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gender roles in grease
cultural norms and beliefs RELATED TO GENDER ROLES
Culture and society impact gender role
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The musicals Billy Elliot and Grease present both conventional and unconventional representations of gender throughout. Both musicals also seem to obscure the message of the underlying gender stereotyping issues by overshadowing them with elements such as music, dance and costume.
Men have been stereotyped as dominant, strong, brave and aggressive. Also there is an image of men being portrayed as harder workers than women and supposedly the more intelligent gender.
“Men are thought to be physically tougher, more aggressive, more rational, better able to handle sex without love, and more likely to be successful at work by virtue of their greater will to win.” (Nicholson, 1993, 2)
Most often, men have less of an emotional attachment to other people as they are seemingly less sensitive than women, which would explain the stronger ability men have for handling sex without love. Physically and mentally men are seen to be stronger than women which is why they can be seen as more perseverant and determined workers, therefore making them more likely to succeed in work.
The character of Tony from Billy Elliot follows all of the regular stereotypes we associate with being masculine. He shows his bravery and aggressiveness through his forceful engagement in the riots, and also through the fact that he shows no sign of respect for people in authority. His dominance is emanated through his firm and stable posture and his particularly demanding manner over Billy. Tony represents the typical male in Billy Elliot, and he see’s Billy’s interest in dance as something feminine, therefore not a respectable interest for a young boy, as dance is most often considered a woman’s hobby.
On the other hand, females have been stereotyped as being passive,...
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...dtrack (2000) [CD track] 4mins. 53secs. He could be a star. Original cast recording.
4. Denisoff, R.S and Romanowski, W.D. (1991) Risky Business: Rock in Film. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. Page 241.
5. Everett, W. A. and Laird, P. A. (2008) The Cambridge Companion to the musical. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Page 332.
6. Koller, V., (2008), ‘Not just a colour’: pink as a gender and sexuality marker in visual communication, Visual Communication, I (4) November p.401.
7. Lancioni, J. (2006) Cinderella Dances Swan Lake: Reading Billy Elliot as Fairytale. Journal of Popular Culture, 39, (5), page 718, 723.
8. Malone, T. (2010) Utopia, Nostalgia, Grease: How a Film can create a Stage Legacy. Theatre Annual, 63, (18p), Page 50.
9. Nicholson, J. (1993) Men and Women: how different are they? 2nd Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Page 2.
Brannon, Linda. "Chapter 7 Gender Stereotypes: Masculinity and Femininity." Gender: Psychological Perspectives. 4th ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2005. 159-83. Print.
Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. Print
Over time, the image of men has changed. This is due mostly to the relaxation of rigid stereotypical roles of the two genders. In different pieces of literature, however, men have been presented as the traditional dominate figure, the provider and rule maker or non-traditional figure that is almost useless and unimportant unless needed for sexual intercourse. This dramatic difference can either perpetuate the already existing stereotype or challenge it. Regardless of the differences, both seem to put men into a negative connotation.
Prentice, D. A. and Carranza, E. (2002), What Women and Men Should Be, Shouldn’t Be, Are Allowed to Be, and Don’t Have to Be: The Contents of Prescriptive Gender Stereotypes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 26: 269–281.
Charney, Leo. “Historical Excess: Johnny Guitar's Containment” Cinema Journal 29, No. 4 (1990): 28-30. JSTOR. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Williams, Linda. "Film Bodies: Genre, Gender and Excess." Braudy and Cohen (1991 / 2004): 727-41. Print.
Lewis, J. (2008). American Film: A History. New York, NY. W.W. Norton and Co. Inc. (p. 405,406,502).
Barsam, Richard. Looking at Movies An Introduction to Film, Second Edition (Set with DVD). New York: W. W. Norton, 2006. Print.
Ultimately, the protagonist’s successful transition into the world is epitomised as ‘ugly duckling’ evolving to a ‘graceful swan’. In the final scene, the swan imagery and classical masterpiece of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake’ symbolises Billy’s transcendence of obstacles and his celebration of successful integration in a new world. The shot of Billy performing a grand jĕte in the centre of the stage signifies his transition and this is reinforced by the dramatic ‘Swan Lake’ playing in the background, and the low angle full shots of Billy leaping triumphantly, with the strong beam of light surround him in a surreal glow. In addition, the jump cut of Billy’s father’s tear streaked eyes and Michael’s evocative language, “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” foregrounds the joy that is felt by all who witness the successful transition of an individual. This pivotal scene conveys the notion that entering into the world allows individuals to realise their full potential and gain significant
In today 's society, gender stereotyping of men and women has influenced the society’s actions and how it has reflected in recent years. Everyday stereotype is being used whether if it’s on movies, workplaces, playgrounds, homes, or even magazines. There is gender diversity in the movie Grease which took place in 1978. This movie focuses on several different types of stereotyping throughout the movie. Two specific characters in which we are able to use as an example of gender stereotyping are Sandy and Danny. There has always been a specific boundary between a male and a female gender. The femininity side that is shown in the movie Grease of how it is described by the character Sandy of how women were once portrayed back in the day has changed
Since the begging of civilization, women have been stigmatized in society as weak individuals. They have been serotyped to stay at home and raise family. Whereas men are portrayed as dominant role in society and are more linked to careers.
Dancing is a beautiful form of expression that reveals a good deal about a person in a matter of minutes. Characters that dance in plays and novels usually flash some sort of underlying meaning pertaining to their story, shining light on themselves, other characters, and the movement of the action. In Ibsen's A Doll's House, Nora's performance of the tarantella summarizes the plot of the entire play.
Every culture has different social expectations for men and women. Most of the time traditional norms or stereotypical gender roles are created by society. What they observe seem to be true and convince others to believe it; as a result, the “script” come from stereotypical gender roles about masculine and feminine nature: Hamilton McCubbin and Barbara Blum Dahl states clearly, “men should be brave, strong, ambitious, and aggressive, while keeping the...
Men and women were not seen as equal human beings; instead it has been obvious that men were more likely to be on the upper hand. In 1987, it has been recorded that
The differences between women and men are not solely biological. Our society’s culture has established a set of unwritten cultural laws of how each gender should act, or in other words society has ascribed a stereotype. Men’s gender identity has been one of masculinity, and masculinity is defined as referring to a man or things described as manly. What does manly mean though? Is a male manly if he is “Mr. Fix-it”, or the jock, or if he sits on the couch on Sunday watching football? This latter statement is a stereotype of men, that has been around for decades, and is current as well, but starting with the 1960’s a man’s role started to change, despite the stereotype not changing to accommodate it. For the past 40 years one can see how men have taken on roles stereotypically ascribed to women, such roles including being the “stay-at-home mom”, which we can find an excellent example of in the 1980’s film “Mr.