My decision to choose John Travolta in his iconic role of Danny Zuko was based on his situational interest in Sandy depending on the presence of an audience. In this picture, the light colors, Sandy’s bubbly expression, and the style that Sandy expresses (the pure, virginal look that she is criticized for by other characters throughout the movie) communicates that this is set in the summer of their budding romance before the social pressures drive Danny to push Sandy away.
The double standards of society that punish women for being too sexual or not sexually available also punish men for being emotional and not sexually virile enough (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 150). Here is an example of a very powerful and far-reaching media representative of these standards. Not only is Sandy’s sexuality only a response to Danny’s supposed desires (that end up seeming more social than physical), but Danny’s affection and attachment only seems validated when Sandy presents herself as a sexually available enough. There is an eroticization of the “bad girl” façade that Sandy puts on by the end of the production, the tainting of her wholesome, all-American cheerleader character that makes her someone that a “cool” guy like Danny would pay attention to. In essence, it would seem that the only way their relationship finally mended was with the female’s willingness to follow the gender roles. Kirk and Okazawa-Rey point out that, in such an emotionally stifling culture for men, one of the only acceptable forms of intimacy that fits in with the male/female gender roles is sex (152). When recalling his experience with Sandy to his friends on the first day of school, he gets more and more wrapped up in talking about what they attempted sexually rather than how fondly he felt for her. Throughout the movie, that same theme seems to surface—that Danny’s feelings are only acceptable when there is no one else around. Not only does this do damaging things for Sandy by objectifying her and making her assume a role in public that she probably cannot maintain for very long—the movie did end notably soon once Sandy walked out in a black cat suit—but it does not allow for Danny to express any preference far beyond sexuality in front of anyone else. This is one of the ways that society teaches teens that guys can only be gentle and emotional in private and girls should be ready to present themselves as whatever their male partner might want (because their pleasure is assumed to be fulfilled in meeting their male partner’s needs).
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 2010. 150-160. Print.
