Femininity is seen as a set of attributes, behaviors, and rules generally associated with girls and women in the society, it is often perceived as a social construction.
In the society we live in, gender plays a great role, is not biological rader it’s refereed to as a social behavior pattern. It is constructed on male and female character and traditional beliefs. The society has often reflected its passion on gender roles. For instance In the media today women are given roles that suit men which makes them challenge men for their right, they are represented as entertainment for men, women are likely to be the source of leading news stories nowadays.
In the film Double Indemnity (1944) film noir also portrayed the gender roles (femininity) introducing a charming woman who got her ways into men’s life leaving him devastated, confused etc. women with these qualities are often called femme fatale. Women in general have a larger corpus callusum, that helps them transfer data through the left and right hemispheres faster then men that made it easy for her to achieve her aim, also women in the other head have a more limbic brain
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which helps them get to people’s feelings, love, affection and express very fast. In most of film noir movies women are seen as hero, the two type of women in film noir always talk about are good or bad woman in the movie Double indemnity film noir talks about the bad woman which it describes as prostitutes, schemers. They are the attractive, seductive woman especially one who will bring disaster to a man (urban dictionary). Double Indemnity portrays these kinds of characters. The Femininity character takes a strong hold on the masculinity character, which makes it more like a film. The Femininity in the character derives from her role as a wife/mother as it should be in the society. Barbara Stanwyck who plays Phyllis who is married to an older man named Mr Dietrichson brings the femininity theme to life. He has a daughter who he had with his first wife. Mr Dietrichson married Phyllis out of lust, because during the movie there was no love and affection between the two. That was why Mr Dietrichson valued his daughter a lot more than he did Phyllis as his wife. There was no trust in the marriage and as an example of this he went ahead and insured his life policy in his daughters name so that should anything happen to him his daughter would take all that belongs to him in the event of his death leaving Phyllis with nothing. The feminine character is meant to be a caring, loving and respectful wife, meant to fulfill her obligations towards her husband and any children they may have, lf any. Phyllis is a woman who uses her feminine charms to seduce and insert herself into the different men’s lives all the while endangering them. All these traits in the film give the viewers a different perspective on femininity. In the film Phyllis was seen to seduce her way into Mr. Neff life that played by Fred MacMurray, with the intention of having him help her murder her husband. On discovering his occupation as a life insurance salesman, she then decides he is her perfect pawn, in her scheme to get rich off her husbands life insurance policy. Phyllis uses all of her sexual charisma to gain a semblance of independence. Basing on the fact that she feels trapped in a confining, sexless and loveless marriage. Phyllis is portrayed as the ideal Femme Fatale, commanding the film with her seductive yet strong nature. Going through the film viewers become aware that her reasons for using the men and setting off the chain of events she does is primarily to gain her independence, with her husband’s life insurance policy as a form of a deserved bonus. Phyllis showcased her prowess as a femme fatale in the way she manipulated Mr Walter Neff, a seemingly morally upright man into killing her husband.
By allowing him to feel like he was the one in control, knowing full well that rather she was in control. The gender role of women in the late 1950s was that of a submissive, caring, weak and vulnerable woman. The film questions the role of femininity in that society with Phyllis’ character. In the film (Noir film) an image was created of a strong unrepressed woman, her femme fatale couldn’t be made to serve the status quo, which was the film’s intention. Double indemnity doesn’t fail in show casing different gender roles. Double indemnity also portrayed a theme of masculinity structure, showcased in how easily Mr. Neff fell for Phyllis woe is I seductive act, much like many men of that era
would. Phyllis’s character showcased the opportunity for female genders dominance in a society. Showcasing that a woman could be the one in control of a situation and in control of a man, much like Phyllis was with Mr. Neff. The connection between Phyllis goes against the states of that particular time showcasing film noirs attitude towards gender roles and status quos. Phyllis’ ability to win over Walter using societies status quos against him was an important factor. Phyllis used the men’s protective nature against them by threatening to take her life which of course then lead us to see Walter embodying his masculinity and coming to her aid. From the beginning it’s obvious that Phyllis not only understood the status but controlled the men held to it using their own belief system. With Mr. Neff playing right into her hands from the moment they met. She is the one who comes up with the idea to kill her husband but knowing men like to be in control she makes Mr. Neff believe that in fact it was his idea.
Gender roles have been a predominant factor in our world since the early emergence of human societies whether they are positive or negative. They are based on expectations that societies have over the people in them. The Epic of Sunjata, shows us how men and women are treated almost equally in different forms. Women are praised for their ability to birth leaders, which is similar to the early Greek Society. In most societies, women are treated less equal than men. This was prevalent in the early Indian society. No matter the gender role, it has been shown that any society cannot survive without both men and women.
However, in Modleski’s analysis of the film, Rear Window, it is apparent that it is the actions of the characters that evaluates and defines their masculinity or femininity. The heroines, Violet and Corky are opposites when it comes to appearance. As it was established, Violet is feminine and Corky is masculine. However, in the film it only initially seems like Violet plays the more passive role and Corky plays the more active role. At the escalation of the film, Violet demonstrates her masculinity and actively uses the male gaze in her
while his wife Bunny and daughter Maude are reminiscent of the two Sternwood daughters, Vivian and Carmen” (Bergan 201). These two women also provide that all-important aspect of the femme fatale. Bunny is the impulsive, sexualized woman who acts without thinking, and lives by the charity of the elderly husband who just can’t tell her no. Maude is the dark, intelligent, manipulative woman. She works in the background, accomplishing what she wants, only telling others what they need to hear for her to get what she wants.
