Films have been in the forefront of perpetuating female stereotypes not only in the recent past but also throughout the history of filmmaking. Stereotyping refers to thoughts or expressions that specific type of individuals behave in a particular way, which is not necessarily true. The film industry for a long time has depicted the behaviors and roles of women in a negative way thus contributing to retrogressive beliefs about women in society. Various theories have been proposed to explain why personalities behind film making create female stereotypes. This essay contends that female stereotyping has been a central theme of the film industry throughout history.
Filmmakers create female stereotypes in many ways. According to Marcia, many filmmakers stereotype women’s appearance as more valuable than their intellect (290). Females are also depicted as helpless humans who always need a man’s protection. Additionally, many stereotypes refer to women as domestic beings whose value in life is to marry. Concerning big-bodied women, filmmakers stereotype them as unpleasant, single and ugly. In some film sequences that require older female characters, such sequences are usually small and two-dimensional (Gaines 66-67). Such stereotypes portray women being of no value, and lacking or attracting little interest, individuals whose opinion does not matter a lot in society.
The female body has always been a major subject of stereotyping in an attempt to explicate the ideal woman. In depicting the ideal female body, filmmakers display female main characters with long legs and tiny waist. The ideal female beauty is the one whose facial features are delicate and feminine. Such characters usually have long hair, nice designer clothes and fla...
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... objects. People obsessed with Scopophillia can easily subject others into control and curious gaze. The relationship between Scopophillia and stereotyping is analyzed further by Mulvey, who quoting Freud’s Instincts and their Vicissitudes, argues that the desire and pleasures to look are transferred to others through analogies. In their extreme form, analogies are stereotypes or obsessions of the female as an object or any expressions that arouses the male ego.
In conclusion, the film industry has been core to the continued stereotyping of women. This has arisen from the focus of the industry on women bodies as the expressions of femininity, whereas disregarding other aspects where women have been able to match and exceed men’s capabilities. The effect of this has been the entrenchment of stereotypes about women in regards to aspects such as beauty, and roles.
Today’s culture sees a gap between the male and female gender. This is evident in everything from the films we watch, music we listen to, and even in our everyday lives. Historically, this issue has seen an even larger gap, and can be observed in the films that were made during that time. Vertigo and Citizen Kane both show the objectification of women by controlling them, writing them in supportive roles, and placing their value in the way that they look.
Gender stereotypes have a huge effect on our generation now, and in the past. It makes us think in a certain way that we do, about males and females; which can make people insane from the expectations. A few of the expectations for males are that they have to be strong and muscular. On the other hand female’s expectations is weak and feminine. A great example of gender stereotype having the effect of making people insane is Barbie Doll, Ken Doll, and The Yellow Wallpaper. These three pieces of literature with gender stereotype, made the main character go into insanity.
Today, only 16% of protagonists in movies are female, and the portrayal of these women is
Despite the fact that the character of Phyllis as the “tough as nails” perpetual, intentional aggressor is a valid attempt to obliterate the image of women as the oppressed, one interpretation of this role is that she ultimately seems to misrepresent herself, and females in cinema, anyway. Janet Todd, author of Women and Film, states that, “Women do not exist in American film. Instead we find another creation, made by men, growing out of their ideological imperatives”(130). Though these “power girl”characters are strong examples of anything but submissive and sexual females,the...
