Today’s women are an accumulation of the characteristics of their predecessors. In the film Dance, Girl, Dance, the two supporting characters, Bubbles and Judy, exemplify some of the most relevant characteristics of contemporary women. The character of Bubbles not only demonstrates manipulative and superficial behavior, she also demonstrates ambition and resourcefulness. The character of Judy exhibits independence and tenacity, but also naivety and innocence. Today’s women have molded themselves with the most relevant characteristics of each of these women, drawing form both positive and negative attributes.
Manipulation and superficiality seem to be Bubbles forte. Bubbles takes advantage of Judy’s lack of desire to see Mr. Harris when he comes to visit her by telling Judy that she will “get rid of him” for her. As soon as Bubbles learns that Mr. Harris is wealthy, she uses the information further her own agenda. She uses the guise of “getting rid of” Mr. Harris, on Judy’s behalf, when in actuality, her true intention is to have him for herself. Bubble’s so called friendship with Judy is not immune to Bubbles’s bad behavior. Bubbles knows that Judy has feelings for Mr. Harris, and as soon and she finds out his financial status, she stops at nothing to have him for herself. This behavior has not changed. There are many women today that behave the exact same way as Bubbles. All you have to do is turn on the T.V. and watch any Real Housewives reality show. You will most likely to hear someone being called a back stabbing, manipulative gold digger. While most women today would abhor that title, there are some women in today’s society that would wear that title proudly.
Bubbles’s superficial tendancies manifest themselves when she take...
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...ce to be reckoned with. She would have been far more self assured and able to see through Bubbles manipulations.
Self assured confident women of today do not bode well with manipulative, superficial people. Modern women have evolved in to forward thinking strong independent people who will not stand to be taken advantage of. The evolution of the modern woman stems from the sensibilities of the characters portrayed in this film. While it would appear to some that being manipulative, superficial, and tenacious are all negative qualities; women through out the ages have relied on these qualities to get them where they want to be. In today’s world, ambitious, resourceful, independent and innocent seem to be far more acceptable adjectives to use when describing a woman climb to the top. Being able to balance these qualities is the key to becoming a successful woman.
Thanks to the second-wave of feminism, many women do not have to suffer quietly about their anger and their dissatisfaction. This has brought women closer together, and also has helped them counter the old roles of what women should be and mixing them with the new. Through self-help books such as this one, women can learn by imitation: people doing what other people are doing (Hyde and Quest, p.38). This imitation gets the ball rolling on other issues. Certain issues that were addressed in this book that have plagued women forever are the fact that women have a lack of assertiveness, self-confidence and have been stuck in the role of underfunctioner.
In the 1960s, Girls Inc. focused on homemaking skills, with the hopes of turning the girls into exceptional young ladies. Then in the 1970’s, a new executive director came on board and took a critical look at the organization’s mission of educating girls into...
The treatment of females from the 18th century through the 21st century have only gotten worse due to society’s ignorant judgment of the gender. Of which, is the change from the previous housewife like actions to the modern day body figure. This repulsive transaction is perceived throughout literature. From the 19th century’s short story, “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin in 1894 and the 20th century’s poem, “Barbie Doll” composed by Marge Piercy in 1971.
The exterior influences of society affect a woman’s autonomy, forcing her to conform to other’s expectations; however, once confident she creates her own
A female in film noir is typically portrayed in one of two ways; she’s either a dependable, trustworthy, devoted, and loving woman, or she’s a manipulative, predatory, double crossing, and unloving temptress. Noir labels the cold hearted and ruthless woman archetype as a Femme Fatale. A femme fatale is walking trouble, and she’s aware of it. This woman is gorgeous, refined, eloquent, and commands the attention of any room she’s in. When the femme fatale desires something, she pursues it. If there’s an obstacle in her way, she overcomes it. If she can’t handle it herself, all she needs to do it bat her eyelashes and the nearest man is all too willing to take care of it for her. In essence, the most dangerous thing about the femme fatale is her
A little girl sits on the floor with her gaze fixed on the television screen in front of her, watching magical images dance before her eyes and catchy songs flow through her ears. Even though she had seen it at least twenty times before, she still loved The Little Mermaid just as much as she did the first time she watched it. As she watched it, she longed to be a beautiful mermaid with a curvy body and wonderful singing voice like Ariel. She longed to be saved by the handsome Prince Eric, and fall in love and live happily ever-after like Ariel did. In today’s society, women strive to achieve equality between the sexes.
