Although it focuses on early German (rather than American) films, and although it is --at present-- only available in German, by far the best book-length study of gender politics in early cinema is Heide Schluepmann's Unheimlichkeit des Blicks. Das Drama des fruehen deutschen Kinos [Uncannyness of the Gaze: The Drama of the Early German Cinema]. If you do read German, you might also want to explore the new journal devoted to research on early cinema: KINTOP. Jahrbuch zur Erforschung des fruehen Films, published by Stroemfeld/Roter Stern in Basel/frankfurt a.M. Hope this is of some use for what sounds like an interesting project. Tom Levin ([log in to unmask])