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Gender discrimination in the media
Gender discrimination in the media
Gender discrimination in the media
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“The Paper Chase” and “Legally Blonde” are two films that depict the legal education in popular legal culture. This concept refers to just about everything that individuals know or believe to know about law, lawyers, and the legal system (Asimon, 4). Both of these films try to provide viewers with what the actual law education is at a top rated university. There are numerous stereotypes about law school as well gender roles, which are recognized throughout both of these films. Often times, watching certain movies or television shows about law and lawyers can put legal issues or other labels in a different perspective.
Elle Woods is primarily portrayed as blonde, blue-eyed, popular girl who seems to have it all together in the film, “Legally
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Now, there are only 34% of women who are actually practicing law according to the Bar Association. In “The Paper Chase,” the classroom clearly shows the overwhelming amount of white males during this time period. Women are not seen as often throughout that movie, which particularly proves this gender gap. James Hart ends up finding his girlfriend who happens to be the daughter of his most demanding professor. Other than Susan, there are very few scenes or interactions with females. It is unfortunate that after only two dates, Susan ends up in bed with James. This is an example of conformed femininity, where women will do anything to please a man (Gendertrender). Again, Elle Woods is perceived to be just your typical blonde, fashionista, but actually does have the brains and ability to study at Harvard Law School. Although most law schools used to have a higher rate of male students, Legally Blonde tries to break this label by proving that Harvard Law is open to diversity and most importantly females. Out of all the students who could get picked for the internship with Professor Callahan, 3 of the 4 students were females. I also thought it was important that Elle Wood’s professor who put her on the spot the first day of class was a female professor. This professor likewise pushed her to stay at Harvard when she wanted to …show more content…
In “Legally Blonde,” Elle Woods is constantly pushing to impress her own law professor as well as Warner. Warner really only cared about having his new fiancé there in order to have a worthy accessory as a future politician. According to Elle’s father, law school is only for “boring, ugly, serious” people. Her parents did not even believe in their own daughter’s abilities. Professor Callahan was a prime example of someone who took a woman for granted. He objectifies Elle, telling her that the only way she will get somewhere is because of her looks. Elle worked extremely hard to get to her position, yet was only being rewarded because she fit into a stereotypical feminine category. Even in the nail salon, Elle teaches everyone the “bend and snap” in order to get males attention. It seems that throughout the entire movie, she is fighting to prove herself to the men dominating her. During The Paper Chase, Professor Kingsfield calls on James Hart randomly and has him recite back the information. Hart being so unprepared and shocked, ran out of the classroom straight to a bathroom to puke because he was so humiliated. Although this is something that most people would never think to consider a male would do, it goes to show that there is a lot of pressure in a classroom. It could be a male or female who gets emotional or sick, but a male figure was intimidating him. After this first day, James Hart
“Ireland” is present about half way through the play, towards the end of act one. Up until this point, Elle Woods, student of fashion merchandising and sorority president of Delta-Nu at UCLA, is met by a huge shock. Her boyfriend, Warner Huntington the Third, who she expects to propose to her tells her that he wants to break up with her because she is “not serious enough.” Elle, outraged, decides that love knows no bounds and must follow Warner to his post-graduate program at Harvard Law School. She ruins the rest of her party-style second semester senior year by studying to ace the L-SATs and getting accepted to Harvard as well. Upon arrival, she discovers that Warner has already proposed to a former childhood sweetheart who is also accepted into the same law program as them. Furious, Elle decides that if it is this boring, unfashionable brunette that Warner wants, then she must change her appearance, just to win him back. (“…The Movie or the Book…”)
The case is made that woman are more noticed by men when they have the big butts and fake hair. The female actors in the movie do not make much attempt to discredit this accusation, furthermore accepting the rhetoric that all males like the fake girls they see in the magazine and that’s the reason all women do this. This is a seamless example of how popular culture has continued to view woman and how woman continue to fall victim to the stereotypes of popular culture. During the exchange of ideas about the female stereotypes there are references made about famous Hollywood elites such as Beyoncé which places more light on the fact that popular culture plays a huge role in female
