
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Thesis Defended
Spring 2015
Document Type
Thesis
Type of Thesis
Departmental Honors
Department
Film Studies
First Advisor
Melinda Barlow
Second Advisor
Jeanne Liotta
Third Advisor
Emmanuel David
Abstract
This thesis examines two films released in 1999, Fight Club (Fincher 1999) and Boys Don’t Cry (Pierce 1999), through the theoretical framework of queer theory, gender theory, and feminist theory to analyze systemic structures and cultural notions of masculinity. Mainstream cinema depicts gender identity and gender roles to promote bigenderism and maintain patriarchal hierarchy. Rarely films and the characters within them break out of this ideological norm. By depicting masculine identified characters who cry, Fight Club and Boys Don’t Cry expose the characters’ vulnerabilities and flaws and challenge the “perfect masculine ideal.” These films question what it means to have a masculine identity when the characters behave in a way that is counter to normative patriarchal masculine identities. As a transgender masculine identified person, I have a unique interest in masculine identity formation and a personal desire to explore different embodiments of masculinity. Examining research conducted in the transgender community through social media sites and online forums and providing insight from my own life, this paper elucidates ideas about hormonal and biological processes related to sex and gender characteristics and identifications. A critical analysis of the cinematic and written texts of Fight Club and Boys Don’t Cry through the lens of personal experience, this thesis addresses concepts of fluidity in male identified characters in scenes in which they cry and what this act says about them and about masculinity. Further, it exposes the failures and dangers of streamlining boys and men into normative patriarchal masculine identities and practices.
Recommended Citation
Lotterhos, Forrest Hamrick, "Men Cry: Embodiments of Masculinity in Western Cinema circa 1999" (2015). Undergraduate Honors Theses. 814.
https://scholar.colorado.edu/honr_theses/814
Included in
History of Gender Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, Theory and Criticism Commons, Visual Studies Commons, Women's Studies Commons