Offers a detailed and innovative discussion of film sound and gender in mainstream US cinemaThe representation of gender in film remains an intensely debated topic particularly in academic considerations of US mainstream cinema where it is often perceived as perpetuating rigid binary views of gender and reinforcing patriarchal dominant notions of masculinity and femininity While previous scholarly discussion has focused on visual or narrative portrayals of gender this book considers the ways that film sound music voice sound effects and silence is used to represent gender Taking a socio historical approach Heidi Wilkins investigates a range of popular US genres including screwball comedy the road movie and chick flicks to explore the ways that film sound can reinforce traditional assumptions about masculinity and femininity impart ambivalent meanings to them or even challenge and subvert the notion of gender itself Case studies include Mildred Pierce Aliens and The Deer Hunter