The Feminism Reflected in the Forrest Gump

阿阿阿 阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿《 》传 女

阿阿

阿阿阿 阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿《 》 。传 一

阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿一。。

阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿。女 20 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿“阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿”阿。一女 阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿。

阿阿阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿 阿女一。，。

阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿。 体 。。 ， 。女 女 女

阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿 。，。 女

阿阿阿 阿阿阿： ；《 》传 阿阿阿阿女 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿

Abstract

Forrest Gump is a very classical American movie.

In this paper, the first chapter is introduction. It

mainly introduces an overview about the movie and the

main characters.

The second chapter describes the development of

feminism combining with the content of the movie. The

background of the story mainly occurs in America from

1960s to 1980s. This historical period is known as the

upsurge of the period of “the second feminist

movement”. The deep influence of feminism on Americans

of that generation is shown in the movie. The author

of the novel also experienced that period, and

Zeitgeist had deep influence on his creation.

Based on the main characters, the third chapter makes

an analysis of the feminism which reflected from the

movie. This chapter is the main part of this paper.

Forrest Gump’s mother and Jenny are important roles

who can reflect the women’s life of that era in the

movie. They have different personalities and different

understanding of feminism, which lead to their

different experiences and fates.

The fourth chapter is the conclusion part. Through the

above analysis, it summarizes the film director’s

dialectical perspectives of feminism.

Key words: Forrest Gump; feminism; Gump’s mother; Jenny

1．Introduction

Forrest Gump is a movie that won the Oscar Best Film

award in 1994, and it is also a very significant film

which helps audiences know the turbulent events in

America from the late 1950s to the 1980s, reflects the

themes of love, career and friendship and indeed

deserves the six Academy award including best picture,

best director and best actor.

The movie is mainly about the life of an

intellectually retarded person, Forrest Gump, who

becomes representative of the baby boomer generation

having walked through life blindly. In this film,

various social issues of America in the last half part

of last century are explored, and one issue among them

is Feminism. There are lots of women characters

depicted in the movie. The two most impressive ones

being Gump’s mother and Jenny, the girl Gump loved

deeply. They represented different levels of feminism.

In face of the dominant culture, the man is the

mainstay who is superior to the woman ． However, the

images of the two female characters express their own

attitudes towards the society, and the ideology of

feminism can be reflected vividly through their ideas

and behaviors in the movie.

Doubtless to say, whenever we hear the name Forrest

Gump the first thing that comes into our mind is the

movie that can rightfully be called a blockbuster.

However, released in 1994 the movie has a prototype—a

novel with the same name—on which the movie was based.

The original plot has been in the movie rearranged to

be more Hollywood-like; the ending in the movie is

more closed. But the novel is extraordinary in its own

right. It is a vivid retelling of the society of

America during that turbulent age from 1960s to 1980s.

In the paper, the experience of the author of the

novel is a key factor in the presentations of feminism

in the novel. Together with the perception of

director, a vision of feminism is presented in the

movie.

2. An Exploration of the Development of Feminism

According to the Background of the Movie

Feminist movements originally emerged in the US and

Europe. In the movements, Feminist activists strive

for women’s rights in contract law, property, voting

and so on. The whole work of Forrest Gump fully reflects

the women’s desire for freedom and equality, which

really prompts us to think about the meaning of the

history and the future. This chapter is to discuss the

development of feminism according to the background of

the movie.

2.1 The development of Feminism

The movement of feminism began in the western world

in the late 18th century and has gone through three

waves. The first wave was centered in the UK and US

during the nineteenth century and early twentieth

century among middle-class and upper-class white

women, aiming at promoting equal contract, marriage,

parenting, and property rights for women and focusing

mainly on women’s suffrage (Watkins, 115). The second

wave feminism began in the early 1960s and lasted

through the late 1980s. Feminism during this period

mainly focused on gender inequality in laws and

culture. Women were encouraged to understand the

politicized sides of their personal lives. The third-

wave feminism began in the early 1990s in the United

States. It arose in response to the perceived failures

of the second feminism. Compared with the second wave

feminism, the third wave is less reactive. During this

wave, disputes on differences between the sexes arose.

