Two Approaches to Studying Gendered Performance of Masculinity

Prior to Stagecoach (1939), I’ve seen two other John Wayne films, Red River (1948) and True Grit (1969). I’ve also seen his I Love Lucy episode, so I have a general familiarity with his career progression. Given my brief experience watching John Wayne onscreen, I found the Willis chapter particularly engaging in terms of his elucidation of Wayne’s relationship to a socio-political depiction of masculinity. Willis is clear that his argument is not based on mere biographical particulars, but instead on the invention of John Wayne as an American representation of masculinity. 

John Wayne astonishingly did not become a star until he was forty years old (Willis, 13). As Richard Dyer has argued, stars are a product of their time and specific cultural circumstances, but Willis is partially interested in the longevity of John Wayne’s popularity as it relates to questions of masculine performance. He poses the question, “Why was Wayne’s popularity mainstream and long-lived, not fleeting and marginal (13-4)?” John Wayne managed to catapult himself into stardom at an age where Hollywood tends to discard its stars. In an attempt to answer the above question, Willis points to how Wayne embodied a kind of hyper-masculine masculinity that was believed to be disappearing in American society. Wayne’s stardom was therefore contingent upon his representation of masculinity as a constant through line in his entire body of work.

Both Willis and Cohan deal with the constructed nature of producing a dominant masculine presence onscreen; however, Cohan’s analysis of Cary Grant’s performance in North by Northwest (1959) indicates a dual layer of gender performance that relies on Grant’s star persona and personal history. The two authors approach gendered performance of male masculinity in somewhat opposing manners, but each approach is supported by the specificity of masculinity being performed by each actor. Willis found it unnecessary to provide biographical information on John Wayne, as his argument is more about Wayne’s overall screen image as a representation of American patriotism and masculinity. Cohan is looking specifically at one film, North by Northwest, and the way the film mirrors Cary Grant’s performed maleness and star persona, as such biographical information is crucial to his argument.

While both authors approach examining masculinity in differing ways, I am left with the following questions: How are we to comprehend the relationship between depictions of gendered performance onscreen and off-screen depictions? In terms of analyzing masculine/feminine performance onscreen, what is at stake if biographical information is not considered?