Day of the Outlaw- AM

In Day of the Outlaw, we begin to see the transition back into the old western, where women are still the other and men in the film treat women as insignifcant. When the outlaws arrive in the town, they portray women as objects and nothing more. They see them as a pleasure source, and their opinions mean nothing. Bruhn lets the men of the town know that his men will not molest the town’s women unless he gives them permission, and he promises Blaise Starrett that he will keep his men under control. Bruhn’s control is starting to weaken as his health is starting to weaken, which happens after the horse doctor in the town removes a bullet from his chest. This increasing loss of control is obvious when the men persuade Bruhn to let them have a night of dancing with the women because they have been travelling for weeks and want to get pleasure out of the town. Bruhn gives in to the men, and they “borrow” all the women of the town to dance with, even the married women. Helen Crane, who is a married woman and has had an affair with Blaise, tries to stand up for the women and questions Bruhn about his decision forcing them to dance with the men. Bruhn tells her there are worse things the women could be doing than dancing with a few lonely men. However, they aren’t just dancing. The men are very forceful with the women, pushing them up against the walls and forcing themselves upon the women, even though it is obvious that the women do not want anything to do with these men. It is odd how the men of the town don’t try harder to protect their women. They let the outlaws take their women away for the night without any resistance. This further demonstrates that the men in the film see women as useful only as an object for their pleasure.

I believe that this film showed some of the opposition to the feminist movement of the time. This film shows women’s inferiority, as explored in other films, during the first wave of the feminist movement. This was a time when women were focused on becoming equal to their male counterparts. In this movie, Helen stands up for the women when they are forced to dance with the men. Using her sexuality, she also tries to manipulate her lover and fails to save her husband. However, he dismisses her pleading, letting her know that her power over him isn’t strong enough to effect his decision. She represents the feminist movement, and the men’s attitude toward the feminist movement is clear when they dismiss the things that Helen stands for. Most men of the time thought it would be better to just dismiss the movement in and of itself, push it to the side, just as most of the women in the films were pushed aside.