Beginning in the early 1960s and through the late

1980s, just the two decades in which the main part of

the movie is set, is the activity called second-wave

feminism—a radical feminist movement which almost

affected a whole generation of American. Before that

period, women have attained juridical equality in some

Western countries. But the second wave of feminism is

concentrated on the social and economical equalities

of women. Until the 1960s, contraception and birth

control are limited on all sides, and these are what

feminists struggle to change. Feminists wished that

contraceptive pill can be universalized. Lots of

people believe that it can remove the burden on women

who do not wish to have baby. They also believe that

women should be able to have control of their

reproductive function if they wish to be independent

financially of men. Right to abortion is also a major

appeal. But because of the intense controversy

revolving this issue, this target is difficult to

appeal. Abortion continues to be a topic of

controversy in many parts of the world.

2.2 An introduction to the movie and author of the

novel

Forrest Gump is based upon the novel by Winston groom

and directed by Robert Zemeckis. Winston Groom, the

author of the novel Forrest Gump, plays an inextricable

role in the fundamental arrangement of the movie which

is an adoption from his novel. As a result, it is

meaningful and necessary for us to explore the life

experience of Winston Groom to understand the feminism

reflected in the movie.

2.2.1 An introduction to Winston Groom

As a result of feminist movements, women gain

suffrage, have greater access to education, are more

nearly equal pay with men, gain the right to initiate

divorce proceedings and to own property and so on. In

a word, women’s status in society has improved a lot.

However, the difficulties women faced before they

reach such achievements should not be ignored. From

the 18th century when women began their fight to now,

more than two hundred years have passed, yet treatment

between women and men is still not realized. It can be

seen that traditional restrictions on women are too

deeply rooted. It is no wonder that critics and

literary writers have expressed a lot about feminist

movements, as well as their ideas. Similarly, the idea

of feminism can also be reflected from Forrest Gump.

Apparently the author of the novel Forrest Gump

interwove his experience with the story of Forrest

Gump. By meticulous comparison we can find

similarities: The author, though born in Washington,

D.C., was raised in Mobile, Alabama. Forrest Gump also

grew up and spent most of his time in Alabama—the

Heart of Dixie. Winston graduated from college in 1965

and then served in the Army, including a duty in

Vietnam. Likewise Forrest also served in the Vietnam

War and even became a war hero. Winston attended

Alabama College, so was Forrest. Winston grew up in

the Deep South where civil rights movement took place,

so he spent most of him young age witnessing the great

changes and turmoil of America during the period from

the 1960s to the 1980s. It is inevitable that he was

exposed to the liberal thoughts in that age, among

which feminism is one major trend. Forrest Gump was a

simple-minded innocent whose life intersected the

critical historical moments that occurred during the

tumultuous period of American history that includes

also the civil rights movement and the feminist

movement.

It is tempting to think that Winston Groom meant to

represent his opinion towards feminism in his novel.

After all, he took his novel as a kaleidoscope through

which people can get a glimpse of the age he was in.

Some reviewers said that the novel lacked depth in

both character and plot. Although that remark might be

reasonable, the novel is undoubtedly comprehensive.

Feminism, as one of the major trends of thought that

shaped the age, is inevitably given an expression in

his novel.

2.2.2 An introduction to Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump is an American epic romantic comedy-

drama film based on the novel of the same name by

Winston Groom. However, the film differs substantially

from Winston Groom’s novel on which it is based,

including Gump’s personality and several events that

were depicted. Extensive visual effects were used to

incorporate the protagonist into archived footage and

to develop other scenes. The film was directed by

Robert Zemeckis and starred by Tom Hanks, Robin

Wright, Gary Sinise and Sally Field. Its commercial

release made it a top-selling soundtrack, selling over

twelve million copies worldwide. Released in the

United States in 1994, Forrest Gump is a huge triumph

that won the Oscar for Best Picture and gained over

$677 million dollars of box office throughout the

world. It had got six grand prizes, such as Academy

Awards for Best Picture, Best Director for Robert

Zemeckis, Best Actor for Tom Hanks, Best Adapted

Screenplay, Best Visual Effects and Best Film Editing.

The film was passed to an intellectual disturbance

person creates in the description of life which has

reflected every aspect of American life, important

incidents of social political life, representing these

decades from one unique angle.

Forrest Gump portrays the leading role Forrest Gump,

who is a normal American guy, with an IQ of 75 so

called as idiot, but successfully getting through his

bittersweet childhood, brilliant football career at

collage, and brave performance in the army as well as

a fortune in his shrimp business. The story, based on

real events, depicts several decades in the life of

Forrest Gump, a naive and slow-witted yet athletically

prodigious native of Alabama who witnesses, and in

some cases influences, some of the defining events of

the latter half of the 20th century in the United

States; more specifically, the period between

Forrest’s birth in 1944 and 1982. Forrest’s story

truly inspires the entire American with his

significant achievements and positive attitudes

towards life. In addition, the film reveals a history

of America over the past decades in which take

numerous historic events, representing the eventual

American dream in a land of opportunity.

