'Keep it to yourself': shame and female masturbation in American independent cinema

Clayton, Wickham and Humphreys, Georgia (2017) 'Keep it to yourself': shame and female masturbation in American independent cinema. Sexualities. ISSN 363-4607 (Print); 1461-7382 (Online)

Creators:
Clayton, Wickham and Humphreys, Georgia
Description/Abstract:

This paper considers four films released in American independent cinema since 2000 that contain examples of female masturbation as linked with shame within the character constructs: Mulholland Dr. (2001; dir. Lynch), Secretary (2002; dir. Shainberg), Margot at the Wedding (2007; dir. Baumbach), and Black Swan (2010; dir. Aronofsky). Utilising formalist analysis of the relevant masturbation sequences in the films, along with psychoanalytic theory in relation to both masturbation and the concept of shame, this paper aims to demonstrate how these films frame masturbation as negative and transgressive, and link autoerotic behaviour to the concept of shame within the development of the characters.

Item Type:
Article
Official URL:
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/136346...
Date:
10 November 2017
Identification Number:
10.1177/1363460717731930
Uncontrolled Keywords or tags :
masturbation, shame, American cinema, psychoanalysis, film form
Schools:
School of Film, Media & Performing Arts
Related URLs:
Depositing User:
Dr. Wickham Clayton
Date Deposited:
22 Jan 2018 12:23
Last Modified:
01 Mar 2022 08:46
Clayton, Wickham:
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8064-9111
URI:
https://research.uca.ac.uk/id/eprint/4310

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