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Gender Stereotypes In Thelma And Louise

Decent Essays

I chose to examine Callie Khouri’s 1991 film Thelma and Louise. This film is unique with the fact that the two main protagonists are both women that are testing the limits of gender stereotypes faced against them. However as these two women push the boundaries of the social norms during that time period, things start to go awry and they are often faced with challenges against the male stereotypes. From the beginning to end of their supposed “weekend getaway,” Thelma and Louise seem to go from being two women stuck in their gender roles, to letting their wild side out as their trip turns into a run from the law. Thelma and Louise begin to test the limits of their gender roles when it comes to their relationships with themselves as well as the men in the film, and how they portray themselves and their actions throughout their endeavors. From their hard-hitting masculine moments, to being delicate feminine women this film pushes all boundaries in regards to gender stereotypes. All of the male characters throughout the film are “stereotypical men.” This is generally considered to be a negative characteristic when comparing men to women in film. Agreeing, this shown stereotyping of men highlights the ways that women are treated by men during this time …show more content…

This test has been used to call attention to discrimination against women in film. The requirements for the Bechdel test are that the film has to have at least two named women characters in it, the women must talk to each other, and said women must talk to each other about something besides a man. Thelma and Louise talk to each other throughout the entire film, while they do talk about men occasionally there are many points throughout the film where they do not talk about a man. The film Thelma and Louise does pass the Bechdel test while giving strong leads to two women

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