The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful: the Influence of Gender Ideologies in Films of the 1940s and 1950s

Feminist scholars have been critiquing films for decades, theorizing on how images of gender have influenced the cultural values of “idealÀ womanhood in American society. However, published research is lacking that provides empirical support for these theories. The purpose of this study is to provide support of feminist theories on gender stereotypes in films, starting with the 1940s and 1950s, a pivotal period in the establishment of the social status of American women as homemakers and caregivers, and to develop an effective methodology for content analysis of film. Using a random sample of 14 films from 1939-1959 selected from the American Film Institute catalog of feature films, a content analysis was performed to test several hypotheses about the changing status of women in films, both as characters and as production crew, during this period. These hypotheses were largely supported, and the findings indicate a need for further investigation using this methodology

Publisher: Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, TBA, New York, New York City, Aug 11, 2007
Year of Publication: 2007