One-L, by Scott Turow, outlines the experience of attending Harvard Law School as a first year law-student. Turow weaves his experiences with those around him, and intertwines the professors of Harvard law, as well as their lectures. Initially, Turow enters Harvard law in a bit of disarray and awe. As a world of hornbooks, treatises, law-reviews, group studies, and legal terminology unfold beyond comprehension; Turow is confronted with the task of maintaining sanity. Time appears to be the most important variable, as Turow begins to study for contracts, torts, property, civil procedure, and criminal law; because time is so precious, one key-highlight for law-students is to balance family. Moreover, Turow is part of section-1, and two of his
A raging, oncoming freight train is roaring down the tracks around a slight bend bearing towards a helpless, vulnerable damsel in distress that is tied to the railroad tracks with only seconds to spare. She only has one hope: Superman. Faced with this nearly impossible situation what does Superman do? Naturally, he jumps in front of the locomotive head-on, putting his life in danger, and stopping the train with a screeching halt just inches away from the young lady, of course. What could be more heroic or courageous than succeeding during a dangerous situation? Nothing. As Superman demonstrated, these situations present the chance for traits of masculinity to be displayed. Now, not all situations may possess the severity or extremity of the situation that Superman handled but in all situations that are somewhat perilous masculinity is often associated with the attributes brave, bold, muscular, virile, and forceful, as well as many more. Masculinity requires facing challenges head-on and defeating the dangers; no second guessing, no hesitation. Get the job done. In various short stories from Benjamin Percy’s book Refresh Refresh the male protagonist is always presented with dangerous situations to display his masculinity through his courageous actions. This is executed during multiple different situations, but is often the result of saving a female character. The male protagonist rises to the occasion when an opportunity presents itself, but often they are responsible for creating the dangerous situations. These stories seem to verify Germaine Greer’s view that she expresses in her work Masculinity that “Masculinity requires the creation of dangerous situations, actual or symbolic.” (898)
Masculinity is described as possession of attributes considered typical of a man. Hegemonic masculinity is a form of masculine character with cultural idealism and emphasis that connects masculinity to competitiveness, toughness, and women subordination. Masculinity hegemonic is the enforcement of male dominion over a society. Masculine ideology dates back to the time of agrarian and the industrial revolution in Europe when survival compelled men to leave their homesteads to work in industries to earn a living for their families while women remained at home to take care of family affairs (Good and Sherrod 210). Women did not work in industries then because industrial labor was considered too physical beyond their capacity. This led to definition of roles which placated the position of men in a society while condemning women as mere subordinates who cannot do without men. The critics of gender stereotypes in America describe the following five hegemonic features of masculinity: frontiersman ship, heterosexuality, occupational achievement, familial patriarchy, and physical force and control (Trujillo 4). The advent of the 20th century led to sweeping changes in American masculinity.
Despite legislation for equal opportunities, sexism is still evident in the workplace. Women have made great advancements in the workforce and have become an integral part of the labor market. They have greater access to higher education and as a result, greater access to traditionally male dominated professions such as law. While statistics show that women are equal to men in terms of their numbers in the law profession, it is clear however, that they have not yet achieved equality in all other areas of their employment. Discrimination in the form of gender, sex and sexual harassment continues to be a problem in today’s society.
According to Kimmel, the earliest embodiments of American manhood were landowners, independent artisans, shopkeepers, and farmers. During the first decade of the nineteenth century, the industrial revolution started to influence the way, American men thought of themselves. Manhood was now defined as through the man’s economic success. This was the origin of the “Self-Made Man” ideology and the new concept of manhood that was more exciting, and potentially more rewarding for men themselves. The image of the Self-Made Man has far reaching effects on the notion of masculinity in America. Thus, the emergence of the Self-Made Man put men under pressure. As Kimmel states,
power and the ability to lead. In American culture women must act like men to gain positions of
In years that followed, girls began to gain more rights and opportunities. On August 18, 1920, a miraculous law was passed granting the women the right to vote in the United States. Also, in 1969, Ivy League universities such as Yale and Princeton started to accept female students into their schools. Even though most females today have a considerably larger amount of rights than the past, there are still unfavorable situations that arise because of gender discrimination. The idea that women are less capable than men has led to a lack of opportunities and overall, an unfair discrimination. Due to this gender prejudice, many women receive less pay, are belittled by men, and have difficulty pursuing their dreams.