The movie is wholly masculine film and Forrest Gump

is no doubt the protagonist, two important females,

his mother - Mrs. Gump and his best girl friend ever -

Jenny, however do present their thoughtful images in

the film, making a great impact on Forrest’s interior

world and life.

3. An analysis of Feminism in the movie based on

Gump’s mother and Jenny

One major theme of the movie Forrest Gump, though not

explicit, tells about the rebellion and return of

contemporary American women. The two main female

characters in the movie were: Gump’s mother, who loved

Gump most, and Jenny, for whom Gump was willing to

have a fight.

These two females are tremendously different. But

they all display the different aspects of feminist

conception at that time. How are the values of females

from the end of world war two to the last decade of

20th century embodied in these two women? And what is

the implied meaning of the director in presenting

these two characters? These questions will be explored

in the analysis of the two women’s experience from the

perspective of feminism.

3.1 Feminism in Gump’s Mother

This part mainly discusses the feminism in Gump’s

mother from two aspects: her strong and independent

personality, and her wisdom in male-dominant society.

3.1.1 A strong and independent female

Forrest’s mother - Mrs. Gump makes great

contribution to Forrest’s life. Mrs. Gump appears to

be a single mother of Forrest. According to how

Forrest values his mum in the movie, we can know Mrs.

Gump is a very smart lady. She is responsible, brave,

and independent. She is good at managing her property

inherited from her family, renting all the empty rooms

to make a living. Regardless Forrest’s low IQ, Mrs.

Gump still insists on her son’s attending public

school rather than a special school as she says that

“my boy Forrest is going to get the same opportunities

as everyone else”. She tells Forrest that “stupid is

as stupid does”, encouraging Forrest growing up to a

normal and confident person. On the other hand, she

really understands that life is full of ups and downs,

giving Forrest lessons such as “life was like a box of

chocolates. You never know what you’re gone get”.

To Forrest, Momma is always an excellent model he

learns from. Even though she is dying, Mrs. Gump

calmly says to her son “it’s just my time ... Don’t be

afraid, death is just a part of life. It’s something

we’re all destined to do. I didn’t know it, but I was

destined to be your momma. I did best I could”.

Generally, the character of Mrs. Gump is a strong and

independent female presence. However, her existence is

more than for herself; viewing all the way through

Forrest's story, Mrs. Gump becomes a signifier of

independence which can be seen as answering to male

desires and anxieties.

Whatever Forrest recalls his mother, for example, he

always starts with words like “Momma always said” this

or “Momma always said” that, which emphasis his

mother’s huge influence on him. The mother’s amazing

characteristics of perseverance, independence and

kindness are taken by Forrest who can overcome any

difficulties through his life. It proves a system of

exchange in classical films that the representation of

women as the ideological meaning is for men rather

than women.

3.1.2 A wise mother in the male-dominant society

After beginning the narration of Gump’s story, the

director showed us the oppression that a great woman

suffered in a patriarchy society through the incident

of Gump’s seeking education. When the schoolmaster

refused to take in Gump, Gump’s mother dealt it with

tact. This oppression is not only physical, but also

spiritual. But Gump’s mother received it with

calmness. She did not utter any complaint or showed

any sign of suffering. She is willing to make any

sacrifice for her son. This greatness of maternity can

help her to conquer anything. The school master, who

was compared to a monster by Gump’s mocking sound,

represented the whole American male-dominant society.

In the 1950s, the greatest professional pursuit of

an American woman is to become a “housewife”. Gump’s

mother is a housewife living on rental. The society

then was an absolute male-dominant society. Male can

do anything they want in that world in which they were

dominant. The director showed us the great qualities

of Gump’s mother in that society in which women were

still being oppressed.

And what’s more, Gump’s mother was also very

profound and charismatic. This was manifested in

Gump’s memorization of his mother’s saying: “My momma

always said life was like a box of chocolates. You

never know what you are going to get”, “Stupid is as

stupid does”, “we do not need very much riches in

life, for the rest is just for showing” or “ death is

part of life”. These wisdoms showing the reflection of

a woman had a big influence throughout the life of

Gump. These are the exact reflections of mother’s

greatness. Maternity is the most valuable thing in the

world.

