Within the filmic landscape, the male gaze has always had the upper hand. Films are generally made by men, for men and although this may seem as something from the past, it is still the case. There...Show moreWithin the filmic landscape, the male gaze has always had the upper hand. Films are generally made by men, for men and although this may seem as something from the past, it is still the case. There is an imbalance between the presence of women and men in film, how they are presented and, more importantly, who the films are made for. Within this thesis I want to explore this further and see how this lack of equality has influenced the possibility for identification with the characters on screen by the female spectator. With this I want to focus on the female (super)hero as she is up and coming, but struggling to truly settle in within the male genres of film. I want to try to discover whether her presence has made a difference for the female spectator and if she is someone to they can identify with, as this has for the most part been difficult to do in the past. Moreover, I want to look at what female heroes have been important over the past decade and whether they have changed the gender imbalance or have kept it intact, only seemingly changing things on the surface but not on a deeper level. What possibility for identification have they been able to offer to the female spectator?Show less
In her book Borderlands (1987), Gloria Anzaldúa reconstructs the mythology of the indigenous people of the U.S. to serve her feminist purpose of empowering women. More particularly, Anzaldúa means...Show moreIn her book Borderlands (1987), Gloria Anzaldúa reconstructs the mythology of the indigenous people of the U.S. to serve her feminist purpose of empowering women. More particularly, Anzaldúa means to inspire Chicana women to rebel against the double oppression they endure from Mexican-American (Chicano) culture as well as from the dominant American society. Anzaldúa finds a way to transform the borderlands, the marginal space in which Chicana women live, into a space that grants herself and other women the power to construct their own identities. She recreates legends and mythical figures from ancient Aztec culture that other Chicana women can relate to and draw strength from. Sandra Cisneros, one of the Chicana writers inspired by Anzaldúa, in her short story sequence Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories (1991) draws on Anzaldúa’s reconstructed feminist mythology. By connecting these legends with the female protagonists in her story, Cisneros enables empowerment for the latter.Show less
Revolutions against racism, militarism and sexism organized by the New Left characterized the political landscape in the United in the sixties and seventies of the last century. Within these groups...Show moreRevolutions against racism, militarism and sexism organized by the New Left characterized the political landscape in the United in the sixties and seventies of the last century. Within these groups of the New Left, women played an important part and stood side by side along their male companions. Their voices, however, are overlooked and their experiences have only been researched in general terms. This paper focuses on the American Weather Underground organization and discloses the personal opinions and experiences of three Weatherwomen, Susan Stern, Cathy Wilkerson and Bernardine Dohrn, through autobiographies and video recordings. At the hand of the new social movement theory, a multi-faceted approach for a more thorough and less-biased understanding of this radical left-wing organization, it becomes clear that the activities of the Weather Underground were not that progressive towards women’s issues as they claimed to be.Show less
