Jane Nicholas’s article on “Modern girls and Machines: Cars, Projectors, and Publicity” discusses how women are portrayed by their body image relative to film and automobiles. Over time “sexy body and sexy car became synonymous and feminized.” This representation of the female body was used throughout society and seen in advertisements such as the “Fisher Body Girl” which was an advertisement for Fisher car parts. Women were expected to uphold the values that a car would possess, for example being beautiful and smooth. Men even refer to their cars as a “she” while babying them as well as ensuring rigorous upkeep to ensure the lasting beauty. Some, such as Jean Baudrillard, state that women’s bodies became what was the most desired consumer object on the market. As men were the known workers of society they were effectively the mass consumers. Businesses needed to appeal to their interests, ergo the female sexuality. “The female body was used to sell goods to emphasize their modernity, beauty, and sensuality along with their ease and convenience.” A beautiful car looked even more appealing to men with an attractive woman leaning against it. Perhaps the advertisement represented that if a man owned the car, women like the one shown would be interested in the man. With the advancement of car technology, came the movement of motion picture entertainment. Movies led to sexual experimentation which was an escape from reality. This linked to behavioral changes, especially in women wanting to live lives like the stars in the films. Business in the media realm needed a hook to engage its consumers and a specific target group.
Films we watch growing up shape who we grow to be as adults. When we are grown up and see motion pictures that we experiences as youngsters we often feel nostalgic. As we age, we gain more responsibility and yearn for the simpler days of childhood. Some people, such as Rita MacNeil, have life altering experiences when introduced to music that can ease hard upbringing. Individuals find their own meaning in music that can relate to an experience, rending the music special to them. Whether it is music, films, or cars, each person has an interest in the consumer market that aids to the expansion of promoting the industry to expand into more.
Cinderella is traditionally thought of to be the fly on the wall in the big house with two nasty stepsisters and an evil stepmother who keeps her online with archaic women roles. As James Kirkwood shows in a rendition of Cinderella, Mary Pickford portrayed Cinderella in a modern female role. Pickford played Cinderella as a mischief trickeries child when she interacted with her family. This rendition of a popular children’s movie exemplifies how businesses change their product to please the audience, and a mischief Cinderella would attract a younger generation of film viewers.
Sources
Nicholas, “Modern Girls and Machines: Cars, Projectors and Publicity,” in The Modern Girl: Feminine Modernities, The Body, and Commodities in the 1920s, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015: 184-210.
Sutherland,”Popular Media in the Culture of English-Canadian Chilren in the Twentieth Century,” Historical Studies in Education, 14, 1 (Spring, 2002): 1-33.
“Cinderella (1914) [Moving Image] ,” in Children and Youth in History, Item #483, https://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/primary-sources/483 (accessed February 2, 2017). Annotated by Diana Anselmo-Sequeira
