Serife Film Studies

Exploring the ways in which the representation of women has changed over the
years in contemporary films, focusing on the 1950s to present day.

Throughout this essay, I will be exploring my thesis, that the representation of

women has altered over the years in Hollywood films, closely analyzing films
such as A Streetcar Named Desire 1951, The Handmaids Tale 2000, Hunger
Games 2012, Kill Bill 2003, Thelma and Louise and Transformers. I will also be
incorporating perspectives of female representation from feminist theorist, Laura
Mulveys text on the differences of gender roles and male gaze in Hollywood
films.
Over the years, the representation of women in Hollywood films has
changed, since the 1950s to present day. During the 1950s the representation
of women was very repressive, having no authority in the patriarchal society. This
was the era of post war, therefore societys expectations of men were to be
dominant in order to fit the typical masculine role whilst women were to fulfil
specific motherly roles, cooking for their husbands and following all his orders,
being represented as the rather fragile individuals. Films such as A Street Car
Named Desire (1951 Tennessee Williams) support this as Stella exemplifies
society's preconceptions of femininity during the time the text was written; the
dutiful housekeeper and obedient wife, she is a symbol of femininity 1. Stellas
character is a prime example of how women were represented during the 1950s
as her status of being a women was belittled due to the ways in which Stanley
was portrayed.
Therefore, nowadays, women have more of a leading role, having
identifiable goals, represented with authority and significance in contemporary
films, not being devalued in comparison to women in the 1950s. Women are
presented to have more of a leading role in contemporary films as there is more
equality between the roles of both genders. The blockbuster Hunger Games
(2012 Gary Ross) verifies this as the female character Katniss (Jennifer
Lawrence) provides characteristics that defy the stereotype of women in
Hollywood films. For example, similar to Stella in A Street Car Named Desire,
Katniss delivers actions that convey the typical female role by being motherly
1https://ontheroad29.wikispaces.com/file/view/Streetcare+Named+Desire+Ess

ay+-+Role+of+Gender.pdf

Serife Film Studies

like and providing for her family. Characters such as Katniss deliver a
representation of women no longer stereotyped in films as they are able to
handle situations without being reliant on the opposite sex. However, there is a
major difference between the representations of women in the 1950s and
present day as Katniss is shown as an independent, tough female character
filling her fathers shoes, she became the chief cook and bottle washer, bringing
home the food and income2. This supports the alteration in the representation of
women from the 1950s to current era as Katniss is delivering a similar role to
Stellas husband in A Streetcar Named Desire, illustrating that strength is not
something solely found in masculinity3. This illustrates that women are no longer
devalued, having a more respected role in films as they are now seen with similar
qualities to the male gender. Therefore, showing an alteration in the
representation of women from the 1950s to present day.
In addition, the objectification of women as subject of male pleasure was
also represented in films during previous years. Women were valued by men
depending on their physical appearance and were only shown during sexual
scenes or when trying to present male satisfaction. A chapter in the Film and
Theory anthology (R.Stan, T.Miller 2000) mentions the launch of a journal,
Women and Film, stating women are ultimately refused a voice, a discourage,
and their desire is subjected to male desire 4. The film The Handmaids Tale
(1990 Volker Schlondorff) is a prime example of this as the division of the
females in the Republic of Gilead are divided depending on not only status of
class but their reproductive qualities, highly objectifying them throughout the film.
Kate, the female actress is shown laying between Serena Joys legs forcefully
whilst having sexual intercourse with the commander in hopes that she will
produce a child for them. This scene clearly shows the objectification of women.
The fact that she is forced to lay between anothers legs to produce a child for the
commander illustrates her level of rights being very low and that there was major
inequality between both genders at the time in Hollywood films as well as

http://www.shmoop.com/hunger-games/katniss-everdeen.html

http://maybegenius.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/strong-female-characters-anddevaluing.html
3

Film and Theory anthology (R.Stan, T.Miller Oxford,Blackwell 2000)

Representation of Gender In The Past.

Serife Film Studies

portraying her as a sex toy in numerous scenes. This emphasizes the negativity
portrayed within the representation of women during past years in Hollywood
films.
However, in recent years the rate of the objectification of women has
diminished in contemporary films. Unlike The Handmaids Tale, the modern
Hollywood film Kill Bill (2003 Quentin Tarantino) supports the change of how
women are represented in Hollywood films. The bride (Uma Thruman), is the
leading female protagonist, providing a dominant and active role in the film.
Thurman not only plays the heroic role, her characteristics and physicality are
represented in a more superior form compared to the representation Kate
provides of women in The Handmaids Tale. Thurmans character has an
essential, vigorous leading role, and depicts characteristics of a killer partially due
to her ensemble of weapons. There is a scene which shows her defeating a
number of male assassins independently without relying on the opposite sex for
safety. The bride is a female assassin out for revenge and has no mercy on the
individuals who have wronged her. The fact that she manages to kill a number of
them connotes that women in contemporary films are able to complete tasks
independently as they are represented with more advanced skills. As a result,
women are no longer stereotyped in Hollywood films as they succeed in being
leading roles whilst being able to kill their assassins. Whereas, in The
Handmaids Tale, the woman is held by her arms forcefully on the bed In this
case, there is a major difference between the representations of women during
the era of 1950s to present day. This is because; the equality of gender roles in
film has increased, no longer providing audiences with a passive stereotypical
view of women.
Similar to the objectification of women in previous years, the male gaze
was also a consistent occurrence reflecting on the representation of females in
Hollywood films. Laura Mulvey, a British feminist film theorist published an essay
1975 Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, introducing the concept of male
gaze as a trait of gender power in Hollywood films. In her text Representations of
Gender in the past, she mentions the role of a woman in a film almost always
revolves around her physical attraction in which, the film Thelma and Louise
1951 presents. In one scene, Louise mentions Thelma what happened? as
Thelma reveals the marks on her neck. The marks on her neck emphasize that
female characters in films were often for male pleasure as they were valued for

Serife Film Studies

their physical qualities as Thelma illustrates. As well as this, she mentions If
youd ever met my husband, youd understand why. As Thelma mentions her
husband, this signifies the inequality of gender roles as females were
represented as being dependent on their husbands whilst having a more fragile
representation.
In comparison to this,

The girl with the dragon tattoo

Sarah Conner (Terminator).