Two Mules/Johnny Guitar - DP

Starting  during WWII, women gained prominance.  Theyheld men's jobs and worked hard and gain much respect of the the others around them. Johnny Guitar and Two Mule's for Sister Sara, portray the change in western views.  The "others" such as women start playing a more integral role in the story and thus society. The alpha male in westerns started to become more attached to this "other" and these films made it a point to descrbe just how important the "other" were.
Johnny Guitar potrays the strength of women very vividly.  Vienna is a very strong and powerful woman.  She owns her own saloon and she is in a place of great power in the town.  She even has strong enough ambitions to create her own town.  This portrays the 50's, in which the movie was made, where women gain there own sense of ambition.  They realize they possess the equal power of men.  Vienna, in this story, almost serves as an alpha male cowboy.  However, another alpha male like women, Emma also shares this sense of power.  She is the leader of the townspeople and a long-seeded enemy of Vienna.  They both duel at the end of the film, just as men do, showng that they are almost equal.  However they both fall short of Matheson's definition of an alpha mal cowboy when everything is said and done.  Emma is controlled by emotion, while Vienna needs to be saved by Johnny.
In Two Mules  the role of the "other" is a key part of the story in assisting the supposed alpha male.  Hogan is healed, aided, and protected by Sara.  Sara is portrayed as a strong human being because of her wits and ability.  She first tricked Hogan into believing that she is a nun, then helps him destroy the train, and help infiltrate the French fortress.  She is almost a side-kick of sorts and Hogan seems almost dependant on her.  She is his largest source of assistance.  This film was made inthe 70's, and it clearly shows thoughts of the time.  The civil rights movement was in full-force and women wished for equality.  The world started to notice and respect women more, which is why Sara was portrayed as an aid or a side-kick, an equal.
The two films show very clearly how the roles of the people who surround the alpha male are very important.  The minor characters are becoming more prominent and more important in the western genre.  This illustrates the thoughts of the times when the films were made and it shows how America made its transition to becoming less conservative.