In the West, there is little room for women. Women often bear no similarities to the alpha male cowboy. Perhaps the most notable difference between a woman and the alpha male cowboy is their difference of opinion on language. The cowboy disdains language while the woman embraces it. Two films that illustrate this depiction of women as the outsider are The Ballad of Little Jo (1993) and High Noon (1952). Both movies were produced roughly thirty years after a major feminist movement.
“The Cowboy hero’s taciturnity, like his awkward manners around woman and inability to dance, is only superficially a flaw; actually, it’s proof of his manhood and true heartedness” (Tompkins 54). Tompkins’ statement is affirmed by the actions of Josephine Monaghan in The Ballad of Little Jo. Viewed by her family as a whore, Jo has no choice but to convince everyone in Ruby City that she is a man. She does so by exhibiting the silent and antisocial traits of the alpha male cowboy. By becoming manly, it is clear that Jo is living a much safer life, one where she is not limited to becoming a wife or a whore. Jo’s choice to live as a man saves her from a dismal life in the West. However, it also is incredibly illustrative of the attitude of men toward woman in the Western. The other women that appear in the film live up to what the West expects of them. Mary becomes a wife for a rancher from Texas, and the men line up for their turn when the whore comes to town.
Another film that illustrates the role of women as the outsider is High Noon. When Marshal Will Kane turns the carriage around to return to face Frank Miller, his wife, Amy, begs and pleads with him not to. She tries to explain to him that their new life is more important than his facing his enemy, but he will not listen. In fact, when she asks him to explain why he must go back to fight Miller, he cannot explain it. This is precisely the disdain of language that marks the alpha male cowboy. He cannot explain why he must take action, he simply must take action. It is what makes him male. “Because the genre is in revolt against a Victorian culture where the ability to manipulate language confers power, the Western equates power with ‘not-language.’ And not-language it equates with being male” (Tompkins 55). This quotation perfectly describes the relationship between Will and Amy. Will’s disdain for language makes him male; while Amy’s constant usage of it makes her the typical woman outsider of the West.
In the Western, there is little room for women. Women often bear no similarities to the alpha male cowboy. Perhaps the most notable difference between a woman and the alpha male cowboy is their difference of opinion on language. The cowboy disdains language while the woman embraces it. Two films that illustrate this depiction of women as the outsider are The Ballad of Little Jo (1993) and High Noon (1952). Both movies were produced roughly thirty years after a major feminist movement.
ReplyDelete“The Cowboy hero’s taciturnity, like his awkward manners around woman and inability to dance, is only superficially a flaw; actually, it’s proof of his manhood and true heartedness” (Tompkins 54). Tompkins’ statement is affirmed by the actions of Josephine Monaghan in The Ballad of Little Jo. Viewed by her family as a whore, Jo has no choice but to convince everyone in Ruby City that she is a man. She does so by exhibiting the silent and antisocial traits of the alpha male cowboy. By becoming manly, it is clear that Jo is living a much safer life, one where she is not limited to becoming a wife or a whore. Jo’s choice to live as a man saves her from a dismal life in the West. However, it also is incredibly illustrative of the attitude of men toward woman in the Western. The other women that appear in the film live up to what the West expects of them. Mary becomes a wife for a rancher from Texas, and the men line up for their turn when the whore comes to town.
Another film that illustrates the role of women as the other is High Noon. When Marshal Will Kane turns the carriage around to return to face Frank Miller, his wife, Amy, begs and pleads with him not to. She tries to explain to him that their new life is more important than his facing his enemy, but he will not listen. In fact, when she asks him to explain why he must go back to fight Miller, he cannot explain it. This is precisely the disdain of language that marks the alpha male cowboy. He cannot explain why he must take action, he simply must take action. It is what makes him male. “Because the genre is in revolt against a Victorian culture where the ability to manipulate language confers power, the Western equates power with ‘not-language.’ And not-language it equates with being male” (Tompkins 55). This quotation perfectly describes the relationship between Will and Amy. Will’s disdain for language makes him male; while Amy’s constant usage of it makes her the typical woman other of the West.