High Noon & The Ballad of Little Jo

According to Tompkins, the only two places where women belong “in the social structure [are] the church and the home” (Tompkins 44). In High Noon, however, we see a different situation when Helen is introduced as a business owner of a local saloon. She’s a woman with character who knows what she wants, and she seems to be significantly respected by the men around her. Her lover happens to be the deputy, who shows less personality than her by surrendering his position in fear of the bad guys. The other main female character, Amy, sticks more to the cliché characteristics of a woman in the Western – but she doesn’t fit the “pattern of talk cancelled by action” (Tompkins 51) when she comes to the rescue for the Marshall in peril. Nobody stands up for the Marshall, not even the deputy, but a woman does – and she does a fairly decent job at it, too. What is mostly represented in High Noon in accordance to woman is how much more in control they seem to be about their lives. Helen and Amy had decided for themselves that they were leaving the town, regardless of what their men thought. Amy ultimately stays to save the day, not because any man told her to.
In the beginning of The Ballad of Little Jo we see a more accurate Western representation of women. Josephine, as a woman, is not taken seriously; she is pushed aside, sexually assaulted, and ignored. Nonetheless, she revolutionizes her female persona, by dropping all standards and camouflaging herself as a man – which goes against all law or religion which women are supposed to adhere to. When she is seen as a man, people take her seriously; she gains support and friendship. Every time she is unmasked, however, people are bewildered and treat her like scum. Nevertheless, it’s good to see women finally step up in these Western films; it gives the alpha cowboy a wakeup call.
The role of the alpha cowboy seems to be losing spotlight, too. Without John Wayne, it's difficult to see if there's any alpha male anymore. It seems like there's more characters with equal or higher status than the supposed alpha male. In High Noon we see the Marshall, who definitely proves his courage by taking up on a fight against four - but all these cowboys seem to have become softer than the alpha Wayne ideal. The women aren't as subdued by them anymore, and the only person who seems to be feared and respected are the actual bad guys. It's as if the genre had been slightly redefined.