Full of Phallocentrism
In the beginning of "The Girl on a Motorcycle" it may seem that Rebecca, as a female, is central to the film. But through the phallocentric examples that exist Rebecca is actually portrayed to have many limitations. Rebecca's motorbike is a symbol of freedom and escape which makes her seem in control and powerful, she is traveling alone at high speed and she narrates the film through her thoughts. The film begins with Rebecca dreaming in bed next to Raymond. The dream involves a sexy woman on a horse for all to see at a circus. The woman is crying which shows female vulnerability. While riding the horse and doing tricks, Daniel, as the ringmaster, whips her clothes off until she is topless infront of the crowd. Daniel is laughing as the woman is crying, showing that males are insensitive to woman in need of help. It also shows the male view of women as objects to show and control and there is no regard for female sexuality. Daniel (the ringmaster) is shown as a voyeur. Rebecca wakes dresses in her leather riding suit without undergarments and hops on her bike which she refers to as a male, seeming that she won't be free without a male. The second sign of female vulnerability is the fact that Rebecca has to keep reminding herself not to feel guilty, she almost has to convince herself that she is doing the right thing by leaving Raymond. She seems a bit defensive, as if she isn't allowed to have her own opinion. Continued....
I do not see this film as a liberating film for women. Rebecca only gained freedom from her motorbike. The motorbike was given to her by Daniel, without his gift Rebecca would still be trapped. He gave her the go ahead to breakloose, she didn't do it on her own. We see Raymond treat Rebecca with respect and concideration unlike Daniel who takes control of her. At one point she says to Raymond, "You ought to tell me to shut up and tell me to do what you want to do." The film suggests that both the females and males are subject to phallocentrism. Another characteristic of phallocentrism is seen in the male gaze, this is previlent many times when men are looking at Rebecca. The men that greet her at the borders are excited to see that it is a woman who has rode up, they are flirtatious and one even touches her sexually. This example can also be seen as an example of fetishism of the female body. The men in the bar all stare at her, Daniel stares at her from across the restuarant at the ski lodge, and even her father in the bookstore sees her with a male gaze. Rebecca is surprised when one of the gaurds doesn't touch her or make a sexist remark, she is unconsciously conforming to phallocentrist ways of the men that surround her. Rebecca is so madly in love with Daniel that she races to get to him across country. She claims that she has no identity when she is away from him. The fact that Daniel doesn't love her back shows that Rebecca lacks something. She is not good enough. Daniel was heartbroken, or "castrated" in the past, and now he is defensive and doesn't allow himself to love. He treats Rebecca as nothing more than a sexual object to bring him pleasure. In the end, Rebecca dies. Her death is a symbol of the phallus being protected.