Day of the Outlaw SH

In The Day of the Outlaw, we see themes of the objectification of women and rape. It wasn’t until the 1960’s that rape legislation finally took hold in the United States. The Day of the Outlaw, released in 1959, embodies the frustration felt by women at that time. In the movie, the outlaw men constantly beg to have their way with the women, forcing the women to kiss them and dance with them. They view the women as objects, objects of pleasure. They only reference them as a means to pleasure themselves. The objectification of women by the outlaw men in this movie is quite shocking.

After World War II, many men returned to find women performing their jobs. Men in America were accustomed to being the dominant figure in the home, physically and financially. The rise in employment of women and the replacement in the workplace made men threatened by women’s new found independence. In the late 1950’s, America was on the brink of the sexual revolution, with women gaining more independence from the home and the church. This threat is felt heavily in the theme of adultery in The Day of The Outlaw. Helen Crane and Blaze have obviously had an affair, and they show mixed emotions towards each other. Helen gives herself to Blaze so he wouldn’t kill him. This theme of adultery was not glorified in the movie. Blaze compares taking a married Helen: “it doesn’t make me any different than the men who rode in and took over this town.” Blaze rejects Helen’s sexual independence and power when rejecting her advances, and by comparing an affair with the events in the town, he casts it in a very negative light.