Mona Lisa's Smile: A Cinematic Reflection on Female Awakening and Social Constraints in 1950s America

This essay explores the ideological and institutional oppression of women in 1950s America by viewing the film, Mona Lisa's Smile. Through the use of the educational, cultural and socioeconomic institutions displayed within the film, this study explores how women characters were subjected to the oppressive practices of patriarchal oppression through institutions and how these women characters were able to attain self-emancipation. This study can be posed with the following three questions: (1) In what ways did America's institutional structures during the 1950s play a role in gender oppression? (2) In what ways did Katherine's pedagogical style help the female characters develop consciousness? (3) What are the limitations of personal idealism in the presence of deeply entrenched patriarchy? Through the combination of textual analysis and feminist theory, this research concluded that although systemic oppression limited women's autonomy, education and critical consciousness were the forces for resistance, perhaps individualism was not enough to dismantle rooted patriarchal institutions. This current research adds to the literature of gender studies through the exploration of historical factors that play a role in gender-based domination and the potential for education to be a catalyst for social change.