Straight : constructions of heterosexuality in the cinema / Wheeler Winston Dixon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dixon, Wheeler W., 1950-

Series:

SUNY series, cultural studies in cinema/video

The SUNY series, cultural studies in cinema/video

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Man-woman relationships in motion pictures.

Sex role in motion pictures.

Masculinity in motion pictures.

Physical Description:

xiii, 204 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, [2003]

Summary:

Practically all mainstream cinema is "straight, " and has been since its inception. In Straight, Wheeler Winston Dixon explores how heterosexual performativity has been constructed in film, from early cinema to the present day. In addition to discussing how cinematic visions of masculine and feminine desire have been commodified and sold to rein-force existing societal constructs, Dixon also documents the recent emergence of "hypermasculinity, " a kinetic and exaggerated masculinity that has been created to counter the more gentle, thoughtful male portrayed in While You Were Sleeping, Sleepless in Seattle, and other films that seemingly threaten the established order of partriarchal cinematic discourse.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Constructing Straightness 13

Chapter 2 Breaks in the System 53

Chapter 3 Performativity and Rupture 95

Chapter 4 The Commodification of Straightness 131.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 161-179) and index.

ISBN:

0791456234

0791456242

OCLC:

50425159