2026-09-19T19:51:32Zhttps://ecommons.cornell.edu/server/oai/requestoai:ecommons.cornell.edu:1813/443922026-05-14T13:48:37Zcom_1813_35col_1813_47
Knight, Teresa
Warner,Sara L
Haenni,Sabine
Salvato,Nicholas G.
2016-07-05T15:30:17Z
2021-05-30T06:00:13Z
2016-05-29
https://hdl.handle.net/1813/44392
https://doi.org/10.7298/X42F7KC0
9597270
In contrast to studies of U.S. Cold War theatre and film which typically focus on the era's "crisis of masculinity," portrayals of mother-son relationships, and portrayals of dynamic and 'dangerous' women, this project examines constructions of shy young women. Primary play and musical texts, their film adaptations, and original films are read through a lens of feminist materialism and emotional labor, in tandem with mid-twentieth century texts on popular psychology, psychosociology, self-improvement, and sexuality. Such texts show how shyness in young women is negatively constructed as a threat to personal and professional efficiency, as selfishness which breaks familial and social bonds, as a precursor to mental and physical collapse, as a symptom of modern urban alienation, as a sign of emotional vulnerability, and as a tool for infiltration. The shy girl's weakness thus rhetorically links her with other 'threats' to national security in the early Cold War era: communists, racial/ethnic Others, homosexuals, and other subalterns. Consequently, these suspicions about shyness lead to the physical, mental, and emotional disciplining of young women who would otherwise pursue solitary and independently meaningful interests.
en_US
cold war
american drama
american cinema
Home Girls And Understudies: Shy Women In Cold War Theatre And Film
dissertation or thesis
application/pdf
Theatre Arts
Cornell University
Doctor of Philosophy
Ph. D., Theatre Arts
Publication
Cornell Theses and Dissertations
Knight, Teresa
5893a6ea-7af3-41d7-abc6-04bcd26ab5df
open.access
open.access
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<Abstract>In contrast to studies of U.S. Cold War theatre and film which typically focus on the era's "crisis of masculinity," portrayals of mother-son relationships, and portrayals of dynamic and 'dangerous' women, this project examines constructions of shy young women. Primary play and musical texts, their film adaptations, and original films are read through a lens of feminist materialism and emotional labor, in tandem with mid-twentieth century texts on popular psychology, psychosociology, self-improvement, and sexuality. Such texts show how shyness in young women is negatively constructed as a threat to personal and professional efficiency, as selfishness which breaks familial and social bonds, as a precursor to mental and physical collapse, as a symptom of modern urban alienation, as a sign of emotional vulnerability, and as a tool for infiltration. The shy girl's weakness thus rhetorically links her with other 'threats' to national security in the early Cold War era: communists, racial/ethnic Others, homosexuals, and other subalterns. Consequently, these suspicions about shyness lead to the physical, mental, and emotional disciplining of young women who would otherwise pursue solitary and independently meaningful interests.</Abstract>
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