The Portrayal Of Women In Western Genre

In the world of film, there is usually a stereotypical role for each gender. For example, the man is usually portrayed as the hero and the woman is in some sort of distress and needs to be saved. Women in movies are generally shown as weak and needing a man to survive. For example, in the Disney movie “Cinderella”, Cinderella lives a horrible and unhappy life until she meets Prince Charming. When Prince Charming rescues Cinderella, they fall in love, she becomes happy, and they live happily ever after. There are a few movies out there, though, which show the opposite. Both “She Done Him Wrong” and “Scarlet Street” are films that portray the main female characters, Lady Lou and Kitty March, as strong and independent women, both acting how

Women’s roles in movies have changed dramatically throughout the years. As a result of the changing societal norms, women have experienced more transition in their roles than any other class. During the period of classical Hollywood cinema, both society and the film industry preached that women should be dependent on men and remain in home in order to guarantee stability in the community and the family. Women did not have predominated roles in movies such as being the heroin. The 1940’s film Gilda wasn’t an exception. In Gilda, the female character mainly had two different stereotypes. The female character was first stereotyped as a sex object and the second stereotyped as a scorned woman who has to be punished.

Throughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an author's personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret society’s views of women in a completely different nature than a female author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may represent his main female character as a victim in the 1920’s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays hers as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930’s.

The film industry has created the conventional gender roles of society into their movies; A majority of films have supported some of the male and female stereotypes. In the history of the film industry, the role of men is primarilythat of the stereotypical working class man or hero, while the roles of women are primarily portrayed as being somewhat inferior to men. In the 1930s through the 1970s, men held the leading roles in films while women played smaller roles. Men were typically employed, successful gentlemen, while the woman’s only job was a housewife. The film industry was mostly dominated by men. In terms of jobs, women were given mostly family roles and rarely were shown outside of their homes, while men had

Throughout history women have been depicted and treated as an inferior to the male all aspects of life. It is without debate, that to this day, like many other countries, the United States of America is a patriarchal society, valuing men over women and using various tactics to oppress women by constructing gender roles. These gender roles are thrust upon people before birth and are reinforced through society within the media. This object here is to provide an overview of the portrayal of women in magazines from the late 1800’s to present day. As the years progress, so do the number of women’s rights. While women are still fighting for equality, the birth of feminism has done much to close the gender gap. Mass media, magazines in particular, facilitated in fostering a stereotype which became the standard, and continues to be, used by society. A society that continues to oppress and suppress its women. However, as the mass media has the capability to demystify, or to bring down and/or destroy a particular group or person, they also have the ability of mystification, or emulating a person or group into society’s graces. I plan to review how women were portrayed since this country’s inception with an analysis of how gender equality might be possible today.

Moving onto gender roles and ideas, these characteristics in genders are needed in any sort of story to suit the values and attitudes of the people of that time. Gender stereotypes are a major piece to the puzzle of a film. Women are generally seen as less dominant, pushovers, the cares of everyone and that they have no independence. Whist men are seen as the more dominant, masculine, heroes, brave and courageous. This is across all genres of movies, the girl is the damsel in distress and the boy ends up saving her at the end of it.

Gender stereotypes have always been common in American literature. Gender stereotypes obligate both sexes to traditional responsibilities and ambitions. Common stereotypes found in literature usually force characters to behave in the way the society considers appropriate. The majority of the literary works portray women as objects rather than wives. This is because men are portrayed as the individual who has the most power and authority.

First, it is critical to understand the conventional, prescribed positions of men and women within the Western genre. According to John G. Cawelti’s The Six-Gun Mystique Sequel, most Westerns follow specific character setup. The hero (man), the savage (bad guy), and the woman characters form a figurative, triangular relationship. The woman often comes between the dichotomous, battling relationship of hero and savage. There is also the underlying threat that the woman could be captured and raped by the savage, but the hero will eventually defeat the savage to protect her. It is also worth noting that the woman represents civilization. The man, at his core, is always caught between the monogamous, repressive life that the woman and town

Ever since the early 20th century, there had been several attempts and experimentation in creating a new genre of cinema known as the Western. The first well-known Western movie The Great Train Robbery (1903), while not necessarily being the first ever Western, it is by both film historians and theorists definitely considered the pinnacle of the genre, that got it all started and that would be the first step in creating others similar to it, but also very different. Because it was still an unknown genre in film, there had not yet been established a set of rules as for how to construct films in this new experimental genre so change was to be expected.

In western movies portray most of the strong, successful characters as male and the whole movies circle around them and they are the main characters are the movies. In most of the films and novels, women have been confined to the social roles of the wife and the mother, domestic production, childbirth and childcare, family relationships and other female tasks, even unmarried one. The roles of women were set forth for them that a woman was limited in her abilities to survive in man’s world and that she was expected to focus only on her domestic duties. For many western women happily set forth creating a home for their husband and children as we watched in several western movies such as Shane movie, Red River, Stagecoach. Most of the movies show women who totally depend on the men and they are so fragile.

The film industry has created the conventional gender roles of society into their movies. A majority of films have supported some of the male and female stereotypes. In the history of the film industry, the role of men is primarily that of the stereotypical working class man or hero, while the roles of women are primarily portrayed as being somewhat inferior to men. In the 1930s through the 1970s, men held the leading roles in films while women played smaller roles. In terms of jobs, women were given mostly family roles and rarely were shown outside of their homes, while men had successful careers and did many activities outside of home. “Women were shown doing housework and men were the beneficiaries of their work” (“Women’s roles in the

Westerns connote images of dirt, dust, guns, horses, cowboys and heroes: physically strong, iron-willed, independent, resourceful, quick-witted men. Although the modern Western (the writings of Louise L’Amour, Zane Grey and the numerous films starring John Wayne, Roy Rodgers, Gene Autry) seems to focus on this ideal hero, the genre actually also provides women with strong, self-reliant, active roles. In fact, many texts that precede the typical modern Western had females as the main characters. However, the role of the heroine still differs from that of the hero; the role does not defeminize women but gives them depth as characters. These women still retain their femininity and domesticity, but they also rescue those around them, take care

Filmmakers use traditional gender stereotypes to produce characters audiences can easily identify with by portraying conventional images of a person with identifiable characteristics. In previous years, the dominant representation of a women in film has been the passive, subjugated protagonist. However, through the development of female empowerment and added feminist representations of film, the female heroine transformed to become strong and independent women in her own right, as an individual character.

In society we have a lot of women actresses. Some tend to play the motherly type, some play the manipulator type and some even play the victims of abusive relationships. No matter what women seem to be coming up in the industry of movies in more ways than before. The three movies I have chosen to analyze in my critique are Heartbreakers, Baby Boy and Stepmom. These three movies all have women in them that either play a major role or the main role. All their roles are very different in character and none of the women in these three movies play a similar role.

In the entertainment world today, comic superheroines are conveying messages to women everywhere that their powers are not limited, and they all have the ability to choose their fate. Many movies, tv shows, and comics are coming out that involve strong, independent women. This recent rise in representation has gotten out to women everywhere, and this is influencing them throughout their lives. With the rise of female comic book characters in the media, women are changing the way they see themselves and the role they play in the world.