Khanh Mai

Professor Erin Dietel McLaughlin

WR 13300
November 7, 2014
Annotated Bibliography Assignment
1) An abstract
In this paper, I will explore women's portrayal in films in the 1960s. To be more specific,
I planned to argue in terms of the film industry and the cultural context of that period. In the
1960s, there was a Hollywood New Wave that prevents the women from entering the film
industry as well as minimizing women's image on screens. Meanwhile, in the society, there was
the Second Wave Feminism, which deeply affected the portrayal of women in films. Although
the Hollywood New Wave did not support women, the feminist movement in contrast changed
women's roles, which also led to a change in the portrayal of women on film. Eventually, a new
film era was born, in which women are stronger and more independent. The research paper also
explores some films that support this claim.

2) MLA style entry

Smith, Allison A. "Leading Ladies? Feminism and the Hollywood New Wave." Pell
Scholars Senior Thesis (2010): 1-25. Print.

Walsh, Kenneth T. "The 1960s: A Decade of Change for Women." US News. N.p., 12
Mar. 2010. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.
Wasson, Sam. "Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the
Dawn of the Modern Woman". New York: Harper Studio, 2010. N. pag. Print
Mulvey, Laura. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Film Theory and Criticism:
Introductory Readings. Eds. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. New York: Oxford UP, 1999:
833-44
Emily, Caulfield. "Self-Realization and Destructive Feminism in New Wave Cinema."
Film Matters. Vol. 1. N.p.: MLA International Bibliography, 2011. 27-31. Print.
Lunstad, Jana Kay.

Lunstad, Jana Kay. "But You Wouldn't Have the Gumption to Use

It": Bonnie and Clyde and the Sexual Revolution." Left History, 1999 1st ser. 6 (1999)

3) Annotation for the sources

Smith, Allison A. "Leading Ladies? Feminism and the Hollywood New Wave."Pell
Scholars Senior Thesis (2010): 1-25. Print.
In this article, Smith Allison Leading Ladies presented the Hollywood New Wave that favored
the participant of men over women. The author presented why the movement started and its
impact, especially on women. Hollywood New Wave was a period in American cinema
beginning in the mid-1960s until the early 1980s. This movement occurred after the fall of the
Hollywood studio system from the 1930s to the mid 1960s. The Production Code (1934) of the
studio system had limited the creative process of filmmakers. This code censored content in film

for sexuality, drugs, behavior, etc. Beginning in the late 1960s, this studio system began to fall,
as films' content was no longer censored strictly. (3) Eventually, there were new male faces in
the Hollywood New Wave, while portrayal of women is rare and insignificant. In the cinematic
world, the men had freedom and privileges, but the women did not have the same. (4)The article
is useful because it provides the impact of Hollywood movement had on women in the film
industry, yet there were still strong figures that went against the trend.

Walsh, Kenneth T. "The 1960s: A Decade of Change for Women." US News. N.P., 12
Mar. 2010. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.
In this article, Kenneth T. Walsh provided information about the Second Wave Feminism. The
Hollywood New Wave overlapped with Second Wave Feminism. In the United States. This
was a period in American history starting from 1960s and lasting through the 1980s when
women demanded equal rights and fought for social, political, and economic freedoms. The
number of women entering paid work force significantly increased, leading to the change in
women's attitude towards the difference in pay and sexual harassment at work. Women became
more dissatisfied and independent of men as they could do tasks that they did not do before. (1)
Gradually, some basic goals of the Sixties feminists emerged: "equal pay for equal work, an end
to domestic violence, curtailment of severe limits on women in managerial jobs, an end to sexual
harassment, and sharing of responsibility for housework and child rearing". (2)This article is
useful because it provides the historical background of the 1960s: The Second Wave Feminism
overlapped with The Hollywood New Wave. As mentioned above, during the Hollywood New
Wave, women were largely absent from the filmmaking process. This lack of involvement was

directly counter to the fact that the feminist movement. Hollywood. This research paper explored
the women who broke through this male barrier, so the feminist movement is a factor that affects
the portrayal of women in films.

