Straight
Constructions of Heterosexuality in the Cinema
Published on 30. January 2003
Book
Hardback
218 pages
978-0-7914-5623-1 (ISBN)
Description
straight / 'strat (adj.) . . . without curves . . . correct . . . honest . . . not deviating from the normal . . . conventional . . . Heterosexual
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 reinforce 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 patriarchal cinematic discourse.
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 reinforce 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 patriarchal cinematic discourse.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Albany, NY
United States
Illustrations
Total Illustrations: 0
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
227 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7914-5623-1 (9780791456231)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2012
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€36.49
Available for download
Person
Wheeler Winston Dixon is the James Ryan Endowed Professor of Film Studies, coeditor in chief of Quarterly Review of Film and Video, and chairperson of the Film Studies Program at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. His many books include The Second Century of Cinema: The Past and Future of the Moving Image; The Films of Jean-Luc Godard; and The Transparency of Spectacle: Meditations on the Moving Image, all published by SUNY Press; and Collected Interviews: Voices from Twentieth-Century Cinema.
Content
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Constructing Straightness
2. Breaks in the System
3. Performativity and Rupture
4. The Commodification of Straightness
Works Cited and Consulted
About the Author
Index
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Constructing Straightness
2. Breaks in the System
3. Performativity and Rupture
4. The Commodification of Straightness
Works Cited and Consulted
About the Author
Index