'The Hays Code' and its effect on women in Hollywood.

Since the introduction of 'The Hays Code' in 1930s Hollywood, studios have struggled with creating new roles for women, ones in which do not portray them in such a degrading light. Pre-code Hollywood consisted of actresses- always young and beautiful- in leading roles, being nothing more than sex-symbols, continuously objectified by men in what appeared to be a modernised patriarchal society. The film The Story of Temple Drake is a prime example of this and shows why women in the industry use to be paid more than men; this is due to the ways in which they are portrayed and treated onscreen. However, as 'The Hays Code' was established these 'anything goes' rules were no longer exceptable; and so the studios and leading female stars in Hollywood were left not knowing where they stood, with their careers in question. Women were no longer categorized as the over-sexualised, subjective protagonists. This therefore prompted the arrival of men in leading roles, new-found genres and ultimately, for a short period, a squeeky-clean Hollywood. Furthermore this lead to women no longer being paid the highest amount on set, they were forced to take 'backseat' roles, as the damsels in distress. This was the case for a number of years, until the era of Hitchcock once again evoked a sexualized view of females with his voyeurism and portrayal of young, unmarried heterosexual couples. A new dawn loomed and with the 60s, woman were still the damsels, yet they were in leading roles; with the 70s came plucky female protagonists (although the line between protagonist and antagonist is often blurred usually in quite intimidating and fearsome roles such as Sigourney Weaver in Alien (1979) or Sissy Spacek in Carrie (1976)