The Times, they are a'changin. Views of women in A Streetcar Named Desire, The Female Eunuch and the film Shirley Valentine.

THE TIMES, THEY ARE A’ CHANGIN’ (1st draft)

Lois Bender was quietly sitting at a café one morning, eating a quick breakfast before heading to work. This was before a man came and sat opposite her at the table and asked if she ever got lonely, seeing that she was by herself.

Does this relate to you, or even seem right? Probably not. This sort of thing hardly ever happens these days, due to the dramatic change in the role of women. However, it was a common practice in the 1940’s and 50’s, as women greatly depended on men for nearly everything, and never left the house without them by their side.

Bender, an English Studies lecturer from University Sydney, declares “A Streetcar Named Desire”, by Tennessee Williams, clearly shows the way women were treated back in the day. According to Bender, it represents the patriarchal concept of a 1940’s female as psychologically brittle and ideally inhabiting the decorative role, through the characterization of Blanche Dubois. Blanche captures the idea of fragility and makes much effort to fulfil an aesthetic ideal in her appearance. While the costuming, involving a “white suit with a fluffy bodice,” clearly represented in the stage directions, hints to Blanche’s obsession with fulfilling the decorative role, the choice of words such as “delicate” and “uncertain”, summon the absence of determination and independence. “Blanche is characterized as a psychologically fragile female, exemplified through the element, “a cat screeches near the window,” which is used as a marker of the psychological fragility of a woman who is constantly on the verge of hysteria,” states Bender. References to Blanche’s smoking and drinking, “nervously tamping a cigarette,” suggests a causal connection between emotional stress and her recourse to props. Williams greatly uses recurring aural and visual devices, such as “Varsouviana” and the “locomotive…heard approaching outside” to suggest the mental trauma of her husband’s death. The aural device of the “polka music,” strengthens the concept of her intellectual crisis due to her destitute state.

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Despite Blanche’s conventional emotional vulnerability, Blanche fails to adopt the typical female traits of domesticity and nurture that her sister, Stella Kowalski, acquires. Stanley, Stella’s husband, expresses a tone of displeasure towards Blanche for her neglecting. His tone of sarcasm and extreme annoyance creates a sense of intensity through his use of the interrogative mode and exclamation, “How about my supper, huh?...Well, isn’t that just dandy!” The audience sees Stanley’s aggression as a conventional male trait, which is compared with Stella, who, having traditional female traits, is attracted to Stanley’s aggression, “I was sort of thrilled by it.” Bender says Stella is characterized as emotionally dependent, by imagery that infantilises the female, “I cry on his lap like a baby.” Her request, “you’d better give me some money,” highlights traditional feminine dependency through the syntactical second person pronouns “you” and “money”. In a way that reproduces the stereotype of feminine absuridity, Stella reacts to Stanley’s frequent references to legal affairs with the informal idiom, “My head is swimming!”

“A streetcar named desire” introduces an intense anlysis of the way the establishments and views of post-war America placed limitations on women’s lives. William’s uses Blanche’s and Stella’s dependence on men to reveal and analyse the treatment of women during the change from the old to the new South. Blanche sees male associates as her only way to attain pleasure, and she depends on men for self-image. When Blanche declares she finds Mitch appealing, it is really her believing he is her last chance of redemption from disintegration, “I want to rest! I want to breathe quietly again! Yes – I want Mitch!” Due to Blanche’s desperation for an economic provider, she creates a false façade of a sexually innocent female. Williams use of juxtaposition compares the reality of Blanche’s conduct with the unreality of her image, “It was that other little – familiarity – that I – felt obliged to discourage.” “Don’t forget that Blanche’s goal is to create an image of an appropriate wife,” Bender declares. The lyrics of “It’s only a paper moon,” the popular 1940’s song Blanche sings while bathing, silhuoettes Blanche’s situation concerning Mitch. She sings, “It’s a Barnum and Bailey world, just as phony as it can be. But it wouldn’t be make-believe, if you believed in me.” When Mitch confronts Blanche because of Stanley’s malicious revelations about her character, Blanche admits her lies are necessary, and that she detests reality and encourages “magic.” Because Blanche cannot see around her dependence on men, she has no realistic inception of how to save herself. Blanche does not notice that her dependence on men, will result her destruction and not her redemption. By depending on men, Blanche is placing her destiny in the hands of others.

