The Silence Of The Lambs Gender Roles

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In The Silence of the lambs, the representation of woman in this movie was a push forward despite being in a sense weak and having less control as the men around them. Characters such as Clarice Starling was demonstrated as a progressive woman in many aspects. Catherine Martin is shown as a caring person who turns into a victim after she helps the buffalo bill unknowing his real intentions; And Senator Ruth Martin a hopeful powerful woman who is on the hunt to find her missing daughter. In this role, these women can be seen as advocating or implementing a social reform or new, liberal ideas.

Naïve Clarice is an FBI agent in training when we first meet her character. Ambitions of hunting down, tracking serial killers, and solving crimes are
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Better known as Buffalo Bill. A car parked out front of her apartment late at night she witnesses a man attempting to place a sofa couch into the back of his white van. Unassuming she helps him lift it into the truck and steps in to reposition it. Buffalo Bill pretending to be a man with a broken arm lures women who are larger in size and they are dropped into his basement where he lets them live for a couple a couple days so stretch out there skin. Bill does not see Catherine as a person at all he addresses her as an it, “It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it is told.” (The Silence of the Lambs, 1991). This term is dehumanizing referring to her as it. HE targets her because of her size but doesn’t realize her wit. Her main concern and focus is to get out of the hole she begs to be freed. “Please mister, let me go! My family will give you anything you want!” Catherine Martin exclaims. She empowers herself when she lures down Bills dog Precious. Constantly, thinking she ties a bone to a bucket and pulls down the dog. Catherine gains the upper hand over her kidnapper and he then is flustered because she has the leverage to get out of the basement. We are shown that the only loves that Buffalo bill has is for himself and his small dog precious. Despite starting off as the victim she overcomes the obstacles of being in the whole and is eventually rescued by another strong and powerful