The Female Body and Female Spectatorship in the American Silent Movie Love ‘em and Leave ‘em

Year 2020, Issue: 53, 61 - 84, 01.05.2020

Nisa Harika Güzel Köşker

Abstract

This article analyzes the objectification of the female
body, the function of the male gaze, and the construction of female
spectatorship in the American silent movie Love ‘em and Leave ‘em
(1926). Directed by Frank Tuttle, the movie features in the opening
credits a spectacle of a woman’s legs, in silky, transparent stockings,
and high-heeled shoes. This initial scene positions the attractive legs
of one of its female characters and prompts the question whether or
not the objectification of attractive female legs—in this case in almost
monumental proportions— deprives women of their subjectivity by
turning them into mere spectacles or commodities. However, it can
be argued that the critical stance the movie assumes is a parody of the
male gaze, rather than a simple presentation of stereotypical gender
roles. While reframing traditional gender norms in a performance of
parody, the movie also dismantles what critic Laura Mulvey calls a
“hermetically sealed world”, which plays on voyeuristic fantasies
of the spectator. Correspondingly, the movie takes a step further by
constructing a novel sphere for its spectators, in particular, female
spectators, where they could observe distinct representations of the
female body. Conjuring up a novel spectatorial sphere in which the
spectator views the female body through a critical light, Love ‘em
and Leave ‘em creates ruptures in phallocentric cinematic diegesis,
destabilizes the spectator’s expectations, and relocates their perception
in relation to multifarious questions it poses in scenes of parodies,
rather than serving male fantasies.

Keywords

Female Body, Female Spectatorship, Gender Roles, Male Gaze, Love ‘em and Leave ‘em, American Silent Movie

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