The 1920’s was the decade that introduce the wild side of the women youth. These young women were often middle-class and held steady jobs, but once the sun went down, their wild side emerged. They were labeled as flappers. These women were trying to break out of the habit of being entrapped in the austere standards given by society. They were young and rebellious, and wished to stray from the fundamental beliefs of how women should act and look like. Their goal was to escape the fate of the “socially silenced women in the Victorian age” (Flappers). F...
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.
These movies allowed female characters to embody all the contradictions that could make them a woman. They were portrayed as the “femme fatale” and also “mother,” the “seductress” and at the same time the “saint,” (Newsom, 2011). Female characters were multi-faceted during this time and had much more complexity and interesting qualities than in the movies we watch today. Today, only 16% of protagonists in movies are female, and the portrayal of these women is one of sexualization and dependence rather than complexity (Newsom, 2011).
Women’s roles in movies have changed dramatically throughout the years. As a result of the changing societal norms, women have experienced more transition in their roles than any other class. During the period of classical Hollywood cinema, both society and the film industry preached that women should be dependent on men and remain in home in order to guarantee stability in the community and the family. Women did not have predominated roles in movies such as being the heroin. The 1940’s film Gilda wasn’t an exception. In Gilda, the female character mainly had two different stereotypes. The female character was first stereotyped as a sex object and the second stereotyped as a scorned woman who has to be punished.
Some people might say that these movies provide entertainment and transport families into the lives of princes and princesses. Many critics have said that the films have amazing soundtracks and have detailed and interesting plots. Still, however entertaining the films may be, the way women are viewed and treated outweigh any enjoyment that a viewer could have. The subliminal lessons young women learn from these films have lifelong repercussions and negatively affect the female
middle of paper ... ... Greenberg, H. R. & Greenberg, H. R. "Rescrewed: Pretty Woman's Co-opted Feminism. " Journal of Popular Film and Television 195605th ser. 19.1 (1991): 1-8.
The collaboration between Walt Disney Productions and International Cellucotton Products Company Inc.(Kotex) may have been a result of financial trouble, but nonetheless purports rather unrealistic expectations for adolescent girls. I came to discover The Story of Menstruation as part of a desire to understand the various complexities of girl culture in American society. In doing so, I noticed that the dichotomous media texts marketed toward girls during the mid-century were as difficult a terrain to navigate as much of the media presentations are today. Such materials perpetuate Judith Butler’s theory of gendered performance which underline society’s construction of femininity in order to define what it means to be a “girl.” The primary sources throughout this study often created conflicting messages for adolescent female viewers. For example, Kotex attempted to market a modern woman and was influential in the beginning of a menstrual hygiene education curricula, yet the company simultaneously was also perpetuating quintessential American ideals. Similarly, sex education curricula of the 1940s point to the importance of educating female students about their bodies, yet sexual desire, masturbation, and infidelity were only typically discussed regarding the male
The films message to viewers about gender and power is that women are meant to take care of the home and play the supportive role, while men go out to their jobs and provide. Men are strong and burly and women are naïve and domesticated. Women need men and men always come to the rescue to save women and give them a happy ending. Power is portrayed in the film both visually and through the film’s script and dialogue. The common idea that women are inferior to men is placed subtly in this movie throughout the plot and how these charac...
...heir own sense of independence. But they also present the reality of it all, that in the end they are back to where they started, and that women will never be able to let their guard down, because of the constant struggle of becoming equally self-reliant as men are, which still remains today.