Gender Roles In The Man Who Knew Too Much By Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock has been described by many film reviewers as ‘a master of mystery, a connoisseur of compelling cryptic suspense”, however, the manner in which he depicted gender roles was concrete in its rigidity. Having directed and cast over 70 films, Hitchcock has himself admitted that women are often seen as objects and that the only reason they exist in his films is as a supporting role to the male actor. Rear Window’s main three female roles consist of the scantily clad Ms Torso, named only by a body part, and the glamourous Lisa and nurse Stella whose roles are limited to enabling Jeff to follow his pursuits. How can this be

One particular example is a 1942 film, Cat People, where a race of women turns into murderous panthers when sexually aroused or are driven with jealously. She describes numerous scenes in the movie which depict the strength feminine monsters have by expressing particular anxieties that different people have. I can perfectly discern the purpose of using this specific movie and it is astounding. A particular scene she describes is when a cat person named Irena Dubrovna meets with Dr. Louis Judd (a psychiatrist who attempts to cure her of her unfortunate curse) for her appointment. The significance of this scene is that Dr. Judd, who is again a physiatrist, tries to take complete control of Irena by using hypnosis and finding out everything she knows which eventually fails due his urge to kiss her.

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film Psycho redirected the entire horror genre, and in doing so dismantled the prudent 1950’s societal barriers of cinema. Although unseen for its potential by the large studios of the time, Psycho became one of the crowning achievements of film history. While based partially on a true story of murder and psychosis from Wisconsin, the widespread viewing of this tale made way for a new era of film and ushered in a new audience of movie goers. The use of violence, sexual explicitness, dramatic twists, sound, and cinematography throughout this film gave Hitchcock his reputable name and title as master of suspense.

However, film critic, Robin Wood, argues that ‘since Psycho, the Hollywood cinema has implicitly recognised horror as both American and familial’ he then goes on to connect this with Psycho by claiming that it is an “innovative and influential film because it supposedly presents its horror not as the produce of forces outside American society, bit a product of the patriarchal family which is the fundamental institution of American society” he goes on to discuss how our civilisation either represses or oppresses (Skal, 1994). Woods claim then suggests that in Psycho, it is the repressions and tensions within the normal American family which produces the monster, not some alien force which was seen and suggested throughout the 1950 horror films. At the beginning of the 60’s, feminisation was regarded as castration not humanization. In “Psycho” (1960) it is claimed that the film presents conservative “moral lessons about gender roles of that the strong male is healthy and normal and the sensitive male is a disturbed figure who suffers from gener confusion” (Skal, 1994). In this section of this chapter I will look closely at how “Psycho” (1960) has layers of non-hetro-conforming and gender-non conforming themes through the use of Norman Bates whose gender identitiy is portrayed as being somewhere between male and female

This analysis will focus on questions of gender and notions of femininity existing during the Great Depression in US Culture, which are reproduced through the film itself. To support my thesis, I will analyze the most important key scenes

They use their sexuality to control and manipulate the man into doing her bidding, often these tasks are immoral acts that will benefit her, however, it would bring eventual destruction for the man. The femme fatales is often brought to justice and punished by the protagonist, ultimately she gets destroyed. Beckman adds that “the dangerous woman is almost always punished for her threat to masculinity and male power. The strong, independent, and sexually provocative femme fatale is typically subdued toward the end of the film noir, through her death, her abandonment, or her "rescue" from moral decline by a man. If it is correct that a certain Hollywood realism tends to confirm a patriarchal status quo through coordinating the gradual unmasking of the sexual power of the woman with the "epistemological drive of the narrative," then this tradition of narrative continuity itself must be of interest” (p 26-27).

She is extremely lonely without him, unable to comfort herself, so she uses his coat to keep warm and sits in his special chair in attempt to soothe herself. Such codependency stems from naivety and low self-esteem, two traits that Janet possesses. The narrator describes Janet as childlike, “like a small girl craving protection,” and immature, which portrays a sense of innocence about her (2). It is also evident that Janet must not think very highly of herself, because “the fact that she had married at all still seemed a miracle to her” (2). The combination of Janet’s desire for protection and lack of dignity creates the perfect situation for a manipulator to gain

The ‘Hitchcock blondes’ represent Hitchcock’s fantasy woman. She is unreachable, seductive, mysterious, and seems forever young; the female lead in Vertigo is not an exception. In Vertigo, Scottie is a detective who is hired to

(p. 34)” Set It Off, showed that gangsters didn’t have to be the “man of the city”. Women were also criminals and bosses of their own. Just like all criminals, these women were tense during their first robbery, but that changes quickly when they remembered the reasons why they were in that situation. In one sense, in the movie, they all sat around a conference table and acted as if they were mobsters in the movie “The Godfather”. This shows how these women felt about who they were becoming.

Term gender role is described as a set of social norms of what types of behaviors are generally considered acceptable, appropriate or desirable for a person based on their sex ussualy centered around opposing conceptions of femininity and masculinity. Gender roles traditionally were often divided into distinct feminine and masculine gender roles, until especially the twentieth century when these roles diversified into many different acceptable male or female roles in modernized countries throughout the world. Gender roles are closely linked with gender stereotypes.

Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility is a great example of her works that looks at the role of women in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Austen shows us the gender roles inflicted on women during this time period and how they are perceived. We see the strict gender roles that women were adhered to and the struggle for identity as a woman. Central to this novel is the vulnerability of women and the expectations surrounding gender influence everything and produce define results. Gender definitely determines and structures the world in which these characters live.

Another example of a feminist horror film is The Silence of the Lambs. Jodie foster stars as a FBI trainee named clarice starling. She gets invited to interview a serial killer and cannibal Hannibal lecter and find out more information on another serial killer on the loose, named Buffalo Bill. even though she feels a little intimidated by Hannibal Lecter, especially with the place he’s being held at and all the other inmates who seem to mock her, she still goes to find answers on the Buffalo Bill. After a while Starling seems to have earn the Respect of Lecter due to her professionalism and politeness.

Professions for Women At the beginning of the 19th century, ideas of the roles of men and women has taken a turn as women take a stand to encourage other women to overcome obstacles that society’s perspectives of gender roles confine them in. Women’s conflict to find their voice during this time struggle has taken a turn in the evolving male-dominated society. An English writer, Virginia Woolf, delivered her speech “Professions for Women”, published in 1931 for the National Society for Women’s Service, and she argues that it is important for women stand up for themselves and allow their imagination to flow despite society’s oppression. Woolf begins with building her credibility with personal anecdotes, expresses the phantoms that limit women’s

The role of women in literature crosses many broad spectrums in works of the past and present. Women are often portrayed as weak and feeble individuals that submit to the situations around them, but in many cases women are shown to be strong, independent individuals. This is a common theme that has appeared many times in literature. Across all literature, there is a common element that causes the suffering and pain of women. This catalyst, the thing that initiates the suffering of women, is essentially always in the form of a man.

Virginia Woolf is a writer who took her inspirations of her topics from her own life, just as in her novel Mrs. Dalloway. Because her father was a strict and conservative person, she was inclined to her feminist ideology more and more. She was concerned with the thought more and more that why women do not have the same rights as the men? Due to this influence, she began to use these topics more frequently. The feminism as a principle is also included into the novel Mrs. Dalloway, for the reason that Woolf is writing about the after war era when the society had experienced the horrors of the war.