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Narratives of the gangster film genre have consistently centered on the story of the male members of the Mafia family who attain their goals of wealth, power, and providing for their families, through criminal and violent acts. While critics such as Thomas Ferraro, William Simon, and Stella Bruzzi have focused on various aspects of the gangster story, such as patriarchal structure, ethnic and minority portrayals, family relationships, and even clothing styles, the role of women in gangster films has been a largely neglected subject.' In this article I argue for the centrality of female characters in understanding the ideological and formal workings of the gangster genre.2 This remedies an oversight in genre film criticism, as well as adds substantially to feminist investigations of female figurability and visibility. The traditional gangster narrative follows the progress of one male individual as he strives to fulfil1 the expectations placed on him by a patriarchal society. The gangster's central preoccupation of living out the American dream of economic success and power in a capitalist system, and his passionate drive to prevail, put him at odds with society's efforts to maintain social order. Because this familiar plot line focuses on the male characters, the women in the films are generally seen as narrative constructs who simply move the story along. As Laura Mulvey in "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema," suggests:

"But You Wouldn't Have the Gumption to Use It": Bonnie and Clyde and the Sexual Revolution