In the article An Ambivalent Alliance: Hostile and Benevolent Sexism as Complementary Justifications for Gender Inequality, Peter Glick and Susan T. Fiske stated that polar characterizations of women still exist in today’s society. Hostile sexism (antagonistic views) are aimed towards women who challenge the power men have (i.e. through seduction, feminist ideology, ambition).
Benevolent sexism (chivalrous) is a double whammy-it idealizes women, but its used to placate them as they contribute to their own subordination (i.e. women need to be rescued, objects of affection). Ambivalent sexism is composed of both benevolent and hostile. The ideology of ambivalent sexism appears conflicting, but in actuality both benevolent and hostile sexism relates and supports one another.
The front cover of the American Beauty DVD displays a woman holding a rose to her bared, lower torso. Although the entire movie gravitates towards defining American beauty, examining the women in the film can give us a deeper sense of this definition. The film, which is laden with sexist undertones, presents us with several themes of hostile and benevolent sexism we see aimed at women today.
Carol Burnham is portrayed as a career obsessed, control freak. She’s stuck in an unhappy marriage and is unsuccessful at her job. She is the “bitch” of the film, constantly nagging Lester, her husband (“Uh oh, Mom’s mad!”) as he goes through a midlife crisis. While Lester fantasizes about his daughter’s friend, smokes pot, quits his job, and buys a new car, these actions are depicted as praiseworthy. Lester never once thinks about how it will affect his wife and daughter, but this doesn’t matter. His actions are justified – the man has freed himself from the restraints of an unhappy life.
When Carol tries to break free from the mold, she is depicted negatively. She cheats on her husband with the “King of Real Estate”, a man whom she is in awe of (and has great sex with), and learns how to fire a gun. Though, these attempts at freeing herself are limited and make her shrewder and more isolated in her marriage and home, so her new extracurricular activities are deemed undeserving. Apparently, Carol is not allowed to “act out”, though one can hardly blame her for doing so with a husband that masturbates while being in the same bed as her and fantasizes about a younger girl.
The film instead focuses on what an unhappy home she’s created. She’s become career obsessed, ambitious, isolates her daughter (“You treat her like an employee”) and stifles Lester’s attempts at creating a new life. In one scene, Carol chastises him for smoking pot and setting a bad example for their daughter, to which Lester retorts, “You’re one to talk, you bloodless, money-grubbing freak.”
The movie also emphasizes her obsession with material objects and supposed frigidness. In one scene, Carol refuses to have sex with Lester on their $4,000 imported sofa. The reason given is that he almost spills beer on it, though the film refuses to recognize the fact that both are in an unhappy marriage. Ultimately, the problem isn’t with the marriage, but with the wife who doesn’t want to have sex.
In the case of Carol Burnham, we see much of the hostile sexism that is directed towards women who challenge the authority of men or their traditional roles. Because Carol chooses to place her career above her family and marriage, it is ultimately her fault that the Burnhams live in such an unhappy home and lead such terrible lives. When Carol attempts to gain control, her attempts are smashed.
Again, this is a form of hostile sexism, where there is a negative reaction or attitude towards women who try to shift the power relationship. We see this when Carol tries to stop Lester from smoking pot, having sex with her, etc. Other aspects of hostile sexism directed at Carol are her own attempts at self-realization. Lester can fantasize about other women, quit his job, buy his dream car, etc, but Carol’s attempts are belittled. In fact, Carol’s “self-realization” makes the entire situation worse and which may explain why her actions elicit hostile sexism.
Perhaps this can be used to make a commentary on society. We do not hear very often about the midlife crisis of women-only men. When women attempt this “awakening”, they are shot down because they are rejecting their traditional roles. For Carol Burnham, it was apparently an even bigger mistake, since she rejected her traditional role as a homemaker in the first place. This is a completely unfair double standard, yet it still exists.
In stark contrast, the character of Angela is the beautiful best friend of Carol’s daughter. She is a seemingly sexually provocative cheerleader who is the object of Lester’s affection. This too is a façade to mask her insecurity and inexperience. But this doesn’t stop the film from using her as a trigger to Lester’s awakening. He fantasizes about Angela, works out to impress her, and ends up almost having sex with her before finding out that she’s a virgin. Though Angela is dimwitted and presented as shallow, she is the epitome of American beauty.
She’s the ideal, the fantasy, and the beauty that everyone wants. In Lester’s fantasies about her, she is surrounded by rose petals and submits to his sexual desires. Ironically enough, Angela does offer herself to Lester. During the “seduction” and about-to-have-sex scene, Angela asks Lester, “You don’t think I’m ordinary?” He reassures her, “You couldn’t be ordinary if you tried.” With Angela, there is a fair amount of benevolent sexism directed towards her character. Although she is very egotistical and proud of her beauty, she is placed on a pedestal because she is the object of a man’s desire.
In the process of submitting to Lester, she is placed on an even bigger pedestal. Earlier, she claimed “There’s nothing worse than being ordinary” and Lester quells that fear by telling her she isn’t. He also tells her that she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. The benevolent sexism aspect is played upon as Angela allows the fantasy to become reality. Hence, she is rewarded with nice complements that placate her inner fear, insecurity, and inexperience. Although the act of sex doesn’t follow through, Angela is still used as something for Lester to work out his internal conflicts upon.
Both characters in the movie represent what is or isn’t American beauty: hostile and benevolent sexism follows suit. Carol represents everything that Lester hates-the antipathy of American beauty. She has loads of hostile sexism directed at her and the audience has an unsympathetic view of her struggles. By viewing this film, women are told that the more career driven and ambitious you are, the more you isolate yourself from “real beauty.
Carol is an obsessive-compulsive freak who tries to control her downhill life. Her attempts are met with a negative response because she is not contributing to a traditional role as a woman. On the other hand, Angela is the American beauty. Because she wants to become a part of Lester’s self-actualization by having sex with him, she is placated and rewarded. She is an object of sexual desire and by remaining that way, she is given compliments. Even though she is shallow and empty-headed, she is told about how beautiful and special she is. She’s a virgin, but she still “wants to do it.”
This message tells women that the more they submit to the desires of men, the more beautiful and better they’ll feel about themselves. In order to be rest assured of our inner most fears and doubts, we need to stay in our place and be told by a man that everything’s okay.
It is true that polarized categories of women are prevalent in today’s culture. In more and more movies, we see these themes reiterated. The idea of what women should and shouldn’t do become reinforced in the minds of both sexes, so hostile and benevolent sexism prevails. If you step outside the traditional role of what a women should be (being career-minded as Carol was) you will be unfulfilled, unhappy, and ostracized from everything that matters, such as family and a husband.
If you step into the “shoes” of a traditional female role (like Angela, the willing sexual partner), everything will be okay and you will be fulfilled because you adhered to a man’s sexual desires. Stopping this would be near impossible, since these themes pop up anywhere from daily snippets of conversation to full-length novels. In order to stop, we must recognize where ambivalent sexism occurs and work as a collective, conscious whole to smash it.
Bibliography
? Fiske, Susan T. & Glick, Peter (2001). An Ambivalent Alliance: Hostile and Benevolent Sexism as Complementary Justifications for Gender Inequality. American Psychology, 56(2), 109-118
? Cohen, Bruce & Mendes, Sam. 1999. American Beauty. USA: Dreamworks
