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How the media presents gender
Gender roles in the American Society in legally blonde film
How are men and women shown differently in the media
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Legally Blonde: The Musical, is a hugely feminist contemporary piece and destroys and subverts many of the patriarchal ideologies that are inherent in our society and our media. It starts as a love story, as Elle, our blonde and bubbly protagonist, follows her asshole of an ex boyfriend to Harvard after he breaks up with her for not being serious enough for him. She takes the LSATS until she gets 175, an incredibly high score, but only gets into Harvard after professing her love for Warner and begging the administration to let her in due to love. She sings “don 't say no to a woman in love, don 't laugh when I say love” and convinces the administration to admit her. At Harvard, she is discriminated against for her femininity, her love of pink, …show more content…
The clear path to success for her is to discard her aspects of femininity and focus on making the grade. She does this, and is chosen for the prestigious internship held by her law professor. He later sexually assaults her and tells her that he only hired her because he thought she was attractive. She tries to leave law school, finding this to be the final straw, and only stays with the support of her friends. Emmett, a recent graduate who supports her law school endeavors and encourages her to study and fit in, falls in love with her, and tries to get her to stay for him. When looked at directly, none of this seems particularly feminist, and at first glance, it isn’t. But at second glance, it can be seen that everyone who makes active choices are women. The women in this play support each other instead of tearing each other down, and aspects of knowledge that are considered feminine, (and therefore weaker), are explicitly utilized to solve problems that the straight and narrow law school path …show more content…
It can be assumed that there’s nothing feminist at all about this show, and it’s about “dumb blonde sorority girls dancing around a stage.” It of course, subverts this ideology, showing a deep well of both feminist power and internal strength within a woman who is unwilling to compromise on her femininity. Elle is a bubbly pink-wearing blonde sorority girl who also happens to be a feminist and shows the audience that these two things need not contradict each other. Elle shows her intellectual prowess very early in the show, and in a quintessentially feminine setting. It’s important to note here that nothing Elle does is masculine. She never resorts to being less pretty, less pink, she is essentially feminine, and still a feminist, something that’s astonishingly lacking within feminist media. Our first view of Elle is seeing her shop for a “proposal dress”, as she assumes her boyfriend will be proposing to her soon and wants the dress for the occasion. As she’s in the mall, a female sales associate tries to cheat her for a higher commission, showing her a sale dress from last year and presenting it as a new dress. The sales associate, in an affirmation of mainstream patriarchal values, is trying to get more money out of Elle, a fellow woman, because she sees women as lesser, less able to recognize a fraud, and definitely more likely to just buy the dress instead of
A feminist lens analyzes how the female characters and their experiences are presented and explained in comparison to male characters (Lincoln School Providence). Merna Summers’ “The Skating Party” develops and demonstrates feminist themes in the ways in which the characters’ experiences, expectations, and lives are represented. Applying feminist critique unravels and deconstructs perceptions that shape and normalize the experiences of women in Willow Bunch while demonstrating the objectification and submission, standards of beauty, and ownership and empowerment that occur within the story.
Feminism is a word that is stock-full of implications, and has many misconceptions. Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti attempts to give a broad overview of what feminism is, and how you should feel about it (hint: it’s positively). The book is directed primarily towards the younger generation, and talks about a variety of issues relevant to the feminist movement today and in history. The weaknesses of the book include the casual writing, the assumptions Valenti makes, and the contradictory statements that are consistently made. The strengths include providing an entertaining, broad overview of feminism, and discussing ways to contribute to gender equality. Overall, the book is more likely to be a positive experience for high-schoolers that identify as women then college-aged individuals looking for a critical analysis of issues society faces in regards to gender inequality.