In "Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture" Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade analyze the social perspective of the gendered relations in male fraternities that add to the high rate of violence against women on many college campuses. They list a host of factors that distinguish higher-risk from lower-risk atmospheres discussing the rates of rape in colleges and state how "1 out of 4 college women say they were raped or experienced an attempted rape" (217). Additionally, "1 out of 12 college men say they forced a woman to have sexual intercourse against her will" (Boswell, Spade 217). In other words Boswell and Spade indicated that the rates were high when it came down to women getting raped in colleges by men who also attended those colleges. In addition, Boswell and Spade specify in how most people are aware of rape but know very little about rape culture (Boswell, Spade 217).
Columbia Law Review, 104, 1-20. doi:10.2307/4099343. Reynolds, S. (2009). The 'Standard'. An interview with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
In Legally Blonde (2001), directed by Robert Luketic, Elle Woods, played by Reese Witherspoon, submits an acceptance video and is trying to persuade the Harvard Law committee to accept her into the college law program. Elle is successful in persuading the committee, however there is some resistance after the watching the admissions video. The committee is still hung on whether to admit her. The checker her score on LSAT exam and see her other experiences. Eventually, the committee agrees to accept her in the program. Elle Woods was successful in showing what she can do by building credibility by using other sources to prove she was truthful, intelligent, and
Throughout history, time has created and shaped the ideal type of men, while society chooses what it means to be a real man..The ideal real men needed to be strong, provider of his family, decision maker, economically, educationally, physically, and politically dominant (Myers). The difference between the masculinity of the 20th century and the 21st has changed significantly. The ideal men status in 1900’s was rich, educated, powerful, and successful. In today’s perspectives, men needs to be strong, tall, handsome, capable, and unemotional. The contrast of these two centuries are mostly about men’s social status and appearances. Before, it was all about what a man is capable of doing and how powerful he could be compared to today’s ideal,
When Marcus and Kevin are working the failed drug bust, all the employees involved in the scene at the gas station are males because this scene results in fighting, chasing, and shooting. All of these are stereotypical predominately male actions. After completing their assignment, Marcus arrives home from work expecting a hot meal and is disappointed when there is only take out. This pulls in gender ideology and the idea of the second shift by exampling male working stereotypes and female caretaking stereotypes. When returning to headquarters the next day Marcus suggests they take on their future assignment of escorting the sisters to the Hamptons and Kevin states, “I didn’t join the FBI to become a nanny I want to be on the streets where the action is.” This effectively shows traditional gender ideology as well. They believe as males they deserve to be front and center in the action, and that caretaking jobs were designed for women, not the other way around. In another aspect when the agents disguise themselves as the sisters, transforming themselves from African American males to white blonde females. In doing so they must mimic not only how they have already seen Brittney and Tiffany present themselves, but also how their peers in the Hamptons would expect to see them dress and act. This brings into play centerfold syndrome. This means that women are often
Yes, a fair amount of girls on the campuses would enjoy sleeping with their older male professors. He had witnessed it several times whether it be just hearing about it, intuition or first-hand as girls attempted to get closer to him. In the latter, it was obvious what they wanted from him, but he did not give easily. Perhaps it was the sense of accomplishment they felt when they finally got him to open up to them that they lowered their guards completely. Sammy was one such case, though he would be insane if he tried a target so close to home again. He enjoyed the look of confusion and fear on their faces as realization finally dawned upon them, but by then it was already too late, they have already been whisked away, held captive to his whims for weeks at a time.