In Day of the Outlaw women do not play the same type of role as the “others” have in films such as High Noon, Johnny Guitar, and The Ballad of Little Jo. For awhile we saw women beginning to take on similar roles as the alpha-male cowboy, however in this film the women were seen more as just objects. To Captain Bruhn and his gang they are seen as only objects and to the townspeople they are seen as the housewife. Either way they are not seen as having any influence or power in the town; they hold very true to a “feminine” role.
From a cultural studies standpoint how women are portrayed in this film is similar to how they were seen at the time. Day of the Outlaw was made in 1959 and it was in 1959 that the Barbie doll was introduced into US markets. Just as women were treated as objects in the film it was seen by the introduction of the Barbie doll that people viewed women as an object for their pleasure and to play with. The Barbie represented an image of what was believed to be the “perfect” women. She was manufactured with the perfect image of what men wanted and what women wanted to look like.
When Captain Bruhn and his gang came into town all his men wanted to do was drink and have some fun with the women in town. But the Captain says “no women, no whiskey, and no gunning…we’ll pleasure ourselves at the end of the trail.” However, the Saturday night before they are getting ready to leave Bruhn gives in and allows his men to have a dance with the women of the town but no whiskey is allowed. There are only four women in the town and in this scene we see the gang members tossing and passing them around like they are rag dolls. Pace is the most forceful in trying to kiss and take advantage of them, but Gene and the Captain step in to make sure that nothing is done. All of the women are married except for Ernine, but she meets Gene and he is the only one from the gang who doesn’t look at her like an object for momentary pleasure. He falls in love with her and wants to change his ways and leave the gang so he can be together with her. Even though Ernine was the youngest and only one not to be married she showed her motherly instincts when she goes back to try and get her brother Bobby back from the gang. Ernine puts herself in a dangerous position by doing this because Pace tries to get a hold of her when he sees her.
The late 1950s was also right before the second wave of feminism was beginning to take hold. The 1960s is when women began to push more for their rights, but in 1950s women were still pictured as being the housewife. People were getting married earlier and taking on their role of being a housewife and raising their family. In order to help with the war efforts some would take jobs for their husbands when they went away. The fact that during WWII the government was asking for women’s help in the war by creating posters saying “It’s a women’s war too!” goes to show that women were beginning to gain more independence and influence in society, but still hadn’t completely grown out of the “housewife” role that they are given in this film.
In Day of the Outlaw women do not play the same type of role as the “others” have in films such as High Noon, Johnny Guitar, and The Ballad of Little Jo. Starting in the 1950s women beginning taking on more influential roles in the western genre, however in this film the women were seen more as just objects. To Captain Bruhn and his gang they are seen as only objects and to the townspeople they are seen as the housewife. Either way they are not seen as having any influence or power in the town; they hold very true to a “feminine” role.
ReplyDeleteFrom a cultural studies standpoint women are portrayed in this film similar to how they are seen at the time. Day of the Outlaw is made in 1959, the same year the Barbie doll was introduced into US markets. Just as women are treated as objects in the film you can tell from the introduction of the Barbie doll that people viewed women as an object for their pleasure and to play with. The Barbie represents an image of what is believed to be the “perfect” women. She is manufactured with the perfect image of what men wanted and what women wanted to look like.
When Captain Bruhn and his gang come into town all his men want to do is drink and have some fun with the women in town. However, the Captain says “no women, no whiskey, and no gunning…we’ll pleasure ourselves at the end of the trail.” The Saturday night before they are leaving Bruhn allows his men to have a dance with the women in town, but no whiskey is allowed. There are only four women in the town and in this scene we see the gang members tossing and passing the women around like they are rag dolls. Pace is the most forceful and tries to take advantage of them, but Gene and the Captain step in to make sure that nothing is done. All of the women are married except for Ernine. While Bruhn and his gang are in town she meets Gene and he is the only one from the gang who doesn’t look at her like an object for momentary pleasure. He falls in love with her and wants to change his ways and leave the gang. The women’s role in the film is similar to the decade. The late 1950s is right before the second wave of feminism is beginning to take hold and it’s not until the 1960s that women really began to push more for their rights. In the 1950s couples are getting married earlier and the women go straight into raising a family and taking care of the house.
The director of the film, De Toth, is and immigrant to the United States and has been married seven times. How women are portrayed in the film may have also been influenced by his personal views. As an immigrant he brings a foreigners point of view on the west and American culture. But the fact he has been married seven times also shows that he may have a problem with women.