As women's studies programs have proliferated throughout American universities, feminist "re-readings" of certain classic authors have provided us with the most nonsensical interpretations of these authors' texts. A case in point is that of Kathleen Margaret Lant's interpretation of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire in her essay entitled "A Streetcar Named Misogyny." Throughout the essay, she continually misreads Williams' intention, which of course causes her to misunderstand the play itself. Claiming that the play "has proved vexing to audiences, directors, actors, readers, and critics" (Lant 227), she fails to see that it is she herself who finds the play vexing, because it does not fit nicely into the warped feminist structure she would try to impose upon it.
In this case women are stuck where in no matter how they act or how they dress, they end up put into a label they do not necessarily belong in. The main goal of feminism is to create equality for women and fight against the labels put on them. Though throughout time feminism itself has been given a negative label. In today 's society women do not want to be referred to as feminists from fear of being labeled as a bitter man hating woman. This is definitely amplified in media today. Roxane Gay, author of Bad Feminist, brings up the idea of the essential feminist and where it suggests,” anger, humorlessness, militancy, unwavering principles, and a prescribed set of rules for how to be a proper feminist woman” (169). This fear of being labeled a feminist not only comes from fear of being thought of as angry or humorless, but from being attacked for not being the “proper feminist woman”.
Legally Blonde the Musical, was a fun filled, musical journey, which warmed the hearts of many within the audience. Main character Elle Woods pursues a law degree in attempt to convince her ex-boyfriend Warner that she can be a well-educated, and respectable women. The performers take the audience on a journey following Elle’s college experience at Harvard Law. As Elle faces many hardships she never backs down, showing the audience what a little determination can get you. The musical ends with an happily ever after as Elle does the unexpected. Winning over the respect from her fellow classmates, as well as many more. Showing that all that hard work does pay off in the end, and might present opportunities that you never expected. Elle Woods finds exactly what she has been looking for all along. Which end up being right in front of her the whole time, love.
To understand feminism in the novel, one must first understand the feminist lens itself. OWL Purdue describes the lens as “the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women” (Purdue). Feminism acts as both a commitment and a political movement that wants to end sexism in all forms. Most feminists generally disagree on many topics of the subject, however all have one common goal. These aspects affect The Things They Carry in a plethora of ways, mostly due to the fact that gender roles is a main theme. There are negative and positive aspects of the feminist lens. Positive contains the empowering of women and equality, whereas negative pertains to oppression and unequal rights. Both are covered in The Things They Carried from sex symbols to battle tor...
“There is a double standard here that shapes our perceptions of men and women in ways that support patriarchy as a system. What is culturally valued is associated with masculinity and maleness and what is devalued is associated with femininity and femaleness, regardless of the reality of men’s and women’s lives”,( Johnson 64). In the movie Mona Lisa Smile, Betty’s mother was pressurizing Betty to make her husband read a poem at the wedding not just to act like he enjoyed the marriage but mainly because it was a tradition for men. When Betty said she didn’t care about it, her mother refused and still insisted that she should do it. Women are looked down upon when it comes to the assignment of gender roles and this is because of labels that the society has placed on the female gender. In a home, the father is always the head of the home, providing food and clothing for every family member but there are some women who like to be independent and would also love to work and make money and cater for the family. In the 19th century, women were told they were home makers and were not allowed to endeavor further in higher educational studies. Wellesley College was a college built to raise future wives and not future leaders meaning that society had already placed women below the ladder without any intention or thoughts of them climbing back
Media outlets during the post-identity era would depict women in the workplace but did not underline any of the issues they faced in corporate America such as doubt and sexual harassment. In a scene from “Legally Blonde” Elle is having a discussion with Warner on how much harder law school will be when she’s taking on both classes and Callahan’s (her professors) internship to which he exclaims, “Oh, Elle, you’re never gonna get the grades to qualify for one of those spots.” Warner believes that woman can not posses such feminine qualities and still be successful which illustrates Elle’s struggle to be taken seriously in corporate America. Her character is combating the image of feminine women not being able to excel in such a respectable career fields (lawyer). In another incident Elle deals with a common issue “feminine” women deal with in the workplace, sexual harassment. She encounters this problem when her professor, Callahan, attempts to make a sexual proposition toward her so she can guarantee a spot on next year 's summer internship. Elle is completely taken aback by Callahan 's offer and handles it in a realistic way when she becomes so uncomfortable and discouraged that she contemplates quitting law school. These two scenes demonstrate how women are not exposed to the same working environment as men and the negative effect
To sum it up both of these plays share the same broad message conveyed throughout the entire play. Which includes, women have the capabilities to do more than they show and are allowed to do. As well as the relationship men and women share is not constant, or the same, there are many different views on the relationship they share and many different variations that change as time progresses. Furthermore the rights of women also change with much time, and hard work by many women who have worked hard for their rights and future rights of all women. Some of this can lead to these two plays, giving new, bold ideas that were frightening for many during their times but helped for the push for a better tomorrow.
