The Rise Of Female Sexuality In Psycho By Alfred J. Hitchcock

Throughout the early years of America’s growth, society, along with the typical American family, consisted entirely of patriarchal power. Men were believed to be smarter, stronger, and therefore, superior to women. However, the concept of female sexuality, often referred to as female power, is introduced within W. Scott Poole’s expository text Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting along with Alfred J. Hitchcock’s classic film Psycho. While both W. Scott Poole and Alfred J. Hitchcock addressed the rise of female sexuality in a similar manner, Hitchcock presents the increase of women’s promiscuity throughout the sexual revolution, while Poole presents the societal fears and concerns that arose due to …show more content…
Rather than being an individual who stays home to care for the children and answer to her husband’s every beck and call, women were slowly gaining power not only in the home, but also in the workforce. Women were beginning to work outside of the home and began to become an additional financial support system for the family. Throughout the sexual revolution women began to fulfill their own needs and urges rather than solely caring for their husband’s. As Poole emphasizes, women were now seen as human beings rather than solely a way to procreate (171). Poole also reveals, “Notably, [conservative critics of feminism] often conjoined sexual power and the ability to reproduce as an especially fearful mixture” (171). The fact that conservative individuals referred to sexual freedom as “sexual power” proves that they viewed the sexual revolution as a revolution that provided power to the women. Men believed themselves to be superior to women due to the societal and cultural standards that they had been raised with. Therefore, they easily became outraged by the so called promiscuity and “sexual power” that the women of this time period had begun to