Gender Stereotypes In A Streetcar Named Desire

Gender Representations Films have a tendency to shape what we think about a specific topic; it can open our minds to new subjects and opinions. How each gender is represented in films is displayed differently throughout the films: A Streetcar Named Desire (Kazan, 1951), Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino, 2009), and Legally Blonde (Luketic, 2001). Women are sexualized and treated as a minority throughout these films, but the men are forced to be masculine and prove their worth. In A Streetcar Named Desire, the women of the time were just getting rights and a voice in what was going on. Even though this is true, not all things changed. The female characters in this film are still sexualized and treated as if they are less compared to the

The men in this movie do horrible and traumatizing things. Even though there are two strong women characters in the film, they seem to only react to the conflict and violence around them. The men of the story do not react, they act on the violence; they enlist for the special mission. This kind of action/reaction gender dynamic hints at deeper notions of men and women’s relationships to violence. Men seek out violence, for pleasure or honorable purposes, where as women must be pushed to violence. At the beginning of the film, when Colonel Hans Landa arrives at the house, one of the women must get him something to drink. They also seem scared to speak as if they are not allowed to in the presence of a man. The women seem to have to serve the men, this proves that during this period women did not have many rights. During the conversation between Perrier and Colonel Hans Landau, the women of the house had to leave. Masculinity played a big role during this scene. The men seem to be confused on who is the dominate male in the situation. They both try to not overstep any boundaries. This is another example of how women can be influenced by men of higher power. They acted as if it was okay that they were being treated this way, when it was in fact

The Natzis and the Jews are at a constant battle. Lieutenant Aldo Raine has a goal for his soldiers, to bring back 100 scalps from german soldiers. This seems like a horrific task, but it seems like a battle for masculinity. This horrible idea was to prove that they were something to be frightened of and to intimidate the Natzis. The men characters in Inglourious Basterds, are constantly trying to broadcast who has the most power and strength. Obvious we know that the Natzis ruled over the Jews, but they definitely fought for their lives and freedom. This represents that men are more likely to fight for something they believe strongly in and to receive what they believe they deserve. In the case of this film, that would be to keep int Natzis from killing the