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Doing It for Themselves: Sexual Subjectivity in Cinematic DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES: SEXUAL SUBJECTIVITY IN CINEMATIC DEPICTIONS OF FEMALE AUTOEROTICISM by Megan Tomei A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida December 2012 Copyright by Megan Tomei 2012 ii ABSTRACT Author: Megan Tomei Title: Doing it for Themselves: Sexual Subjectivity in Cinematic Depictions of Female Autoeroticism Institution: Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. Jane Caputi Degree: Master of Arts Year: 2012 Whereas male masturbation has generally been normalized by being the butt of friendly jokes and a popular subject in romantic comedies, the predominant discourse surrounding female masturbation, both in society and the movies, is silence and stigmatization. However, female masturbation is symbolically powerful because it signifies a female sexuality that is not dependent on male presence. This thesis seeks to explore depictions of female masturbation, specifically looking at how female characters who engage in autoeroticism are stigmatized, controlled or silenced. This thesis will also explore the minority of depictions that show the act as liberating in films like Pleasantville (1998) and Better than Chocolate (1999). iv DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES: SEXUAL SUBJECTIVITY IN CINEMATIC DEPICTIONS OF FEMALE AUTOEROTICISM INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 The History of Masturbation ...................................................................................... 4 Fear of Female Sexuality ............................................................................................. 7 Masturbation as a Feminist Cause ............................................................................. 14 The Male Gaze .......................................................................................................... 18 Masturbating on Screen ............................................................................................. 21 CHAPTER ONE VIOLENCE AGIANST FEMALE MASTURBATORS AS A FORM OF SEXUAL TERRORISM: PORTRAYALS OF MEN’S VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN’S MASTURBATION ................................................................................... 23 Sexual Terrorism through Film ................................................................................. 24 Feminism and Masturbation ...................................................................................... 26 Female Masturbation: Fear and Violence .................................................................. 28 Masturbation ......................................................................................................... 30 Body of Evidence ...................................................................................................... 32 40 Year Old Virgin .................................................................................................... 36 The Exorcist ............................................................................................................... 41 Humiliation as Violence ............................................................................................ 44 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 48 CHAPTER TWO “WHEN THE MOOD STRIKES” CINEMATIC CONVERSATIONS ABOUT FEMALE AUTOEROTICISM. ..................................................................... 50 Conversations and Screenplays .................................................................................. 52 Horrible Bosses ......................................................................................................... 55 American Pie and American Reunion ....................................................................... 58 Step Brothers ............................................................................................................. 68 v Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 72 CHAPTER THREE HYSTERIA ON THE BIG SCREEN: THE CRAZED FEMALE MASTURBATOR ........................................................................................................ 74 Masturbatory Insanity ................................................................................................ 77 Insanity and Lesbianism ............................................................................................ 81 Single White Female ................................................................................................. 86 High Tension ............................................................................................................. 88 Black Swan ................................................................................................................ 91 Black Swan and Precious .......................................................................................... 92 Mulholand Drive ........................................................................................................ 94 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 96 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 98 WORKS CITED .......................................................................................................... 109 vi INTRODUCTION In a culture where Jenna Jameson, a pornography star, has been a bestselling author, women’s magazines advertise “how to drive your man wild” and being on Girls Gone Wild is a desirable option for college women, there are few aspects of female sexuality that haven’t been openly discussed (or commoditized); yet one still remains shrouded in shame and secrecy: female masturbation. While American culture prides itself on its sexual openness and progressiveness, the issue of female autoeroticism is largely absent from our sexual discourse and our popular culture. Whereas male masturbation has been the butt of many friendly jokes and a popular subject in romantic comedies, the predominant theme surrounding female masturbation, both in society and the media, is silence and stigmatization. That is not to say, however, that female masturbation is never addressed. The cultural taboo surrounding female autoeroticism has ebbed slightly with more depictions both on television and on the big screen. These depictions represent the few discursive sites in which female autoeroticism is addressed, and this makes them significant to our understandings of female sexuality and how it is portrayed in popular culture. Despite the importance of such portrayals, very little 1 academic scholarship has focused on this issue. 1 Another MA thesis has been produced on the topic: Adams, M. E. (2011). Flicking the bean on the silver screen women's masturbation as self‐discovery and subversion in American cinema (Unpublished MA thesis). Bowling Green State University. Retrieved November 24, 2011, from http://etd.ohiolink.edu/send‐ pdf.cgi/Adams%20Megan%20E.pdf?bgsu1300749024 1 Both the act of masturbation itself and its representations can be viewed as radically anti-hegemonic and an act of resistance to male dominance. Portraying masturbation on the big screen, first and foremost, admits that women masturbate. Representations of female masturbation signify a female sexuality that is independent of a male presence and acknowledge that women can orgasm without penetration. Autoeroticism also allows women to focus on pleasure beyond vaginal-penile intercourse, or more specifically pleasure that exists outside of the heteronormative and androcentric model of sexuality. Traditional heterosexual intercourse maintains hierarchical oppressive relations between genders and ignores female sexual response, making normative heterosexual intercourse, some radical feminists argue, dehumanizing (Dworkin, 2006) and physically dissatisfying for women. In Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation Laqueur explains that radical feminist in the 1970’s viewed masturbation as a freeing alternative to intercourse. It was seen by feminist activists “as a practice in the service of freedom, autonomy, and rebellion against the status quo . Sex with oneself came to stand for autonomy, even autarky” (p.75). Therefore, masturbation offers women freedom from repressive sexuality. Women, through self-stimulation, had the possibility to become sexual subjects defining their own erotic needs. Female autoeroticism also demonstrates a connection to one’s body, both physically and spiritually. Adrienne Rich (1979) discusses masturbation as connected to an entire process of a woman’s life, detailing how “her growing sense of her own body and its strengths, her masturbation, her menses, her physical relationship to nature and to other human beings, her first and subsequent orgasmic experiences” are tied to the connection between body and mind (p.179). 2 Because female autoeroticism challenges asymmetrical gender roles and a sexuality tied to passivity and reproduction, it can be understood as an act of resistance in a patriarchal culture because it defies the social construction of femininity, which requires submission and selflessness. Masturbation allows, and in essence requires that a woman take an active role and selfishly think only
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