Female Study, edit draft and add 900 words

1

Kerry Zhao

Professor Laury Oaks

Femst 20

January 25, 2020

Feminist Threshold Concepts in Marriage Story

How Social Constructs Factor Into Divorce Proceedings

A valuable piece of feminist media is one that accurately portrays the discrepancy between

the treatment of males and females. Such a piece of media allows the viewer to accurately discern

where differences in gender roles and expectations arise. One such text is Noah Baumbach’s 2019

film Marriage Story, starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson as a married couple going through a

divorce. The film is raw and at times difficult to watch, highlighting both the difficulties of a divorce

and the double standards that arise when a child is involved. Part of analyzing a feminist piece of

work includes juxtaposing how males and females are treated differently. This is referenced in the

textbook via the threshold concept of the social construction of gender. (Launius and Hassel, 10) Using

this threshold concept as a lens, we see Marriage Story as a commentary on how contemporary

notions of marriage and divorce treat men and women differently, exemplifying the differences and

double standards between the two.

The threshold concept of the social construction of gender focuses on how the “ideas and

constructions of gender change across time, between and within cultures, and even within one’s

lifespan […] they also establish and perpetuate sexism; additionally, racial, ethnic, and cultural

identities frame expectations for appropriate gendered behavior, as does social class and sexuality.”

(Launius, 54) Marriage Story demonstrates how all these factors play out in a divorce. Nicole and

Charlie Barber are going through a divorce – Charlie is a successful New York City theatre director

and Nicole is a former teen actress who occasionally stars in Charlie’s plays. They have a young son,

and the film opens with the couple already in marriage counselling. Baumbach’s film proceeds to

2

follow the two as they navigate the trials and tribulations of divorce, made particularly difficult when

Nicole moves from their New York home to Los Angeles, in order for her to begin starring in a

television show. At times, the film is almost uncomfortable because how raw and real it is – typically,

films don’t allow their stars to appear so awkward and unlikeable. But Marriage Story is believable

because of how relatable its content is, particularly that of how Nicole and Charlie are held to

entirely different standards throughout their divorce.

Perhaps the best example of how social constructs play a role in such a situation is when

Laura Dern’s character – Nicole’s divorce lawyer Nora Fanshaw - monologues about how Nicole

will be portrayed in a trial versus how Charlie – Nicole’s soon-to-be ex-husband, will be portrayed:

“People don't accept mothers who drink too much wine and yell at their child and call him

an asshole. I get it. I do it too. We can accept an imperfect dad. […] God is the father and

God didn't show up. So, you have to be perfect, and Charlie can be a fuck up and it doesn't

matter. You will always be held to a different, higher standard. And it's fucked up, but that's

the way it is.

- Marriage Story, dir. Noah Baumbach (2019)

This quote perfectly exemplifies how social constructs define how Nicole must navigate her

divorce as opposed to Charlie, who faces challenges that are just as difficult, albeit different.

Charlie’s lawyer encourages him to fight dirty, exacerbating all of Nicole’s minor flaws and making

her out to be a terrible mother in court, despite Charlie not fully believing such accusations himself.

Ultimately, it is clear how this divorce favored Nicole, regardless of what Charlie did to demonstrate

his devotion to his child. This further exemplifies how the social construct of gender is not only sexist

towards females in divorce cases, but potentially unfair towards men too. Nicole’s abrupt move to

3

Los Angeles leaves Charlie struggling to find a divorce lawyer in the city and forcing him to look

negligent as he attempts to continue his career in New York.

Marriage Story demonstrates something unique in how it treats both its male and female

protagonists evenly, which is an excellent tool through which we can critique and analyze the social

construct of gender as a threshold concept. I choose this threshold concept paired with this

particular text because it is vital to highlight the differences between how men and women are

treated in situations as common and human as divorce. Analyzing how Nicole and Charlie are

portrayed differently is crucial to understanding how this threshold concept applies in such cases.

4

Works Cited

Baumbach, Noah. Marriage Story. Netflix, 2019.

Launius, Christie and Holly Hassel. Threshold Concepts in Women’s and Gender Studies: Ways of Seeing,

Thinking, and Knowing, 2nd ed. Routledge: New York, 2018. Print.