Feminism & Mid-20th Century Western Films: An Unlikely Parallel Michaela Protenic College

The growth of feminism’s influence in American society during the mid-20th century paralleled the rise of strong, independent female characters over the traditionally weak women of Hollywood western film. The shift of female character types in a predominantly patriarchal genre correlates with the rise of feminism and the increase of movements rights, especially in the late sixties. Chronologically from the 1950s to the late 1960s, the films The Furies (1950), Cat Ballou (1965), Bonnie & Clyde (1967) and the The Belle Starr Story (1968) progressively portrayed their female characters as more and more independent and strong over the course of the decades. However, since the western genre is classically male-dominated, even strong and independent female characters are still continuously subordinated by the males of the films, making the action heroine merely a copy of their male counterparts. Therefore, the influence of feminism is limited on this typically masculine-dominated genre.It is obvious that women were not valued in the writing, production, direction, and casting in the majority of western films in the mid 20th century.

This neglect for the importance of female roles in film created a sexist approach to casting women...