femme fatale
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The femme fatale is "a seductive woman who leads men into dangerous or uncompromising situations. " Sometimes termed as a "castrating bitch, " an "unfaithful wife, " "a black widow, " or "a monstrous castrator, " these "Bitch goddesses " were given to the screen in the early forties by the directors of film noir. Classically, the figure of the femme fatale was viewed as a threat to patriarchal order in society; she was a "post-war version of the new woman. " In the above quoting we can see how the figure of the femme fatale is viewed as threat towards the world of men. Through her roles of "wife", and "widow" she is labelled a castrator, unfaithful, and bitch. This connotes her ability to threaten a male's world. The femme fatale represents the figure of a woman who has rejected her traditional role as mater patriae, (priestess of home and hearth, or fatherland) and replaced it with that of a much more self-serving nature; she is interested in what she wants. Whether it be money Double Indemnity, freedom China Town, or the man she is after Gilda, she will go to any length to get what she wants. Furthermore, it has been suggested that film noir's primary agenda is to find out and investigate what it is that a woman truly wants . In the classic noir the femme fatale becomes condemned for her sensual and evil nature...