Film and gender in early twentieth-century Spain: a new impulse towards modernity

Abstract

Several critics have mentioned cinema as a source of social change and of concern among moralists in early twentieth century Spain. No in depth study exists, however, on the role of cinema in the changing social landscape that preceded the Spanish Civil War. It is my intention here to explore, precisely, the connection between motion pictures and the modernization of female gender models in the 1920s and 1930s in Spain, specifically the role of movies and movie stars in the progressive abandonment of traditional gender roles by Spanish women in the early 20th century. I will examine several texts and films that provide insight into how motion pictures constituted a locus where women became aware of new values, freedoms and possibilities within a very traditional and patriarchal society.