In the film The Day of the Outlaw, women play secondary “other” roles to the alpha male cowboys. The men in this film treat these women as weak and under the control of the men. During the 1950s, this is exactly how women were viewed. They were seen as objects responsible for staying at home and being an unconditional wife, mother and caretaker. When the group of outlaws invaded Bitters, the men isolated the women into one place where they knew they would be safe and protected. They did this because they did not think the women could protect themselves from Bruhn’s posse and they had to do it for them. Since women had very few rights compared to men, Helen and the other women had no choice but to listen to them and comply with what they wanted. This is also seen when Bruhn and his men used the women for a night of dancing. It was clear that the women did not want to be there but they did not have the right to voice their dissatisfaction. The men spoke to and about the women in very condescending ways , hoping that they could use them as mere entertainment.
The 1950s ideology of a faithful housewife to their man also includes fidelity. It was extremely unheard of for a woman to cheat on her husband and society looked disapprovingly on such acts. In this film, Helen Crane passionately kisses her former lover Blaise Starret when she is married to Hal Crane. They both admit their love for one another but Helen is the one to initiate the kiss and Starret is the one to stop it in the end. This contradicts the women’s job in the 1950s, which was to take care of their husbands, not cheat on them.
In the film The Day of the Outlaw, women play secondary “other” roles to the alpha male cowboys. The men in this film treat these women as weak and under the control of the men. During the 1950s, this is exactly how women were viewed. They were seen as objects responsible for staying at home and being an unconditional wife, mother and caretaker. When the group of outlaws invaded Bitters, the men isolated the women into one place where they knew they would be safe and protected. They did this because they did not think the women could protect themselves from Bruhn’s posse and they had to do it for them. Since women had very few rights compared to men, Helen and the other women had no choice but to listen to them and comply with what they wanted. This is also seen when Bruhn and his men used the women for a night of dancing. It was clear that the women did not want to be there but they did not have the right to voice their dissatisfaction. The men spoke to and about the women in very condescending ways, hoping that they could use them as mere entertainment. This brings up the issue of rape in society. Rape was not a subject that was talked about during the 1950s, and these women were virtually being raped by these men. The women did not have to right to speak up about the disrespect they were receiving from men.
ReplyDeleteThe 1950s ideology of a faithful housewife to their man also includes fidelity. The woman’s job was to stay at home, raise the kids, and take care of her husband. It was extremely unheard of and unacceptable for a woman to cheat on her husband and society looked disapprovingly on such acts during this time. In this film, Helen Crane passionately kisses her former lover Blaise Starret when she is married to Hal Crane. They both admit their love for one another but Helen is the one to initiate the kiss and Starret is the one to stop it in the end. This contradicts the women’s job in the 1950s, which was to take care of their husbands, not cheat on them.