Lecture

The New Mythical Hero: Masculinity and Technology in American Cinema

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In course

HUM-233: Film history and theory

CINEMA JAPONAIS, IMAGINAIRES DU DESASTRE : Ce cours vise à proposer une histoire du cinéma au prisme du cinéma japonais, et de différentes approches critiques et théoriques en lien avec la production de représentations du désastre. ...

Description

This lecture explores the portrayal of masculinity and technology in American cinema from 1968 to 2014, analyzing how images of the frontier as a place of abundance and magic contrast with the metropolitan reality of scarcity and hard work. Drawing from Richard Slotkin's work, the lecture delves into the myth of the frontier and its implications on personal transformation and societal norms.

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Related concepts (26)

Masculinity

Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors considered masculine are influenced by both cultural factors and biological factors. To what extent masculinity is biologically or socially influenced is subject to debate. It is distinct from the definition of the biological male sex, as anyone can exhibit masculine traits.

Hegemonic masculinity

In gender studies, hegemonic masculinity is part of R. W. Connell's gender order theory, which recognizes multiple masculinities that vary across time, society, culture, and the individual. Hegemonic masculinity is defined as a practice that legitimizes men's dominant position in society and justifies the subordination of the common male population and women, and other marginalized ways of being a man. Conceptually, hegemonic masculinity proposes to explain how and why men maintain dominant social roles over women, and other gender identities, which are perceived as "feminine" in a given society.

Toxic masculinity

The concept of toxic masculinity is used in media discussions to refer to those aspects of hegemonic masculinity that are socially destructive, such as misogyny, bullying and violent domination. These traits are considered "toxic" due in part to their promotion of violence, including sexual assault and domestic violence. Socialization of boys also normalizes violence. Self-reliance and emotional repression are correlated with increased psychological problems in men such as depression, increased stress, and substance use disorders.

Transformation matrix

In linear algebra, linear transformations can be represented by matrices. If is a linear transformation mapping to and is a column vector with entries, then for some matrix , called the transformation matrix of . Note that has rows and columns, whereas the transformation is from to . There are alternative expressions of transformation matrices involving row vectors that are preferred by some authors. Matrices allow arbitrary linear transformations to be displayed in a consistent format, suitable for computation.

Geometric transformation

In mathematics, a geometric transformation is any bijection of a set to itself (or to another such set) with some salient geometrical underpinning. More specifically, it is a function whose domain and range are sets of points — most often both or both — such that the function is bijective so that its inverse exists. The study of geometry may be approached by the study of these transformations. Geometric transformations can be classified by the dimension of their operand sets (thus distinguishing between, say, planar transformations and spatial transformations).

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