Decades ago Katha Pollitt realized there were not enough women is the television industry and preschool aged children were the ones being effected the most. From Pollitt’s article the Smurfette principle was developed and spread worldwide. This principle has helped lead the way for women in the media, but has it been enough? In her dissertation about how female characters are represented in Hollywood, Reema Dutt (2013) points out that “Animated children’s films tend to focus on male characters, with females as ancillary accessories...” Young girls are the most impressionable at the preschool age, yet Hollywood allowed men to dominate the big screen for so many years. Dutt (2013) goes on to explain “This is particularly disappointing given the fact that these films target impressionable children, who are being fed normative and antiquated portrayals of women at a young age.” Pollitt’s outlook was not erroneous, however the differences in television between 1991 and 2016 are astounding. There are twenty three years between Pollitt’s article and Dutt’s dissertation and many aspects still hold true. Over those years there has been much headway made for women in television. According to a study in HuffPost Women Nina Bahadur (2012) reported that “…44.3 percent of females were gainfully employed — compared with 54.5 percent of
Smith, Jeff, and Chloe Beighley. "Normalizing Male Dominance: Gender Representation in 2012 Films." Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy. N.p., 12 Feb. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
There are so many codes of cultural context to learn, social rulebooks to observe and accept norms to understand. It’s flung at us in disjointed bits and pieces, seemingly offhand phrases and at informal moments. Maybe the core stereotyping role we are all passed from birth is based on gender and the norms that surround it, that never leaves our side. Director Siebel Newsom is no newcomer to gender issues. With 2011’s “Miss Representation,” a study of the damaging effects of mainstream media on women and girls, she addressed the frequently accepted underdog gender in an inspirational
We can see that throughout the making of Disney movies the gender images have not evolved to match the changes in our society now, they have stayed stereotypical and similar to when Disney movies were first made in 1937 (Towbin et al 2003). In studies of 16 different Disney movies Mia Towbin (2003) and others
The Representation Project focuses primarily on the production of film and media in order to challenge these limiting stereotypes – ultimately leading the way for all persons to fulfill their human potential
The television and film industry have gone to far extremes to shape the women we see in our everyday lives to be very over-idealistic, these women always seem to have their hair and makeup done, fancy clothes, and incredibly thin bodies. People don’t understand how much harm and pressure all these materials put on women. This idea the film and television industry has created for not only wome...
Miss Representation, a documentary film produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom released in 2011, presents a contemporary issue which is the misrepresentation of women’s portrayal in mass media. The media is powerful in shaping audience’s belief in how to be feminine. Women are expected to be beautiful, attractive, and even sexual on the media to attract audience’s attention. Also, the film points out the existence of social system in which men are considered more powerful and dominant than women. Finally, the film tries to increase the awareness of female real value including capability, educational achievement, and leadership. Consuming the media wisely to eliminate gendered stereotypes can help young women build their confidence and be successful.
Williams, Linda. "Film Bodies: Genre, Gender and Excess." Braudy and Cohen (1991 / 2004): 727-41. Print.
Led by Laura Mulvey, feminist film critics have discussed the difficulty presented to female spectators by the controlling male gaze and narrative generally found in mainstream film, creating for female spectators a position that forces them into limited choices: "bisexual" identification with active male characters; identification with the passive, often victimized, female characters; or on occasion, identification with a "masculinized" active female character, who is generally punished for her unhealthy behavior. Before discussing recent improvements, it is important to note that a group of Classic Hollywood films regularly offered female spectators positive, female characters who were active in controlling narrative, gazing and desiring: the screwball comedy.
Media representations of women remain wrong. However, the status of women has changed significantly. Representations of women across all media tend to highlight the following: beauty (within narrow conventions), size/physique, sexuality, emotional (as opposed to intellectual) dealings and relationships (as opposed to independence/freedom).
Feminism is a movement that supports women equality within society. In relation to film, feminism is what pushes the equal representation of females in mainstream films. Laura Mulvey is a feminist theorist that is famous for touching on this particular issue of how men and women are represented in movies. Through her studies, she discovered that many films were portraying men and women very differently from reality. She came up with a theory that best described why there is such as huge misrepresentation of the social status quos of male and female characters. She believed that mainstream film is used to maintain the status quo and prevent the realization of gender equality. This is why films are continuously following the old tradition that males are dominant and females are submissive. This is the ideology that is always present when we watch a movie. This is evident in the films from the past but also currently. It is as if the film industry is still catering to the male viewers of each generation in the same way. Laura Mulvey points out that women are constantly being seen as sexual objects, whether it is the outfits they wear or do not wear or the way they behave, or secondary characters with no symbolic cause. She states that, “in traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote it-be-looked-at-ness.”(Mulvey pg. 715). Thus, women are nevertheless displayed as nothing more than passive objects for the viewing pleasure of the audience. Mulvey also points out through her research that in every mainstream movie, there is ...