Analysis On Feminism in Movie Thelma and Louise.docx

1、Analysis On Feminism in Movie Thelma and LouiseAnalysis On Feminism in Movie Thelma and LouiseAnalysis on Feminism in Movie Thelma & Louise Chapter 1 Introduction With the occurrence of the second-wave feminism in the West during 1960s, movie as a kind of art has entered the feminists vision. Throug

2、h political practice and artistic practice, new-generation of western feminists pushed the movies on feminism to the stage of history. For the U.S. film and television industry, the period of 1960s was a turning point, because more and more films and television programs portrayed a group of female f

3、igures whose characters were independent, brave and fortitudinous. Thelma & Louise is one of typical movies produced in Hollywood which represents feminism in 1990s. Through analyzing this movie, we will get a further understanding of American culture and society. Chapter 2 Modern Feminism in the We

4、st In the United States, feminism movement has never stopped. The suffragette movement, which campaigned for womens rights to vote, happened in the early twentieth century. Since the 1960s the womens movement has been engaged in a systematic and constant critique of media institutions and their outp

5、ut. 2.1 Theory of Feminism Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical or philosophical discourse, which aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines womens social roles and lived experience, and feminist politics in a variety of fields, such as anthropology and

6、sociology, 1 psychoanalysis, economics, literary criticism, and philosophy. While generally providing a critique of social relations, most of feminist theory also focuses on analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of womens rights, interests, and issues. Themes explored in feminism include art

7、 history and contemporary art, aesthetics, discrimination, stereotyping, objectification, oppression, and patriarchy. 2.2 Development of Feminism Feminism began in the eighteen century the French Revolution, which symbolizes that women and men would be equal one day. The development of feminism move

8、ment could be divided into three waves. First-wave feminism refers to an extended period of feminist activity during the nineteenth century and early twentieth century in the United Kingdom and the United States. Originally it focused on the promotion of equal contract and property rights for women

9、and the opposition to chattel marriage and ownership of married women by their husbands. In the United States, first-wave feminism is considered to have ended with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1919), granting women the right to vote. Leaders of the femin

10、ist movement campaigned for the abolition of slavery and Temperance prior to championing womens rights. American first-wave feminism involved a wide range of women, some belonging to conservative Christian groups. Second-wave feminism refers to the period of feminist activity in the early 1960s and

11、lasting through the late 1980s. Second Wave feminism saw cultural and political inequalities as inextricably linked. The movement encouraged women to understand aspects of their personal lives as deeply politicized, and reflective of a sexist structure of power. The phrase “Womens Liberation” was fi

12、rst used in the United States in 1964 and first appeared in print in 1966. By 1968, although the term Womens Liberation Front appeared in the magazine Ramparts, it was starting to refer to 2 the whole womens movement. Bra-burning also became associated with the movement, though the actual prevalence

13、 of bra-burning is debatable. One of the most vocal critics of the womens liberation movement has been the African American feminist and intellectual Gloria Jean Watkins (who uses the pseudonym “bell hooks”) who argues that this movement glossed over race and class and thus failed to address “the is

14、sues that divided women.” She highlighted the lack of minority voices in the womens movement in her book Feminist theory from margin to center (1984). Third-wave feminism began in the early 1990s, arising as a response to perceived failures of the second wave and also as a response to the backlash a

15、gainst initiatives and movements created by the second wave. Third-wave feminism also contains internal debates between difference feminists such as the psychologist Carol Gilligan (who believes that there are important differences between the sexes) and those who believe that there are no inherent

16、differences between the sexes and contend that gender roles are due to social conditioning. Post-feminism describes a range of viewpoints reacting to feminism. While not being “anti-feminist”, post-feminists believe that women have achieved second wave goals while being critical of third wave feminist goals. The term was first used in the 1980s to describe a backlash against second-wave feminism. It is now a label for