Double Indemnity (dir. Billy Wilder 1944) is a film about an insurance sales man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) that falls for a highly sexual, scandalous woman, Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) who attempts to kill her husband. Even though Walter dismisses Phyllis attempt to purchase life insurance policy for her husband; he is unable to stay away from Phyllis for long. In the time they spend together, Walter and Phyllis try to hatch a fool-proof plan to get rid of her husband and get a double indemnity from the insurance company. Walter Neff boss Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) is a man of skill and knowledge, and has been working in the same job for twenty-six years, and has always been able to tell who is a cheater and who is an honest man. Barton ability to tell who is being honest by consulted the ‘little man’, and does so throughout the film. Walter later finds out that Phyllis has been involved in another ‘accident’ prior to her involvement with her husband Mr. Dietrichson (Tom Powers).When both Walter and Phyllis are about to be found out by Barton, Phyllis attempts to kill Walter and escape with the cash. The scene in which both Barton and Walter are together in the office and are later in the hallway in which the male characters Walter and Barton both find themselves together on the ground highlights and suggest gender noir in the film. The film Double Indemnity uses the stylistic qualities of film noir to illustrate the homo-erotic relationship between Barton and Walter with the use of lights, shadows, and oneiric qualities which also suggest and emphasize the importance power of gender in noir.
portrayed as the “femme fatale” and also “mother,” the “seductress” and at the same time
De Beauvoir writes, “… in speaking of certain women, connoisseurs declare that they are not women, although they are equipped with a uterus like the rest” (Schneir, 6). Being female is not the only requirement for being a woman. “Woman” is socially defined; there are certain behaviors and actions relegated to the role of a woman that we are encouraged to learn and perform to a certain degree. Femininity is the defining characteristic of a woman. What a man is not, a woman is. To be masculine is to be forceful and brash, moving without fear of consequence. Femininity is posited as the lack of these traits; submissive, always acted ...
Women and men are allocated to a gender role and we all must act out the masculine or feminine behavior as arranged by our society and our culture. Femininity is usually associated with traits such as emotionality, cautiousness, collaboration, common sense, and fulfillment.
In life when we are born into society every male and female is assigned to a natural growth theory, which is a gender role. If we convert back to years ago we 'd see a huge difference in our gender roles and equality because men were the proactive providers, protectors, and intellectual figures. For example, men had all the jobs and benefits of living a live life whereas women had to stay at home, take care of the children, cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner, do the laundry; you know "women stuff." According to our present day these gender roles has changed because women are unchained now to do whatever they have interest in. Although things has been running smoothly between males and females, our world is still a biased world.
There is a serious problem in our society where masculine qualities are valued more than feminine qualities. Hegemonic masculinity shows that from a young age boys are taught that doing anything feminine is wrong which sets them up to be a man who disvalues femininity. The wage gap shows that women have a severe disadvantage in the job market. Marital power shows that just because a woman makes more than a man it really doesn’t matter because the man still controls everything.
The conclusion of this essay is that there are four prime factors that construct gender role in today’s society. They include our family, society, educational systems and self conscious. There are other cultural products that affect the gender within these four. category. The.
Since the beginning of time, the perception of gender roles had always been a part of everyday life. In society today, gender role is viewed as a “set of societal norms [that dictate] what types of behavior are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable” [Wikipedia] based on somebody’s perceived or born gender. In the nineteenth century, a movement has abrupt that is the “advocacy of women 's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men” [Google] known as feminism.Within America and Vietnam in the nineteenth and twenty-first century, gender role is not viewed as universal, but each country has a different set of behavior, belief, norm, and value when it comes to the role of male or female. How does
A male having multiple sex partners is considered “masculine,” On the other hand, a female would be labeled as promiscuous women, committing the same action (Chipe “Women’s’ discrimination”). For example, in She’s the Man, Duke is portrayed as the hottest guy in the school. He is well-known for being skilled with soccer and women, which is considered good. However, Olivia is portrayed like the “typical” blond girl who likes to party and only dates athletic guys. She is portrayed as a materialistic and promiscuous than her play counterpart. For example, when Olivia says, “girls with butt like mine do not talk to guys with faces like yours.” Women, like men, have the same desires; however, women are still portrayed as materialistic, gold diggers, and promiscuous when committing the same actions
Since the beginning of time, society has implemented or prescribed defined characteristics that a man or woman need to have to meet social and cultural requirements. Through these gender roles our behavior, attitude and feelings are shaped and how our capabilities are limited or coerced. These traits make us either masculine or feminine; stereotypically manhood is affiliated with audacity, chauvinism and stoicism while womanhood is linked to submission, feebleness and sentiment.
A common way that women are defined, is based upon how feminine they are, or how they portray femininity. As a westernized culture, we see femininity in the way a woman portrays herself or more specifically how she displays her body. When you critically start to examine this form of femininity, or what it means to embody femininity, we start to understand that there is more than one factor effecting women. This is called cultural reproduction of femininity, essentially it is how society creates specific cultural factors that determine the femininity in women.
Masculinity and femininity are two terms, which have been interpreted differently throughout history. Both the males and the females have responsibilities and duties but these duties differ based on one’s gender. Gender has played a prodigious role in the economy, politics, and the society. Everyone starts making interpretations of the strengths and weaknesses based on one’s gender. These interpretations are not always based on his or her ability but is usually based on his or her gender. Males tend to be judged as extremely strong and unfashionable in terms of appearance. Whereas, females are judged as expensive and very fashionable. Males and females both differ in their abilities and their enjoyments. Fashion, entertainment, and strength are three topics, which are used to define masculinity and femininity in the 21st century.