3.2 Feminism in Jenny

There are two important females are depicted in the

movie, one is Forrest’s mother, the other is Jenny, as

Forrest considers her as his most special friend and

only friend. Jenny presents her distinct aspect of the

representation of women in Forrest Gump, who is depicted

as an extremely confused character. She spends most of

her life finding herself and she if full of rebellion.

When she is young, she is abused by her drunken daddy

and stays with Forrest just because she is scared of

loneliness. After high school, they go to different

colleges. In Forrest’s eyes, Jenny and he are just

like peas and carrots since she friendly offers a seat

on his first bus to school. However, the film mostly

presents the dark, lonely and weak side of Jenny whom

is totally unlike strong and independent Gump’s

mother. Jenny makes wrong decisions of being naked

model for magazine, singing at a strip club and taking

drugs when Forrest sets off his successful life, and

particularly, a couple of times she wants to suicide.

No matter when and where, Forrest always attempts to

rescue Jenny out of trouble through her journeys but

ends up Jenny’s running away every time. Forrest loves

Jenny very much no matter what Jenny has done, and she

is Forrest’s only love. Forrest really does care about

Jenny, trying his best to protect her. Finally, they

go together as what Forrest hopes when Jenny decides

to settle down and marry Forrest. They also have a

child. The ending is relatively good, unless Jenny

gets ill and dead in the end of the story.

3.2.1 Jenny’s spirit of rebellion

If we say that Gump’s mother is the symbol of

maternity, then Jenny is the expression of rebellion

against society. She undoubtedly is the representative

of the “Beat Generation”. She has a mother that

deceased early, and an abusive father who not only

drinks a lot but also was salacious. Jenny used to

pray: “Dear God, make me a bird so I can fly far, far,

far away from here”. This childhood oppression on the

one hand injects her with the dream of freedom, and on

the other hand pushes her to the extremes. She has got

dreams but is stopped in the face of reality. At the

time when the Vietnam War was being fought, Counter

Culture Movement arises and Jenny became a typical

specimen of it.

Through Jenny, the director tries to express his

concern about the side-effects of rebellion and

extreme feminism. No doubt the oppressive male-

dominant circumstance should be reformed, but is

rebellion an answer to it? Aren’t we going from one

adversity to another? The experience of Jenny in the

movie is an example of the director’s critical

thinking towards feminism and its effect.

In Forrest Gump, Jenny Curran is an extremely

confused character. She spends the entire life trying

to find herself, while Forrest makes numerable

unsuccessful attempts to deliver her from hazards.

Instead of joining Forrest and have happiness, Jenny

runs away from him over and over again. She has

thoughts of suicide and often mixes herself in with

the wrong folks.

Jenny was raised by her obscene dad since she was a

little girl. She and Forrest became close friend, and

they remained so throughout high school. Jenny asked

Forrest to spend a lot of time with her because she

didn’t want to be alone. They spent so much time

together that they were “like peas and carrots”.

Later, they both went off to college. Jenny went to

an all girls’ college while Forrest went on to play

football in college. Forrest’s fortune began, so was

Jenny’s rebellion. While Forrest was becoming a

football star, Jenny was at college messing around

with boys and beginning to get in trouble. Forrest

rescued Jenny before she made the mistake of having

sex with a man who did not even care for her, but

Jenny was not willing to be together with Forrest.

Jenny got into another trouble because of her sexual

photos. She wanted to become a famous singer, but the

cruelty of live forced her to become a naked singer at

a strip club. Forrest found out about this and

delivered her from the club. At this time, Forrest was

about to leave and become a Vietnam War hero. When

Forrest told Jenny that he loved her, she impatiently

responded that he did not know what love was. This was

also the first time in the movie that Jenny mentioned

committing suicide. She asked Forrest if he thought

she could fly off the bridge. In his inadvertent way,

Forrest again helped Jenny make a right decision.

However, she took off again, leaving the one person

who cared about her behind. From the words she said

when bidding Forrest farewell, it can be felt that she

cared for him. But some impetus inside spurred her to

pursue a lifestyle whose implication she did not know

of. This in some sense indicated the blindness and

limitation of women’s liberation.

After Forrest went back from Vietnam, he and Jenny

met again accidentally in the capital. At this time,

Jenny had joined an anti-war organization called Black

Panther but was treated badly. Forrest tried to get

Jenny out of trouble with these people, while she left

Forrest again.

In the next few years, they did not hear from each

other. Jenny was in a club living a corrupted life.

She became an addict, and tried to commit suicide in

the middle of a night. But some instinct stopped her.

