"Girl on a Motorcycle..." liberating?
“In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The male gaze projects it fantasy into the female figure, which is styled accordingly” (39 Mulvey).
Girl on a Motorcycle seems like it should be a liberating film about women, however, it still puts women on a lower standard than men. As Rebecca travels, others (mainly men) are skeptical that she is traveling by herself without her husband. Her first stop, as she is filling her gas, the attendant says that her husband is “a generous man” implying that she needs a man’s permission in order to go out. Phallocentrism plays a huge role in this movie. It is shown in Rebecca’s father when he says that daughters are of no use because they get married and leave, and it is especially shown through Daniel. One would think that Daniel would be her freedom because he is the one who gave her the motorcycle, but it is the opposite. You see that Rebecca is dependent on him. She can’t do anything without worrying about what he may think. He is the one that initiates everything, and she’s just along for the ride.