The article that I mentioned last week was not actually an article, but a book. I had a Document Article from the university that highlighted part of the 6th chapter from the book for one of my WS class and the citation the professor gave was incorrect. So, my sincere apology must be given for the misinformation. The book is:
Women and Men:
Cultural Constructs of Gender
3rd Edition
Author: Nancy Bonvillian.
So, now that I am looking more into the domestic aspect of the femme fatale I have come up with a plan. I want to look at two aspects of the genre. First, I want to look at the idea I discussed in my last blog, the femme fatale’s dislike of domestic life, as well as the idea of domestic life being unattainable for the femme fatale.
When I first began this project I was completely overwhelmed and disorganized. I do not want this to happen again, so I am tackling this new research feet by looking at my trusty 100 Film Noirs book. I have been reading cover to cover the film history, background and plot of each entry. I am compiling a list of no more than 10 films I will watch and possibly discuss for my final conference presentation (I plan on doing a lot of movie watching and note taking over Thanksgiving).
So while I am still compiling my list, I have come up with a nice Jacquess Tourneur film to discuss. Cat People is not technically Film Noir to some, but it has a great quality in the female character. The premise of the film is that a woman named Irena believes herself to be a decendent from a satanic tribe of people able to change into large, dangerous cats. She marries a man named Oliver after a brief courting. The problem: Irena believes if she becomes intimate with her husband she will change into a cat and kill him. This is a tricky spot these two characters are in because Irena wants nothing more than to be a good wife, while Oliver has a desire and need to be intimate and close to her.
The distance between the two characters is obvious. There is this unbelievable desire from Irena to be a wonderful wife and a good home caretaker. Oliver on the other hand wants nothing more than to provide a wonderful and fulfilling life for his new bride.
What is really interesting here in terms of my research is this ultimate desire that Irena has towards domestic life. Unlike Phyllis who hates being married and confined to the home, Irena wants to be there in the home and be the best wife possible for her husband.
I feel there is this unbelievable paradox surrounding the home and the domestic sphere in 1940’s films. Whether they are classically called Film Noir or not, there is a huge dialogue going on about the place of the woman. What really meant someone was a “good” wife or an “ideal” homemaker? I know that the 1940’s were an absolutely fascinating time in history in terms to gender studies and the conversation the place of women in society.
One more aspect and then I will sign off for tonight, the idea of post WWII. I mentioned in my initial work on this project that Noir came out of this hard period of time during and after WWII. I think this plays a huge role in the reworking of the family dynamic and the place of women. There is the idea of the nuclear family and where women stand in terms of public and home life. Men are returning and reclaiming jobs, while women are questioning where they belong. This may sound like a rant, but I feel like I am on a good path looking at the conversation about women and place. I feel that the historical context of the time lends itself vehemently to the larger discussion of gender roles/identity in these films.
I have a file folder far too full of research that I need to start cutting down and organizing in preparation for my conference presentation. Do scholars ever become overwhelmed with the mass of papers, books, articles, downloads and every other type of research material? I think I am starting to realize why so many professors and scholars have an office filled to the brim with books and papers a foot thick on their desks!
Arriverderci!
Absolutely we do become over-loaded with stuff. No kidding, just last week my metal filing cabinet finally broke under the burden of too much weight. Whoops! Luckly Target sells cheap ones for $40 (though I have to acknowledge that such a price means I am, no doubt, supporting some labor and material exploitation...). About every two weeks I have to do what I call "clearing out" which means not only cleaning off my desk and filing papers (throwing out the scraps of notes only when necessary) but also organizing my files on my computer. Agh, even PDFs get to be too much. Thank the forces of the universe for Mendeley, which has changed my life.
ReplyDeleteAs for your plan of action, I think that it sounds reasonable, though I think that Thanksgiving might be a bit too late to watch 10 films. And if you watch 10 films, please do not try to incorporate them all into your presentation. Choose the 2-3 that are most symptomatic of what you are finding. I think it is good to get a broad idea of what is going on in the genre by watching 10 films, but you keep that as extra knowledge for a future project or Q and A. You only have 10 minutes to present (yikes, seriously... not a lot of time) so you need to stay focused.
So can I ask, is being a researcher this semester (with the piles of research and papers) somewhat fun?
I too think that all the resources we compile are overwhelming. But at the same time it's necessary. There have been so many times this semester that I've found the exact resource I needed either at the last minute or very late in my study, which I wouldn't have found without the whole line of unusable, ridiculous sources that preceded it.
ReplyDeleteI’m curious how much being a newly wed influences Irena’s enthusiasm and drive to be a proverbial “good wife,” and how much Phyllis’s being an...um...oldly wed(?)...yes, that’s a term now...influences her craftiness and feeling of imprisonment. I read in this marriage book that women are more prone to take pride in their home and family life whereas men define themselves through their work. I don’t know if that’s an actual psychological phenomenon inherent to gender (or perceived gender) or if it’s just a social construction. Either way I thought it was an interesting claim.
I think WWII is definitely worth looking into also. The whole persona of Rosy the Riveter is pretty fascinating. Maybe you could look at how the return of soldiers sent women back out of the workforce––in which, once they had entered, people realized “hey, women can work just as well as men can.”
Your research keeps getting more and more interesting. I can’t wait to see the final product.