Woman Magazine - Alfred Hitchcock

 Alfred Hitchcock: Allegations of sexual assault and inappropriate behaviour

• Hitchcock sexually assault many of the female actors working in his films
• "all actors should be treated like cattle"
• After Hedran refused to sleep with him, Hitchcock had blacklisted her, and ruined her career
• bullying and inhumane conditions

Why does abuse keep happening in todays society? Possible reasons include:

• patriarchal hegemony → our society is based around men being in power
• acts of sexual violence are to some extent normalised
• power: the media industries which are based around power and inequalities in power

Lexis of the Hitchcock interview

• why would Woman magazine interview a man as the cover story of this edition?
• perhaps its because Hitchcock is discussing women
• in this article, Hitchcock rambles on about what makes British women particularly beautiful
• he discusses different women, yet he doesn't discuss his films or his film making in any detail

"I've come to this conclusion after years of selecting, grooming and directing... and directed some of the most beautiful actresses in the world"

• 'grooming' refers to how Hitchcock 'shapes' women, and clearly it has highly problematic overtones. He is openly stating that he manipulates actresses in order to fulfil his desires

"The most unobtrusively seductive creates in the world" [in reference to British Women]

• by referring to women as 'creatures', Hitchcock essentially dehumanises and objectifies women
• he is being explicit in his ideological perspective that the function of women in his films is to be looked at
• perfect example of Van Zoonen's Male Gaze
• infers British women have an underlying nature about them that Hitchcock can expertly see

"But that kind of sex appeal certainly isn't the private property of the stars"

• arguably Hitchcock here is inferring that sex appeal and sexualisation should be shared with everyone
• also is a shout-out/address to the audience, reminding them that they are British and therefore beautiful
• this 'compliment' reminds the audience that they have 'something special' and should share their gift (with Alfred Hitchcock)

"The sort of woman you'd go to for an animated discussion about horses, the weather and the outrageous price of brussel sprouts"

• reinforces his stereotypical and patriarchal ideological perspectives, and reinforces the stereotype that all women talk about is cooking, cleaning and animals

"English girl's sudden revelation of seductive depths"

• the lexis of the word 'girl' implies youth, naivety and innocence. It is a belittling word

"They're like snow-capped volcanoes"

• Hitchcock is specifically referring to British women here
• use of the word 'they' is a subtle example of othering and suggesting that women (in this case British women) are different.
• 'snow-capped volcanoes' infers that while on the outside British women are uninterested in sex, deep down they are sexually avoidable
• this highly problematic language suggests that British women are sexually available to Hitchcock through his 'grooming'
• Hitchcock's language is poetic but hardly subtle. He continually makes reference to the 'deep down' sexual desires of women
• this reinforces patriarchial hegemony as it infers that in order to be successful, women but be attractive, young and British and sexually available