Professor of Cultural Studies, Mamie Grubb, from UNSW, believes “The Female Eunuch” successfully demonstrates the rejection of particular women to the roles they were expected to fulfil during the transitional period, of the 1960s. “It captures the idea that conventional women lack potential and power,” Grubb says. Germaine Greer’s short speech portrays her repulsion of the conventional gender roles and the socially imposed conceptions of what it meant to be female. Greer uses the term “masquerade” as a metaphor for socially constructive roles, and the repetition, of “I’m sick of…”, reinforces a tone of contempt and disgust towards traditional gender expectations. Greer expresses opposing values to those of Blanche Dubois, “I’m sick of pretending eternal youth.” Grubb says Greer uses a range of literary techniques, such as the hyperbole, “eternal youth” in order to express her rejection of an artificial and unrealistic focus on feminine attractiveness that is conceived in terms of youth. This is indicated furthermore through the image of “false eyelashes” and the “powder room”, cultural signifiers of the female decorative role. The emphatic, assertive tone of Greer’s voice is reinforced through the use of the descriptive triplet, “I’m sick of belaying my own intelligence, my own will, my own sex,” which shows she is rejecting the stereotypical role of irrationality.

Greer uses the imagery of death to represent the adoption of the female decorative role as defining her life as unacceptably oppressive, “I’m sick of weighting my head with a dead mane,” and the selection of the word “weighting” contains connotations of burden. “The audience is presented with implied contrast between the value of freedom associated with feminism and the value system of repression associated with patriarchy, and this “mane” becomes a type of shackle in this context,” pronounces Grubb. When she says, “self-important pronouncements,” she is declaring that the male is self-centred, with an extreme tone of anger, “I’m sick of pretending some fatuous male’s self-important pronouncements are the object of my undivided attention.” The piece is structured so that the tone becomes climactic and gains intensity. Greer’s use of language is assertive, self-assured and authoritative, and there is a sense of anger and aggression, and a rejection of the decorative role and stereotypes of female irrationality, “I’m sick of having no opinion of my own either.”

Dramatic Art expert, Kayla Ayer, asserts that the film “Shirley Valentine”, directed by Lewis Gilbert, correctly displays the changing roles of women in today’s society. Ayer says the film represents a contemporary woman’s journey away from traditional gender roles and her final freedom from the restraints of patriarchy. The first part of the film greatly emphasises the misery the protagonist, Shirley Valentine’s, household duties bring upon her, and her constant yearning to break free from the limitations of patriarchy. The audience is greeted with the opening credits of Shirley’s domestic life, which are accompanied by a mournful melody with extended flight imagery, “a bird is born to fly,” representing the repressive and restrictive nature of patriarchal roles. “As the audience becomes familiar with Shirley’s character, we find that her ironic voice indicates she possesses the potential to transcend this limited life,” says Ayer. Her tone of mockery suggests an inherent capacity to rebel, “Thou shalt give, thy fella steak on Thursday.” This biblical allusion implies her discontent with the traditional role and a lack of fulfillment. All this melancholy and dissatisfaction is ultimately what leads to her escape to Greece, which acts as a psychological journey and a rejection of the patriarchal value system that is associated with her home.

Shirley Valentine represents the modern-day woman, challenging the patriarchal values of society. With the change in setting, comes the opportunity for liberation, which Shirley undoubtedly welcomes. This is exemplified through her relationship with Costas, and her ability to separate the pleasure of the moment from any emotional attachment to her partner, “given the amount of time you spend on your brother’s boat.” The voiceover, “you belong back here,” accompanied by a long shot of Shirley on a motorbike, creates a sense of liberation and a suggestion of the expansiveness and broadened horizons of her life now that she has shaken off the shackles of patriarchy, “The only holiday romance I’ve had is with myself.” This quote suggests that she is no longer a male identified woman, and refuses to achieve social significance through her relationship with a man. Shirley Valentine has finally rejected the ancient values of patriarchal society, and has opened her eyes to the wondrous excitement life can bring, if you choose to live it.

Ladies? No. We are not the submissive, delicate and irrational race that once upon a time strutted the streets of town. We are women … we are girls. “It is thanks to people like Germaine Greer, who stood up and exposed the utter disgrace surrounding the patriarchal view of the dominant male, and the dependent, delicate female,” Bender says, “My independence doesn’t hinder anything I do. I don’t need a man to stand by and protect me. I am a contemporary woman, and contemporary women live life.”

Stephanie Recking