Wasson, Sam. "Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the
Dawn of the Modern Woman". New York: Harper Studio, 2010. N. pag. Print.
In his article, Sam Wasson explored the image of Holly Golightly, a female protagonist from the
1961 film adaptation of Truman Capotes Breakfast at Tiffanys as one of the figures who broke
the barrier. The film is about a single, self-sufficient Holly Golightly who lived a life that largely
did not reflect the reality of women in the 1960s and the writer Paul Varjak, who moved into a
New York apartment building and became intrigued by his pretty neighbor Holly Golightly.
Holly's lifestyle both confused and fascinated Paul; in public she joined parties with a sexy,
sophisticated air, but when they were alone she changed into a different person. Holly Golightly
rejects the conventional ideals of her time and swaps them for nontraditional values, showing
clearly the impact of 1960s feminist movement on films. Although her Midwest tradition
required her to marry Doc Golightly, she rejected that tradition and started living a free,
independent life as Sam Wason described, "the absurd vision of a waiflike woman dressed for a
cocktail party in a black frock and pearls gazing into the famed jewelry store's window in broad
daylight has become an emblem of the American dream." The idea that women chased after men
and money was not the image media usually portrayed in the 1950s

Mulvey, Laura. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Film Theory and Criticism:
Introductory Readings. Eds. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. New York: Oxford UP, 1999:
833-44
In this article, Mulvey Laura examines Golightly as a symbol for women's freedom. Director
Blake Edwards portrayed this idea by Golightly's passionate and desirable gaze she gave to the
men. This is what Laura Mulvey called: "the male gaze", which, Laura believes is typically used
for male characters. Mulvey argues that movies are essentially made through and for the male
gaze and fulfill a voyeuristic desire for men to look at women as objects. Golightlys expression
of desire for men represented her sexually freedom. (837). Another type of freedom is depicted
in the film is the dependence men and women have on each other. Golightly is depicted to be
dependent on a man's finance, which is not surprising in the conventional 1950s and 1960s
theme. However, depicting Paul Varjak to depend financially on the woman on reversal, the
movie shows the equality between two genders. (839). This is interesting in terms of the feminist
aesthetic relevant to the movement mentioned above. This article is interesting because it
provides an example that is against the Hollywood Movement and relevant to the feminist
movement overall theme.
Emily, Caulfield. "Self-Realization and Destructive Feminism in New Wave Cinema."
Film Matters. Vol. 1. N.p.: MLA International Bibliography, 2011. 27-31. Print
In this article, Emily Caufield provides a change in view on women in the film Daisies (1966).
The film is about two young women, Marry 1 and Marry 2 who believed the world is to be
spoiled. They thought that many things in the world, including food, clothes, men, war are not to
be taken seriously. Emily argues that at first, it seems to be a slippery film, but if it is considered

in the context of feminism, Daisies is an aesthetically and politically film that remains one of the
great works of feminist cinema. (27) In the film, the two women took advantage of older men,
and they trashed an elaborate banquet reserved for government officials, which shows that they
had some sort of control over their lives. (30) One important visual scene that is relevant to the
context is when Marie 1 and Marie 2 sat in bikinis in front of a wooden board, with a tiny man
visible above their heads, lying on the top of the board. The placement of the man above them in
small form may present the idea that women can exploit men of power. (29) From the beginning
of the movie to the final frame, Marie I and Marie II show their "strict alignment with the agenda
of women at the crest of a New Wave, especially within the context of a totally new format, a
rhythmic structure that asserts itself as the Maries do themselves on cinema and society". (31) I
want to examine closely this article because it analyses the women in the film, who are
considered the leading examples for the feminist movement.
.

Lunstad, Jana Kay. "But You Wouldn't Have the Gumption to Use It": Bonnie and Clyde

and the Sexual Revolution." Left History, 1999 1st ser. 6 (1999)
In this book, Jana Kau Lunstad examined the change in gender role in the film Clyde and
Bonnie, premiered in 1967. The film is about Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, who embarked
on a life of crime. They are adventurers; they are lovers; they mean no harm. They began begin a
crime spree that extends from Oklahoma to Texas. They rob small banks and soon became
famous across the country. The film is a revolution for women's role, which, Jana argued, is first
demonstrated in the beginning with a scene showing Bonnie's naked neck and shoulders. The
audiences can see a change in the view on females, which is less conservative and more
sexualized than before. (69) To examine more about feminism, Academic Jana Kay Lunstad
discussed about the male gaze as men wanted to see them rather than how they really were. The

topic of male gaze is a key element of feminist film criticism. However, the image of Bonnie on
the screen "does not play into male fantasies regarding the female body, but rather her presence
as a fully sexual woman, within the context of the women's movement, affirms women's rights to
exert sexual desire." (75) This book is relevant because it carefully explores the role of Bonnie as
a sexual woman, which is not a typical depiction of women on screens before the 1950s. The
characteristic of Bonnie demonstrates the concept that the feminist movement had a huge impact
on the portrayal of women in the film industry.