More than a woman: Music, masculinity and male spectacle in Saturday Night Fever and Staying Alive

Yanc, J 1996, ‘More than a woman: Music, masculinity and male spectacle in Saturday Night Fever and Staying Alive’, Velvet Light Trap, pp. 39, viewed 18 May 2014, Academic OneFile Database.

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This article uses the films Saturday Night Fever and its sequel Staying Alive to discuss the way the male body was presented as an erotic spectacle in the 1970s and to examine gender constructions. Yanc pulls apart the way John Travolta’s character presents a feminised masculinity and provides evidence from particular scenes in the film. He suggests that this reflects cultural notions of the idealised masculine persona in the 1970s.  The piece demonstrates comprehensive analysis of the subject. Academic support for the ideas in the text is provided as is support from the primary source, the films. This article is intended for knowledgeable audiences. It uses gender and film studies terms and theories that may be difficult to grasp for the uneducated reader. This article is useful for researchers who want to know more about films of the 1970s, the disco era, or male fashion and masculinity in the 1970s.  It also provides a diverse list of resources which could be followed up on for more information about these areas. This article also links in with other resources in the subject portal about the female and male gaze and feminised masculinity such as Le Masurier’s ‘Reading the Flesh’.