CURRENTLY SOLD OUT

The Sex Goddess in American Film, 1930-1965: Jean Harlow, Mae West, Lana Turner, and Jayne Mansfield by Jessica Hope Jordan (Hardback, 2009)

About this product

Product Information

The sex goddess's seemingly endless power to influence and fascinate, to achieve in a sense her own self-reproduction through many decades of re-makeovers reveals her positioning in American culture as t only a lasting image but also as a potentially powerful and subversive force. The sex goddess is often thought by feminist film theorists to be little more than a projection of the male imaginary. However, this book makes a necessary correction to this trend by demonstrating how the actresses performing the role of sex goddess in fact use the feminine imaginary to create their own agency. Through their performance of hyper femininity, and with their seductive power, they exert control t only over their filmic narrative targets of seduction but their viewers as well. The ability to hold their objects of seduction in such thrall suggests that the image of the sex goddess possesses a power far more subversive than what has been previously explored; in fact, to date there has t yet been a critical study of the sex goddess in film. Cinema becomes a place where the sex goddess's designation as sex itself can further suggest her bodily signification as a whole discourse on sex outside of her cinematic representation, thus loading her body to be read almost entirely in terms of sex and its corresponding contemporary social thought. During the period of Classical Hollywood Cinema, the construct of the sex goddess warrants especial attention because of what this study can reveal in broad terms about cultural ideas of feminine sexuality, American cinema, and visual culture. In the first critical study of the sex goddess in film, Jessica Hope Jordan illustrates how Jean Harlow uses her sexualized body to affect and seduce viewers away from any primary identification with those characters and their plotlines that are supposed to lead the film, to identifying instead with the kind of sexual empowerment and self-possession her characters consistently display. Linking the idea of sexual empowerment to the filmic and public celebration of hyper-feminine sexuality, the book additionally covers previous feminist discussions of Mae West's performances as feminist camp to argue that West sought to both celebrate and embody for women viewers what she viewed as cultural ideals of femininity and women's sexuality. With Lana Turner and the cinematic code, the book considers the many problems inherent in both the filmic and public celebration of hyper-feminine sexuality in relation to censorship and considers the effects of the Hays Code on hyper-feminine sexuality as depicted in film ir. The book also importantly presents the first critical discussion of the actress Jayne Mansfield, suggesting that her 1950s open acceptance, celebration, and public promotion of her feminine sexuality, both onscreen and off, makes her t only a precursor of the more sexually liberated 60s, but also, like the other actresses discussed here, a kind of prescient performance artist, even theorist, of feminine sexuality in particular, and cultural ideas about sexuality more generally. Beyond recouping her image as feminist, the book demonstrates how the kind of desire aroused by the sex goddess, a desire which remains endlessly suspended, works as a supreme example of the aesthetic apparatus of cinema itself. This is an important book for inclusion in all film, film history, film theory, gender and sexuality studies, women's studies, and American studies collections.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
Cambria Press
ISBN-10
1604976632
ISBN-13
9781604976632
eBay Product ID (ePID)
106509199

Product Key Features

Author
Jessica Hope Jordan
Format
Sewn,Cloth over Boards, Hardback
Language
English
Topic
Biography: the Arts

Additional Product Features

Content Note
Black & White Illustrations
Date of Publication
18/12/2009
Country of Publication
United States

Best Selling in Books

See all

Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Books

The Concise 48 Laws Of Power by Robert Greene (Paperback, 2002)
4.5 out of 5 stars based on 21 product ratings
AU $20.39 New
---- Used
KJV, Gift and Award Bible, Leather-Look, Black, Red Letter, Comfort Print: Holy Bible, King James Version by Zondervan (Paperback, 2017)
4.9 out of 5 stars based on 18 product ratings
AU $12.99 New
---- Used
The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery by Brianna Wiest (Paperback, 2020)
5.0 out of 5 stars based on 6 product ratings
AU $23.99 New
AU $15.39 Used
The Tintin Collection (The Adventures of Tintin - Compact Editions) by Herge (Hardcover, 2015)
4.9 out of 5 stars based on 8 product ratings
AU $180.00 New
---- Used
The Orthodox Study Bible, Hardcover: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today's World (Hardcover, 2008)
4.7 out of 5 stars based on 7 product ratings
AU $63.49 New
---- Used
Atomic Habits: the life-changing million-copy #1 bestseller by James Clear (Paperback, 2018)
4.8 out of 5 stars based on 25 product ratings
AU $19.89 New
AU $17.50 Used
Recipetin Eats Dinner by Nagi Maehashi (2022, Paperback)
5.0 out of 5 stars based on 9 product ratings
AU $28.38 New
AU $22.99 Used

Save on Books

Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on Books

Frank Herbert'S Dune Saga 3-Book Boxed Set: Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of
AU $44.95
Trending at AU $47.93
The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor Lavey (English) Mass Market Paperback Book
AU $18.97
Trending at AU $19.09
NEW Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson (Paperback) FREE Shipping
AU $17.42
Trending at AU $19.35
A Gentleman in Moscow: The worldwide bestseller by Amor Towles (Paperback, 2017)
AU $14.00
Trending at AU $17.38
F*Ck Off! This Is MY Coloring Book: the Very F*Cking Best of John T | Swear Word
AU $15.30
Trending at AU $15.85

Shop by category

The Sex Goddess in American Film, 1930-1965: Jean Harlow, Mae West, Lana Turner, and Jayne Mansfield by Jessica Hope Jordan (Hardback, 2009)

About this product

Product Information

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

Additional Product Features

Best Selling in Books

The Concise 48 Laws Of Power by Robert Greene (Paperback, 2002)

KJV, Gift and Award Bible, Leather-Look, Black, Red Letter, Comfort Print: Holy Bible, King James Version by Zondervan (Paperback, 2017)

The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery by Brianna Wiest (Paperback, 2020)

The Tintin Collection (The Adventures of Tintin - Compact Editions) by Herge (Hardcover, 2015)

The Orthodox Study Bible, Hardcover: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today's World (Hardcover, 2008)

Atomic Habits: the life-changing million-copy #1 bestseller by James Clear (Paperback, 2018)

Recipetin Eats Dinner by Nagi Maehashi (2022, Paperback)

Save on Books

Frank Herbert'S Dune Saga 3-Book Boxed Set: Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of

The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor Lavey (English) Mass Market Paperback Book

NEW Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson (Paperback) FREE Shipping

A Gentleman in Moscow: The worldwide bestseller by Amor Towles (Paperback, 2017)

FCk Off! This Is MY Coloring Book: the Very FCking Best of John T | Swear Word

You may also like

Fiction Rita Mae Brown Fiction & Books

Fiction Paperback Fiction & Rita Mae Brown Books

Fiction Rita Mae Brown and Non-Fiction Books in English

Non-Fiction 1930s Era Fiction & Non-Fiction Books

North American Maps & Atlases

North American Antiquarian & Collectable Books