Representation of Violence against Women in The Wolf of Wall Street (Scorsese 2013)

Abstract

[eng] The established discourse created by hegemonic masculinity results in socioeconomic oppressive practices for women. Such oppression can lead to gendered violence, which may be mental or physical, and women can become victims of abusive relationships which are held by the patriarchal system. The Wolf of Wall Street (Scorsese 2013) is a film that focuses on the representation of Jordan Belfort as the personification of success according to the hegemonic masculine regime. This paper will carry out an analysis of the violent gender performativity of Belfort, which is expressed by his exploitation of the female body, and by his physical abuse of his wife, Naomi. Drawing on feminist film theory, the aim of this paper is to analyse the victimhood of Naomi, which is created both visually and narratively through a process of sexual objectification. This study has demonstrated that Naomi’s victimhood is rather complex, owing that she is presented as the femme fatale archetype whose presence in the film is exclusively linked to her sexual display. Nonetheless, Naomi is visually victimized through a process of scopophilia. Thus, her role is filtered by the male gaze, reducing her persona to an object created according to men’s phantasies. Besides, Naomi is a victim of intimate partner violence with Belfort, who exercises both physical and verbal violence to maintain his dominant position over her, which is held by oppressive gendered power structures.