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Gender inequality in the movie industry
Stereotypes in film analysis
Use of stereotypes in media
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Recommended: Gender inequality in the movie industry
Girl Power Did you know that only 12% of the one hundred most popular films of 2014 had a female protagonist? According to a study done by Indiewire.com in 2014, men really dominate every part of the entertainment industry. Statistics show that only 10% of film writers are women and only 6% of film directors are women. For centuries Hollywood has been deemed as a “Man’s World”, and it still is! Not only do men dominate behind the scenes but they also dominate on the screen. Men tend to play the major roles, get paid the “big bucks” and received all the credit. Jennifer Lawrence and many other famous actresses are faced with the issue of unequal pay and are starting to speak out about it. The issue of unequal pay is one that has been going …show more content…
He has devoted his career to developing original stories that feature women. He has worked as a director, producer and screenwriter for many movies that Melissa McCarthy has started in. Paul Feig believes women deserve more leading roles. Women comedians like Melissa McCarthy, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Kirsten Wiig and many more have a personality trait and sense of humor that is relatable to other women. Most women in comedy have an imperfection that they embrace that makes them relatable to the world. Your average women are not a size two with a perfect body and a life all figured out, your average women is really just a hot mess. Women comedians know that and embrace it. In a way they make fun of it and incorporate it in different characters they play. This makes women comedians more successful, they capture an audience because they are not afraid to embrace and show off their crazy side. A great example of this is Melissa McCarthy’s character in Bridesmaids. She plays a woman that is not concerned with what other people think of her, she is hilarious and everyone’s favorite part of the movie. The characters Melissa McCarthy plays all tend to have the same self-confidence and ability to make the audience …show more content…
We live in a country that loves to laugh, therefore it’s no surprise that comedy is the most successful movie genre in America. The comedy industry overall is doing great right now but the women in the comedy industry are really suffering. The problem is that women are busting their asses and doing amazing work but getting paid a lot less money than the men. This past year women have been cast as leads in more comedy roles, which is progress on one hand but on the other hand their pay for these roles is significantly less than what men in similar roles earn. It’s going to take time for women to really prove themselves to people out there who have the crazy idea in their head that women are not funny. Women like Melissa McCarthy, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wigg, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and so many more are making the women of America proud right now and are paving the way for any girl out there that has a dream of being a comedian
Rebecca Krefting (2014), “an Associate Professor of American Studies, affiliate faculty to Gender Studies, and Director of the Media and Film Studies Program” (Skidmore), wrote an article called “Making Connections.” Krefting (2014) explains the connections between comedy and people, listing the reasons the world can build “Cultural Citizenship” through “charged humor” (p. 17-18)
From these comedians, satirical humor expresses some opinions about political acts so people can view them more critically.
...eir gender, this portrayal of women suggests that the target audience for these female characters is towards young male viewers. The show constructs the idea that femininity is the epitome of gorgeous looks and erratic behavior. Many of the females in the show also depend on men in some way for affirmation of their looks, personality and talent.
Fey has never been afraid to use her full potential in any project or job she has worked on. She knows how to rule the workplace in a male dominated world. She also shows young people and even adults, that being different, being true to yourself, and loving yourself isn’t wrong, its beautiful. “Don’t waste your energy trying to educate or change opinions; go over, under, through, and opinions will change organically when you’re the boss. Or they won’t. Who cares? Do your thing, and don’t care if they like it.” (Fey, 145). She understands the struggles of body image and self-acceptance. Fey encourages determination and strong will to follow your path. “So my unsolicited advice to women in the workplace is this: when faced with sexism or ageism or lookism or even really aggressive Buddhism, ask yourself the following question: "Is this person in between me and what I want to do?" If the answer is no, ignore it and move on” (Fey, 144). Fey is also a powerful advocate for the LGBTQ community, she has stated “I’m certainly more open-minded to people’s differences, and it definitely gave me a wider swath of humor styles. I grew up so much in theater, so the gay community has always been a natural part of who I feel like I’m playing to. When you’re writing jokes, you’re always thinking of your friends.” (Fey, 27-37) Fey donates not just her money, but endless hours of physical support to many charities such as, Autism Speaks, Red Cross,
