ABSTRACT
Gender violence is a topic that has been chronicled on lm since its advent, and was rst captured in one of Spain’s best silent motion pictures, La aldea maldita (1930). The traditional portrayal of male force against women relied on three main modes: comic, passionate and allegorical (Wheeler 444). However, in the past two decades, there has been a shift in the manner in which this violence has been depicted, as well as an increase in lms produced in Spanish speaking countries that capture forms of domestic abuse including: Celos (1999), Flores de otro mundo (1999), Solas (1999), Amores que matan (2000), Antigua vida mía (2001), Juana la Loca (2001), Solo mía (2001), Te doy mis ojos (2003), El juego del ahorcado (2008), and Por tu culpa (2010). Babovic and Vollendorf postulate that the 1995 law, Planes de igualdad (PIOM), strictly enforcing penalties against spousal abuse, led to a rise in cultural productions focusing on this topic (77).1 However, I believe that equally important in reviving interest in this concern was the validation that violence against women infringes upon human rights and encroaches upon fundamental liberties, which occurred that same year at the Fourth World Conference organized by the United Nations.2 While the medium of lm captures the violence degrading women and reducing them to mere objects or possessions, it also demonstrates how the male perpetrator uses the females’ fear to reinforce his own masculinity. Many articles have been written focusing on female victimization; however, this essay wishes to address the conceptualization of masculinity by studying the relationship of violence and gender identity in the documentary ¿No queríais saber por qué matan? Por nada (2009), the series María la portuguesa (2001), and the movies Solo mía (2001), and Te doy mis ojos (2003). Based on Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity, this essay proposes to examine different facets of the gender construct of masculinity. First, there will be an analysis of how the abuser transgresses the prototype of masculinity that is held by patriarchal society, and in essence disrupts the cyclical pattern of how hegemonic masculinity is produced and perpetuated. Next, there will be a study of how contemporary male roles in marriage and fatherhood interfere with the characteristics associated with masculine identity and lead to physical aggression. Finally, there will be an examination of the purpose of portraying violence in cinema.
