Week 2

Regarding the homosocial of the film world, I thought it was interesting to think of how Edison Studios and the Lumiere's approach to incorporating women into film. The Lumiere brother's incorporation of women was a side effect of their creative style. Shooting heterosocial concepts and spaces defaulted in the inclusion of women. Edison's approach was to use women to attract the male gaze. This reasoning would make sense because the film industry at this time was primarily run by men thus the thought of a women's participation was not the main topic of discourse. The involvement of women in Lumiere brothers films makes sense, women in heterosocial spaces were a common idea for men. The idea that women also worked from home and then brought their work into the studios contributes to the idea that women were not apart of the conversation. "Women were not so much excluded from these earliest Edison films: they were simply not present in the larger space from which the cast was drawn." (pg. 21) This idea of women not being excluded because of not being physically in the space is conflicting. White women at this time could not vote and their lives were filled with domestic tasks. They were being excluded simply by being less than to a man.