...en endured throughout the Realist literary period. This oppression has evolved into strong female business figures. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” shows the perceived inequality and inferiority of women throughout this era. This lies in contrast with strong, powerful female officials, such as Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Chopin’s The Awakening illustrates a literary attempt at women’s activism. Women’s activism is still present today, and is seen in the recent happenings at the Plymouth High School baseball and softball fields. Women have evolved past their positions as domestic keepers that were subordinate to men to active, equal members of society. Feminist literature has aided this evolution over the year. Women have overcome oppression through activism and garnered more rights since the termination of the Realist literary era.
Pretty Woman is a modern take on the classic Cinderella story where a poor misguided girl meets her prince and her life is dramatically changed. This film has fairy tale elements, but the biggest element in the movie is the use of sex; Vivian, the main character, is a prostitute. She meets her “prince” and is swept off of her feet, but what this really means is that she is bought for an entire week by a handsome, wealthy business man. One would assume that he was buying her for sex, but this is not your average prostitute transaction. This movie has a lot of third wave feminism ideals. Third wave feminism deals with using the female gender and sexuality to further the cause and portray their views. The ultimate goal of this paper is to show that Vivian Ward (portrayed by Julia Roberts), is the poster girl for third wave feminism.
The play, A Raisin in the Sun, has a very strong view of feminism in the 1960’s. The way that the females are portrayed and talked to in this play is not only an example of how the relationship between a man and a woman in society is unequal, but reflects a particular patriarchal ideology. Throughout this play, as the characters strive to achieve their dreams, the relationships that we see can be seen as feminist and as sexual stereotypes. Feminism is a perspective that views gender as one of the most important bases of the structure and organization of the social world. Feminists argue that in most known societies this structure has granted women lower status and value, more limited access to valuable resources, and less autonomy and opportunity to make choices over their lives than it has granted men.
Ideology is “a system of meaning that helps define and explain the world and that makes value judgments about that world.” (Croteau & Hoynes, 2014). According to Sturken (2001), the system of meaning is based on the use of language and images or representation. Therefore, media texts come along and select what is “normal” and what is “deviant” to the extent that this hegemony of constructed meanings in the viewer’s head becomes “common-sense” (Gramsci in Croteau & Hoynes, 2014). From this standpoint, what America claims to be pop culture which is omnipresent in media internationally, is a representation, through “politics of signification” of what is right or wrong (Kooijman, 2008). An example of America’s cultural ‘manifestation’ is Mean Girls,
Even though in the play, women are mainly seen as submissive, there are a few incidents of women establishing their beliefs and act as an individual.
Feminism is a global movement that affects women all around the world either directly or indirectly because of the discrimination that it defends. Over the years women have been limited to living in a male dominated world. Women have been alienated from educational opportunities, workforce or labor opportunities and most importantly financial opportunities. Being oppressed by these factors and others has left women with the little option of becoming a housewife or a servant, or inheritor. Feminism has proven to be a controversial yet present point in the works of literary giants such as William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte and many others. Charlotte Bronte phenomenal novel Jane Eyre is developed with ample evidence that is a direct