Mainstream movies are about men’s lives, and the few movies about women’s lives, at their core, still also revolve around men (Newsom, 2011). These female leads often have male love interests, looking to get married or get pregnant. Strong independent female leads are still exist for the male view, as they are hypersexualized, or the “fighting fuck toy,” (Newsom, 2011). This depiction has created a culture where women are insecure and waiting for a knight on a horse to come rescue and provide for her as well as the acceptance of women
Like actresses, female film executives are also paid less than their male colleagues, although they are doing the same job. Female film executives work behind the scenes on a movie and television set. An example of how female film executive are paid less is when “The studio[Colombia Pictures] paid Michael De Luca $2.4 million a year but only paid Hannah Minghella $1.5 million a year — or 37 percent less than De Luca” (Khon). This show how not only actresses, but how women in Hollywood are undervalued compared to their male colleagues. Instead of setting an example for the gender pay gap Hollywood should have to set an example for other job occupations. If women in Hollywood, a billion dollar industry, can not get equal pay than female teachers and female engineers do not have a chance to fight for equal
However, men are still being paid more than women in the same job, according to the U.S. Census Bureau the gap of male’s vs females in the workforce is much smaller where in 1970 there were approximately 30% of females compared to 60% of males. In 2010 there are now 52% male and 47% females. Also, some movies that have changed over the years are some fairytales like Sleeping Beauty, where the prince must save her and she relays on him, but in the newer move Frozen the sisters save each other and the Queen doesn’t need a King which shows how women can be independent. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mehroz-baig/women-in-the-workforce-wh_b_4462455.html)
The gender pay gap was a problem in the past and it is now. Hollywood has a gender pay gap and that came to my surprise. I would of never thought the industry that makes billions of dollars through movies and television shows would pay women less than men. Actresses and film executives are paid less than their male colleagues (Khon). It is absurd that women in Hollywood do not have equal pay.
Overall, I think that this film is beneficial for how how women are portrayed in film, and the film industry in general.. It’s funny, portrays women in a positive light, and shows that women are contenders with men when it comes to comedy. It reinforces that women are indeed as funny as men, and shows they can have a role a male developed, dominated field. While Bridesmaids certainly isn’t the ideal example of ridding patriarchy, it definitely is a step in the right direction.
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 ...
“Comic laughter comes out of our awareness of the act of living, an awareness that is distinctly human” (Longman 9). Comedy has been and will be a major part of our society in terms of entertainment, conversation and in many other aspects of our lives. It is something that is inevitable and allows us as humans to communicate. The journey that comedy has made throughout the years has not been an easy one, especially for women. You think about comedic characters in movies, plays and television today and immediately there are many women who come to mind.
Women have made progress in the film industry in terms of the type of role they play in action films, although they are still portrayed as sex objects. The beginning of “a new type of female character” (Hirschman, 1993, pg. 1). 41-47) in the world of action films began in 1976 with Sigourney Weaver, who played the leading role in the blockbuster film ‘Aliens’ as Lt. Ellen Ripley. She was the captain of her own spaceship, plus she was the one who gave out all the orders. Until then, men had always been the ones giving the orders; to see a woman in that type of role was outlandish.
Many well respected actresses across the country are taking a stand to fight this predicament. Inequality between men and women is nothing new. There have always been conflicts in which men and women debate about what women can and cannot do. Many people may be wondering why this issue is just now coming into the spotlight. Famous actress, Jennifer
In modern times, the idea of a successful career woman is not unheard of as some of the most successful people in the world are women. Women have dominated in a range of different careers such as world leaders, CEO’s and managing directors of major companies, actors, singers and journalists, but the idea of the successful career woman is still seen as a threat to masculinity and the ideals that the second wave of feminism challenged but the underrepresentation of women within the film industry has lead to, with the exception of the romantic comedy genre, most mainstream Hollywood films catering to men. This notion of the lack of female representation in Hollywood was defined as the “celluloid ceiling”, referring to the metaphor “glass ceiling” for the barrier that keeps
The glamorous lifestyle of a movie star is an aspiration of thousands of young actors and actresses, only for women it isn’t equally as glamorous. “Very similar to the prison system in this country, where over the years we've put Band-Aids on something that needs surgery, in the film industry, we've often done cosmetic changes to something that needs structural reconstruction. ”(Hollywood Reporter, oscars gender divide) The Film Industry is a divided workforce that only cares about equality when the cameras shine on it. Performing arts regardless of the progress it has made over the years still falls victim to gender inequality and an actor's gender should not reflect how good their performance is or their filmmaking ability.