{"id":212,"date":"2015-12-06T03:07:07","date_gmt":"2015-12-06T03:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smilingmadamebeudet.sac.lsa.umich.edu\/?page_id=212"},"modified":"2015-12-06T03:07:07","modified_gmt":"2015-12-06T03:07:07","slug":"femininity-masculinity","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/smilingmadamebeudet\/femininity-masculinity\/","title":{"rendered":"Femininity & Masculinity"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Matter of Style\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both feminism\u00a0and femininity have a subtle but strong presence in the <\/span>The Smiling Madame Beudet<\/span><\/i>. One of the more obvious examples is Madame Beudet\u2019s appearance. The 1920’s in France saw\u00a0many women begin to embrace\u00a0the autonomy they’d gained through the first World War. With the men away, a lot of women were left to work on their own. One way of expressing their newfound individuality was through clothing and hairstyles, some of which were considered controversial changes in the status quo. For example, shorter bobbed-cuts were seen as \u201cundecent and unChristian.\u201d In comparison to the tapered dresses with patterns and shorter hair that other women sported, Madame Beudet still appears in plain clothes and with longer hair. Her tame style reflects her gentle femininity. Madame Beudet\u2019s modest aesthetic corrects with her inability to freely express herself, as well as her own lack of autonomy. [1]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"1920s<\/a><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a>
\n\"1920s<\/a><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a>\"02\"<\/a>[4] \u00a0<\/a>\"the-smiling-madame-beudet\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

A Limitless Mind<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another moment in the film that explores femininity and feminism starts at six minutes and 30 seconds<\/strong><\/span>. While Madame Beudet\u2019s clothes and hairstyle depict an absence of freedom, her daydream of the tennis player almost makes up for that. At a time when women were more socially active in their everyday lives, like attending the movies, showing not only a woman as a main character, but a woman fantasizing about a man that wasn\u2019t her husband allowed for a different type of expression, as pointed out by Hannah Simpson in her article\u00a0Cinematic Representations of Women in France and Germany<\/i>. Throughout the entire film, Madame Beudet is at the mercy of Monsieur Beudet: he keeps her pent up in their home, and he toys with her reading and musical activities. But, it is her imagination that proves to be the one thing that he can\u2019t control. It is the one thing she refuses to surrender. And, through exerting that power–even if it\u2019s unintentional– she defies her husband. She breaks through the constraints of the submissiveness that femininity may have represented. [6]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1wJLQN4uajE<\/a><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

Definitions of Womanhood..<\/strong><\/p>\n

The role the woman played in the home, was one being reconstructed during the 1920s in France. During the war, women became active in public spaces generally delegated to men. These places included factories, machineries, and even various social settings. However, once the war ended and the men returned back to France, the women\u2019s\u2019 new role prompted both intimidation and the need for social reconstruction. And thus, advertisements and popular opinion began to reflect a new ideal, one that desired a woman to be a housewife. Prior to this reconstruction of womanhood, middle-upper class women relied heavily on servants to do the housework. Following the reconstruction, a woman who relied on servants in any capacity was considered <\/span>less of a woman.<\/span><\/i> In <\/span>The Smiling Madame Beudet, <\/span><\/i>Madame Beudet refused this reconstruction of womanhood, for her servant appears in the film multiple times. This refusal to become a housewife is representative of Madame Beudet\u2019s autonomous decision-making, and her dislike for socially normative ideologies, regardless of their popularity. [8]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a> \"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

[9 & 10]<\/a><\/p>\n

…And of Manhood<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another definition of gender that existed in the 1920s in France was one of manhood and masculinity. A <\/span>real man<\/span><\/i> in France at this time was one who was hard-working, paternal, selfless, and most important a man who was calm. Clearly, Monsieur Beudet does not live up to such a standard, which logically allows Madame Beudet reason and promise to defy the rules of femininity. In marrying a man who defies the standard of masculinity, Madame Beudet further separates herself from the ideals of the time, for it could be expected that she would face flack for marrying such a man.<\/span><\/p>\n

[11]<\/a><\/p>\n

Written & Edited by Leo Thornton\u00a0& Melissa McDougall<\/p>\n

Source Page\u00a0here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Matter of Style\u00a0 Both feminism\u00a0and femininity have a subtle but strong presence in the The Smiling Madame Beudet. One of the more obvious examples is Madame Beudet\u2019s appearance. The 1920’s in France saw\u00a0many women begin to embrace\u00a0the autonomy they’d gained through the first World War. With the men away, a lot of women were … <\/p>\n

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