Sociological Concept Of Feminism In The Movie True Grit

Superior Essays
In the movie “True Grit,” an unrelenting fourteen year old girl named Mattie Ross, brings it upon herself to avenge her father’s death after the outlaw known as Tom Chaney murders him and flees the territory. The young farm girl quickly seeks out to hire the U.S. Marshal, Rooster Cogburn, who is just as familiar with whisky as he is with guns, to track down Chaney. Shortly after this quarreling duo set out on their man hunt, they are accompanied by a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf. However, the Ranger happens to be chasing Tom Chaney for his own reasons. After days of bickering, LaBoeuf splits up with Mattie and Rooster to hunt down the outlaw in the hostile territory in which Chaney was hiding. Eventually, the trio come together to dispatch Chaney …show more content…
Her first order of business was to visit the stable owner to sell back the ponies her father bought before his death. After she greets herself and explains the means to her visit, the stable owner responds back to her condescendingly by saying this isn’t the business for a little girl. Even though, Mattie was told it wasn’t her business, she proceeded to negotiate with the stable owner and got a refund for the ponies. Another example of feminism in this movie would be the situation between Mattie and Rooster. For this, Mattie confronts Rooster with a proposition which was to pay him to track down Tom Chaney and in exchange she would pay him. However, Rooster believed that she could not afford his services due to the fact she was a teenage girl and declined the offer. Mattie, on the other hand would not let it go. She visits Mr. Cogburn later and presents him with the money from the pony refund, to prove to him that she was. In fact, capable of hiring himas a bounty hunter. All in all, the concept of feminism exists because Mattie is a feminist character. She went against what was considered a “woman’s role,” and fought for her right to settle her father’s affairs and avenge his …show more content…
Since this movie was set in a ___ time frame, the women’s role was not equal to the role of the men. Women were expected to cook, clean, take care of the kids, and obey as well as respect men. A prime example of this is, the many conversations between Mattie Ross and Mr. LaBoeuf. When talking to Mattie, Mr. LaBoeuf frequently pointed out that there was no room in their posse for a small girl. However, Mattie, being the quick witted character, always responded with an insult toward the Texas Ranger. After many conversations of these sorts, Mr. LaBoeuf gives Mattie a spanking for not giving him the proper respect that it was custom for women to give men back then. Alongside that, Mattie is constantly being stereotyped by the outlaws she and Rooster encounter. To expand on that, Mattie is undermined by a couple of outlaws her and Rooster where about to subdue at a homestead. The outlaw made snide remarks to Mattie in regards to her being a child, on top of that being a young woman and not acting “as one should.” Because of these examples, it is easy to see that the concept of stereotype is evident within this

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