I am doing my dissertation on how women are portrayed as deviant if they do not follow the guidelines society has laid for them. This would include women always being labelled badv in religion because of Adam and Eve. In academic texts such as Pollak, Lombroso etc. In films I have alot of examples eg, Thelma and Loiuse, Butterfields 8, Waterloo Bridge, Fatal Attraction- Bad women dying at the end.
Does anyone know any plays by classic writers which stereotype women as gossips, bad etc? Any modern books?
Any films?
2006-10-22 10:13:45 · 31 answers · asked by The Face 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Cathy Burke in Misery? Is that the film, there is Kathy Bates, did you mean the character of Kathy Bates?.
Thank you for all answers. I am noting them down but could you please specify if they are books or films. I have heard of most but not all. It saves me from searching for them on IMDB.
2006-10-22 10:50:26 · update #1
Pride and Prejudice (book) shows most girls to be flighty and gossipy.
The greek plays were great for that- Medea killed her own children and poisoned her husbands mistress.... Probably a bit of Elektra (Greek play, not the film!!)
Shakespeare, as mentioned, altho you'll find that quite a few of those have their foundations in roman and greek stories.
Also, don't underestimate the Bible etc... Mary Magdelane- the ideas of either virgin or whore orignated, arguably, from there.
Vanity fair (book) might be worth a look, ive not read it but think becky sharpe, the main character, is supposed to be a total b!tch
Through the enlightenment, rationality was supposed to govern all and men were deemed rational, women irrational... I did a unit in crime between 1750-1900 and it demonstrated the criminalisation of women. For example, prostitution was a key crime of the "dangerous classes" because a prostitute with a STD could potentially take out a whole regiment, at a time when the British Empire was growing. Emsley is a really easy read on this!
Good luck!
2006-10-22 13:10:26 · answer #1 · answered by spagbolfordinner 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Academic texts - Malleus Maleficarum (which I think is latin for Witch Hammer, or Witches Hammer', which is a book originally published in 1486 - is is basically an overview of how woman are temptresses who are trying to lead men asstray (like Eve led Adam asstray with the apple in the Garden of Eden). It was used during the inquisition as a guidebook on how to know if a woman is a witch. I've but a website in the sources section for more infor. Not all the links on this site, work, but the top one (second link in my sources section) will allow you to read the translation of the book online.
Fiction - The Witches' Hammer by Jane Stanton Hitchcock. This is a thriller about a woman who's father is murdered because of the malleus (this is how I found out about the malleus malleficarum).
2006-10-22 11:21:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
She-Devil
Serial Mom
Hand That Rocks The Cradle
The Long Kiss Goodnight
The First Wives Club
Basic Instinct
Girl Interrupted
Intolerable Cruelty
Big Business
2006-10-22 10:28:47 · answer #3 · answered by b97st 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The movie "Ran" directed by Akira Kurosawa had a very manipulative woman in it. The story is based on Shakespear's "King Lear". She gets her head cut off.
The classic book "flatland" about beings in a two dimentional world portray women in a very sexist way. Females are portrayed as lines that have to "wag their rear ends" so that the males don't get impaled by them (they can't see the two dimentional females straight on). they are also considered really stupid in this "classic story".
The movie Elizabeth with Cate Blanchet.
Hatshepsut was a female pharoh who crossed dressed in ancient egypt. She wore a fake beard sometimes. guess they didn't take women seriously in ancient days either.
Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton both make women look stupid. Madonna. Now she's the real thing.
2006-10-22 11:28:47 · answer #4 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
shakespeare:lady macbeth.
Hamlet: Hamlet's mother is weak marries Cornelius her brother in law.
I'm sure if you went through a couple of shakespeare plays you would see common women gossiping but none of the main characters.
films? misery.
Betty Blue betty is nuts,
James bond movies theres always one.
Blade Runner one of the replicants is a woman who is also an assasin
the Sci fi series Galactica a a fine selection of evil women mostly cylons though one in particular. Admiral Helena Cain.
How could I have forgotten kill bill, Jackie Brown, and pulp fiction all have strong female characters some evil some good.
2006-10-22 10:43:38 · answer #5 · answered by mixturenumber1 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are a few movies that comes to my mind. Basic Instinct, Cruel Intention, Wizard of Oz, Poison Ivy, Single White Female, 101 Dalmatians, Monster, and so much more....There are a few in the Greek Mythology too, remember the Snake head lady she was quite evil. What about Lizzy Bordon, she killed her entire family with an Axe.
2006-10-22 10:32:10 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cathy burke in misery. Olleanna by David Mamet (though that's a debatable one). Monster with Charlize Theron. That's just a few of the top of my head but you know the saying - hell has no fury like woman scorned. Is that girl bad in "Cruel Intentions" or just immature and power-hungry.
I don't thinks that woman in particular rather than man in general and the different factors that drive us all to bad/good things.
We all have a path to our light - it's the emergence of the light that makes life so much fun.
2006-10-22 10:20:18 · answer #7 · answered by einenglander 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One of the scariest female characters I've ever come across is Marissa Coulter in Northern Lights.
I also suggest you have a look at Euripides plays Electra and Medea
Lady Macbeth is pretty evil too.
On a historical note, have you heard of Erzebet(?) Bathory. She was supposed to be the female serial killer with the highest body count, although I've also heard it argued that she might just have a bad press.
2006-10-23 06:01:25 · answer #8 · answered by Athene1710 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think a really good aspect for you mention (possibly some of the first examples) is the portray 'evil women' in Fairy Tales EG
Wicked Stepmother - Cinderella
Wicked Queen - Snow White
Old Woman - Hansel & Gretal
You also have
Wicked Witch West - Wizard of OZ
& The 'Classic' Witch - Black cape, pointy hat, broom & cat.
2006-10-22 20:42:16 · answer #9 · answered by David 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Read this book.
Skinny Women Are Evil: Notes of a Big Girl in a Small-Minded World (Paperback) by Mo'Nique, Sherri A. McGee
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http://jonmyersiii.wordpress.com/2006/08/14/women-are-evil/
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2006-10-22 10:24:12 · answer #10 · answered by akhanna2000 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