At this time, Forrest is becoming more and more

fortunate and wealthy.

Then one day Jenny came back to Forrest’s house.

They finally got together the way Forrest had wanted,

and just as we thought they were going to be together

forever, Jenny ran away again. This left Forrest

devastated. Once again we saw Jenny was confused and

running from her true happiness.

By the end of the movie, Jenny finally found

herself. Forrest spent “3 years, 2 months, 14 days,

and 16 hours” running throughout America; finally he

received a letter from Jenny that said she wanted to

see him. It turns out that Jenny gave birth to a baby

whose father was Forrest; the boy had become a little

boy and was named Forrest by her. She had decided to

be together with Forrest.

It took Jenny a very long time to decide to settle

down. She battled an abusive dad, dead-beat jobs,

drugs, and thoughts of suicide. When Jenny found out

she was ill, she called Forrest, and decided to

actually settle down and marry him. This left viewer

wondering, however, if Jenny hadn’t gotten sick, would

she have left Forrest again just like every other time

before?

We can figure something out from Jenny’s experience.

What is the director trying to tell us? Apparently he

is not encouraging Jenny’s perception of life. We even

doubt whether she had one.

3.2.2 Implication from Jenny’s rebellion

There have been scholars who consider a change of

women’s roles is a destructive force that endangers

the family. For example, Paul Gottfried describes this

antifeminist position: “Serious conservative scholars

like Allan Carlson and F. Carolyn Graglia have

maintained that the change of women’s role, from being

primarily mothers to self-defined professionals, has

been a social disaster that continues to take its toll

on the family. Rather than being the culminating point

of Western Christian gentility, the movement of women

into commerce and politics may be seen as exactly the

opposite, the descent by increasingly disconnected

individuals into social chaos”. The director must have

noticed those setbacks of extreme feminism and

rebellion from society. He depicted Jenny as a female

who may fall victim to the “Zeitgeist”. She followed

the trend indiscriminately, causing a disaster for

herself as well pain for people who care about her.

This is obviously contrary to what feminists’ ideal.

Women that stray from the beaten path are hurt more.

It is laudable that women should stand independently

with dignity; among those women that have this

character of iron-will, Forrest’s mother is the

paradigm. However, extreme rebellion against

traditional role of women can only bring about hazard

for women themselves. Antifeminists sometimes point to

an increase in divorce and family breakdown and

attribute as its cause is the influence of feminism.

They also cite that crime, teenage pregnancy, and drug

abuse are higher among children of fatherless homes,

considering that 66-80% (depending on the source) of

divorces is initiated by women and that single mothers

are accountable for 49% of all child abuse cases.

(Joan Ditson and Sharon Shay, 1984: 72)

Another implication of Jenny’s experience is the

oversight or flaw in the implementation of feminism.

As we know, feminism is always related with freedom,

and feminists tried hard to propaganda the conception

of being “free”, “independence”, and “equality of

opportunities” and so on. But when women actually turn

away from family and husband, how many freedoms or

opportunities are waiting for them. This dilemma is

boldly represented by the experience of Jenny: she

wanted to be a singer, but ends up being in a club

singing naked; she wanted to join activities but only

sexually exploited by the leader; she wished to make

some extra money but was kicked out of college.

We cannot but raise the questions: what can she live

on except her body? Has the society provided any means

for women to live a dignified life without relying on

men?

By presenting the unfortunate Jenny suffering from

trials and hardships from society, the director also

questioned the immaturity of feminism. It is reckless

to encourage women to rebel against their traditional

role in spite of their existing physical differences.

Some women who lived through the age can tell us the

truth: “The ‘sexual revolution’ turned out to be a

new, hip variation on the time-honored male ploy to

get women to spread their legs, and we’re still paying

for it”. [3]

Exploration of the social and historical background

Jenny was in can tell us more about her reasons for

choosing a rebellious path. Examples of strong women

are just reflections of the influence of high-rise

feminist activities.

In 1966, National Organization for Women was

founded. Betty Friedan, the leading figure of the

“second wave”, became the president of this

organization. Her book, The Feminine Mystique, was

published in 1963, questioned the role of housewives

in industrial countries. The “Problem That Has No

Name” was described by Friedan in the beginning of the

book: “The problem lay buried, unspoken, for many

years in the minds of American women. It was a strange

stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning, that

is, a longing, that women suffered in the middle of

the 20th century in the United States. Each suburban

wife struggled with it alone. As she made the beds,

shopped for groceries … she was afraid to ask even of

herself the silent question — “Is this all?”

