character. She instead describes many female characters as “predators,” and analyzes the roles of lead women in three prominent films of the nineteenth century. In each film, she finds parallels and similarities of cases of “female emasculation” and instances where “women are turned into objects of male desire” (Davis 47-48). Davis does not perceive female characters as being insignificant, just stripped of their power and misrepresented. She discusses how females of power are often portrayed as crazy