Men, guns and penises: How the Western film genre became the definition of masculinity The genre of manhood par excellence has also been the canvas on which to reflect all the types of men that exist and all the relationships that can be established between them. This has been done in an increasingly free and explicit way in recent years Back in the 20th century, a lot of movies were shown on television. Some — known as Western films — were labelled as products for male consumption.
Movies by men and for men (like almost all historical or adventure films), where women had domestic or romantic roles in the background. The leading roles were reserved for the heroes. And between the hero and the woman was the villain, of course, who also symbolized frontier masculinity.
The action typically took place in a dangerous territory — in the process of being “civilized” — inhabited by Indigenous people, who were usually depicted as monsters. This is a rather condescending take on a genre that — having always had relative freedom to be explicit — has managed to offer profound reflections. However, the stereotype still exists to some extent, as the genre evolves with the times and maintains solid health.
It’s interesting that a genre so specifically located in time and space — the settler frontier of the colonial-era United States — has exceeded its own limits in such a disproportionate way. It’s not just that the Western has been mixed with so many genres that th.