Sheep's Clothing: The Depiction Of Women In Psycho

Depiction of Women in Psycho In the article, “A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: The Depiction of Women in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho” by Sunny Bavaro, it talks about how women in the movie are partaking in different roles and how the female characters that step out of women gender roles perish in the movie. Some of these roles are perceived more masculine than feminine which made these female characters unique. Bavaro specifically stated that Marion is “lawbreaking-sexual/sensual gender role defying woman,” Lila is a “frigid yet socially acceptable woman,” and Mother is a castrating murderous woman.” In the beginning of Psycho, Marion played an active role in the relationship with her lover Sam. She takes many actions which were unwomanly like such as stealing money and cars to help her relationship with Sam. Bavaro stated, “Even when the salesman implies that the car she is trying to sell him is stolen, Marion assets, “I believe I have the necessary

The female characters showed misogynistic behavior towards one another. Lila loathed Marion because of her mischievous side. Marion loathed Mother because of how she treated Norman. Mother loathed Marion because she was a risk to patriarchy. Psycho is a movie that promotes the loathing of the same kind in this case is women to women. The female characters: Marion, Lila, and Mother represent what the movie is trying to convey the different types of women to the viewers. Marion is a lawbreaker, Lila is cold and asexual, and Mother is a murderer. Lila is the only woman that society is familiar with and follows the order of patriarchy. I learned that what Psycho is trying to tell us is that if a woman acts out of their gender role, they will have severe consequences and that the movie tricks the audience into believing that a man is necessary for a woman to fully become a