Women in Hollywood

Women in Hollywood

Seventy years ago, women were capturing major Hollywood roles just as easily as men were. An exception to this rested with the few action movies of this time, where women could not be found saving the day. Thirty years ago, it became quite evident that women could star in action films, but only if they were helpless, and of course drop-dead gorgeous. Also at this time, women's roles as a total were on a downward spiral compared to the early days of film. In today's Hollywood, we can see a combination of these two generations of Hollywood. Women are beginning to recapture more major roles, and if they are drop-dead gorgeous, they can star in an action film. The one major difference with today's Hollywood is not only can women star in action films; they can have greatly empowering roles now too. This pattern is observed throughout the vast majority of Hollywood flicks over the past few years. There is an ongoing dispute over whether or not the changes that are occurring are encouraging for women, or if it is just a new idea from filmmakers to target a wider audience that will bring in more revenue. Nonetheless, we can see that although there is a clear inequality between men and women on the big screen, there have been great improvements by female actors to gain respect and equality in their roles, especially in action movies.

Early Film

In order to take a look at how much progress has been made for women in Hollywood, we must first get an idea of what film was like in its early stages. According to Richard Corliss of Time Magazine, the big screen was equally shared between man and women in the 1930's and 1940's. He found it very odd that "as women improved their status in American society, they found their roles diminished in films.1" However, the 30's and 40's accommodated many actresses that were able to flourish before this trend kicked in. For Katharine Hepburn, this was the time where her career was beginning to take off. She began her career as Sydney Fairfield from the 1932 film A Bill of Divorcement. She then appeared in over fifty films, including her final appearance in 1994 as Cornelia Beaumont in One Christmas2. Another female star of this time is from the classic Tarzan, the Ape Man. Maureen O'sullivan appeared in over seventy films and television shows. Her career also came to a close in 1994, when she played Eleanor Biddlecomb in the television film Hart to Hart: Home is Where the Hart is.

These fine actresses are a modest look at the women who possessed the spotlight in the early days of film. The 30's also belonged to Greta Garbo, Loretta Young, Carole Lombard, Joan Blondell, and Glenda Farrell just to name a few. The 1940's were very similar to the 30's for female actors. They were given an abundance of roles to play; they appeared as beautiful as ever. Such stars as Veronica Lake, Ginger Rogers, Linda Darnell, and Joan Fontaine took the spotlight. Along with these new stars, a large amount of the stars from the 1930's continued their prosperous careers through and right past the 1940's. The only difference between the two decades is that less female actors began their career in the 40's. This was where the declination in women's roles began to take effect2.

Film in the 60's and 70's

In the 60's and 70's, there was a significant drop-off in the number of roles women were getting. The big srceen slowly became dominated by males, which is puzzling due to the strides made by females in the women's liberation movement. Even though this was the case, there was another pattern that erupted during this time. Females were becoming more involved in action films. However, they still tended to capture the same type of role; the bimbo prize girl. The most popular films that help emphasize this pattern are the classical James Bond films. From 1962 in Dr. No, there has always been at least one 'Bond girl'. Each film in the series captures one or more of the most popular actresses in that time. Dr. No showcased Ursula Andress and Eunice Gayson as 'Bond girls.' More 'Bond girls' over the years included Jane Seymour, Barbara Bach, Lana Wood, and Kim Basinger, just to name a few3. This film does a great job in enforcing some stereotypes about American women.

First off, the image that is created is the image that is 'desired' by society as a whole. The perfect body that is flaunted by every actress on camera makes the average woman feel inferior. These images create a sense of weakness from many females' perspectives. The only negative stereotypes that are not portrayed in these films are that women must be keeping the house clean, cooking dinner every night, and taking good care of the children. This is only the case because it is difficult to incorporate those ideas into an action film. Stereotyping was especially evident in 1960's, before the women's liberations movement. The movement impacted stereotyping to a very small degree in Hollywood. Although it was reduced as a result of the movement, stereotyping continued to persist through the 1970's, and even through today's films.

Literature from the 80's

In the book From Reverence to Rape: the Treatment of Women in the Movies, author Molly Haskell says that

In the movie business we have had an industry dedicated for the most part to reinforcing the lie. As the propaganda arm of the American Dream machine, Hollywood promoted a romantic fantasy of marital roles and conjugal euphoria and chronically ignored the facts and fears arising from an awareness of The End-the winding down of love, change, divorce, depression, mutation, death itself.4

The lie that she is speaking of is the untruth regarding the stereotypes that women have to face. women are trapped in stereotypical roles in Hollywood that portray females as the 'second gender,' meaning that men are given all the power on screen. In the past, women were often viewed through Hollywood films as being the 'weaker sex', which is how they were viewed in society. The problem is, this is changing gradually in society, and it is taking longer for it to change in movies. The progression of women in society might work better and faster if films did not contradict all the values that women are attempting to gain and convince men to accept. Films are a form of media, and a source of major influence for many individuals, most of who do not even realize that they are being influenced.

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