Both High Noon and The Ballad of Little Jo present many revisionist ideas about women in Westerns. In many cases they defy what was expected of women in Westerns as well as what Tompkins and Matheson believed women represented in Westerns. Matheson states that even if a woman does carry a significant role in a Western, she is still feminized, stating, “The central group is all male. In Wayne’s Western’s, however, when a woman is not the sidekick, it should be noted that these competing value systems are still carefully gendered” (Matheson 903). Such is not the case in both High Noon and The Ballad of Little Joe, as both Amy and Jo take on masculine qualities. Throughout the High Noon, Amy, as well as Mrs. Ramirez, must have it their way. They will not let the alpha male, Kane, tell them what to do. Both women prove they do not need to rely on a man as they both threaten to leave if Kane does not handle things in a peaceful way. Like an alpha male, the women make their statements through action. When Amy realizes that leaving town was the wrong action to take, she takes Mrs. Ramirez’s advice and fights for her man.
In both films the main women prove that the gun is not only for the alpha male, as both Amy and Jo prove they can use one. They both take a man’s life by the gun; something that only the male was believed to be able to do. Tompkins describes a man’s inner voice as a viewer cannot hear it such as one can a woman’s, “The silence of this inner voice, its muteness, keeps the woman’s voice, its counterpart, from being heard. It is replaced by the narrative of the gunfight, the range war, the holdup, the chase” (Tompkins 65). In both films the alpha females prove that they possess the inner voice of men, participating in “the gunfight, the range war, the holdup, the chase”. When females begin speaking in the voices of men (figuratively), the alpha male’s role begins to become overshadowed by the new female role. Throughout The Ballad of Little Jo, it seemed as though the men feared such would happen. Men discouraged Jo from her secret and even ridiculed her when her secret was revealed at the end. Males in the movie who may consider themselves alpha males, such as Percy, are embarrassed they could be fooled by a woman. By showing the emotion of embarrassment they are doing the alpha male a disservice and breaking down the old customs of the Western alpha male one step at a time. Of course the new ways of women in these two films is the largest contributor to such revision.
Both High Noon and The Ballad of Little Jo present many revisionist ideas about women in Westerns. In many cases they defy what was expected of women in Westerns as well as what Tompkins and Matheson believed women represented in Westerns. Matheson states that even if a woman does carry a significant role in a Western, she is still feminized, stating, “The central group is all male. In Wayne’s Western’s, however, when a woman is not the sidekick, it should be noted that these competing value systems are still carefully gendered” (Matheson 903). Such is not the case in both High Noon and The Ballad of Little Joe, as both Amy of High Noon and little Jo take on masculine qualities. Throughout High Noon, Amy, as well as Mrs. Ramirez, must have it their way. They will not let the alpha male, Kane, tell them what to do. Both women prove they do not need to rely on a man's love and attention as they both threaten to leave if Kane does not handle things in a peaceful way. Like an alpha male would do, the women make their statements through their actions. When Amy realizes that leaving town was the wrong action to take, she takes Mrs. Ramirez’s advice and fights for her man.
ReplyDeleteIn both films the main women prove that the gun is not only for the alpha male, as both Amy and Jo prove they can use one. They both take a man’s life with the gun; something that only the male was believed to be capable of doing. Tompkins describes a man’s inner voice as men do not speak their feelings out loud such as women do, “The silence of this inner voice, its muteness, keeps the woman’s voice, its counterpart, from being heard. It is replaced by the narrative of the gunfight, the range war, the holdup, the chase” (Tompkins 65). In both films the alpha females prove that they possess the inner voice of men, participating in “the gunfight, the range war, the holdup, the chase”. When females begin speaking in the voices of men (figuratively), the alpha male’s role begins to become overshadowed by the new female role. Throughout The Ballad of Little Jo, it seemed as though the men feared such would happen. The men did not want women doing things only men were supposed to do. Men discouraged Jo from her secret and even ridiculed her when her secret was revealed at the end. Males in the movie who consider themselves alpha males, such as Percy, are embarrassed they could be fooled by a woman. By showing the emotion of embarrassment they are doing the alpha male a disservice and breaking down the old customs of the Western alpha male one step at a time. Of course the new ways of women in these two films and the ability to break down old stereotypes is the largest contributor to such revision of the woman in the western.