KNOWING AND BEING KNOWN: SEXUAL DELINQUENCY, STARDOM, AND ADOLESCENT GIRLHOOD IN MIDCENTURY AMERICAN FILM

摘要: OF DISSERTATION KNOWING AND BEING KNOWN: SEXUAL DELINQUENCY, STARDOM, ADOLESCENT GIRLHOOD IN MIDCENTURY AMERICAN FILM Sexual delinquency marked midcentury cinematic representations of adolescent girls in 1940s, 50, and early 60s. Drawing from the history adolescence context female juvenile delinquency, I argue that studios teen girl stars struggled for decades with publicity, censorship, social expectations regarding sexual license teenage girls. Until late 1950s, exploitation films B movies exploited sex pregnancy while mainstream Hollywood ignored those issues, struggling to promote by tightly controlling their private lives but depriving fan magazines gossip scandals normally fueled machinery stardom. The emergence image postwar, sexually autonomous finally began see expression melodramas 50s, such as Sandra Dee Natalie Wood created new, “post-delinquent” star images wherein “good girls” could still be experienced. This new was a significant departure widespread belief active fundamentally delinquent threat nuclear family, offered liberal counterpoint more conservative prototypes like Hayley Mills, which continued have cultural currency.