(Gottfried, Paul, 2001)

In 1965, America passed an act that gave women the

right to abortion. National Women’s conference was

held in Huston in1977, there were 180 representatives

from 36states took part in. These marked the high-rise

of feminism. The United Nations announced the year

1975 as “International Women’s Year”.

Against this historical background, Jenny is certain

to be greatly influenced. She accepted the conception

of the age, took part in those activities, and even

one of Jenny’s boy friend is the president of American

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) of a school.

She has a spirit of rebellion, and a horrifying

childhood. Based on these elements, she had chosen the

path of radical feminism.

Towards the ending of the movie, Jenny had a baby,

and finally came back to be with Forrest Gump. She

discarded her old lifestyle, and come back to be the

wife of the man who loved her. Late though it was, she

settled down, and found peace in herself. It is

reasonable to assume that her last days were spent in

slight regret. As testified in her remark after

Forrest told her his experience of life without her,

she said: “I wish I could’ve been there with you”.

Perhaps, if given another chance, she would choose her

life path differently. As a result, if we say that the

mother of Forrest Gump is the model of glorious

maternity, then Jenny’s last few days on earth can be

called the great return to motherhood from rebellion.

4. Conclusion

All in all, the movie is the distillation of a

generation’ story of apprehension and struggle. The

life experience of the author of the novel based on

which the movie was developed plays an important role

in the depiction of feminism in the movie.

The feminism reflected in the movie is dialectic. On

the one hand, the movie glorified Forrest’s mother’s

struggle for the development of her son; she made many

sacrifices and took lots of burden and

responsibilities alone with a strong character; on the

other hand, the director criticized the limitation of

radical feminism. Because of the historic conditions

and the factuality of physical difference between men

and women, those radical conceptions of feminism are

to some level castles in the air.

In general, the two important females Gump’s mother

and Jenny can be identified as stereotypical

representations of women with their social, cultural

and sexual definition, extremely influencing Forrest

into another representation of men in a patriarchal

society as Hollows, Hutchings and Jancovich states

that “It is a historical fact that women have formed

an important part - of the audience for commercial

entertainment films”. (Hollows, J., Hutchings P. and

Jancovich, M., 2000: 230)

To sum up, Mrs. Gump and Jenny, the two females who

relate to the protagonist Forrest Gump, have been

mostly examined with the mechanism of feminist

discourse in this paper. Both of them play important

roles with respect to Forrest but in completely

different ways, and they work as a signifier of

ideology of feminism. By going through the feminism

analysis with their representation, we can conclude

that as a result of being a material product of the

system, Forrest Gump is also an ideological product of

the system which reflects the feminism of that time.

References

[1]“The Consequences of Fatherlessness”.

http://www.fathers.com/research/consequences.html.

Retrieved 2006-09-30.

[2] “A study of child abuse in Lansing”. Michigan. Joan

Ditson and Sharon Shay in Child Abuse and Neglect, Volume 8.

1984.

[3] http:// www.angelfire.com/movies/oc/gump.html .

[4]Gottfried, Paul (2001). “The Trouble With Feminism”.

LewRockwell.com.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/gottfried/gottfried9.html.

Retrieved 2006-09-30.

[5]Cook, P and Johnston, C. (1990). “The Place of

Woman in the Cinema of Raoul Walsh”[1974], in Patricia

Erens (ed.) Issues in Feminist Film Criticism. Bloomington:

Indiana University Press.

[6]Hollows, J., Hutchings P. and Jancovich, M.. The Film

Studies Reader. London: Arnold Publisher, 2000: 230.

[7]Johnston, C.. “Women’s Cinema as counter-Cinema”

[1973], in E.A. Kaplan (ed.) Feminism and Film. Oxford:

Oxford University Press, 2000: 22-23.

[8]McCabe, J.. Feminist Film Studies: Writing the Woman into

Cinema. London: Wallflower Press. 2004: 24.

[9]Mulvey, L.. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”

[1975], in Hollows, J., Hutchings, P. and Jancovich,

M. (ed.) The Film Studies Reader. London: Arnold

Presser, 2000.

[10] 阿阿阿. “ 阿阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿”《 》传 . 阿阿阿阿阿《》 , 2008(2).

[11] 阿阿阿. “ 阿阿阿《 》传 : 阿阿 阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿”传统 . 阿阿阿阿阿《》 , 2006(19).

[12] 阿阿阿. 阿阿阿阿阿《 》女 . 阿阿: 阿阿阿阿阿阿, 2000.