Hayao Miyazaki Gender Roles

1312 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How does popular culture impact society

The films of Hayao Miyazaki: Representation of (alternative) gender

“The child is the inheritor of the culture adults have created…” (Beeck 2009, 280). These words are used by Nathalie op de Beeck to describe the common theme of many of Hayao Miyazaki´s animated films. It is also a theme true to the reality of many young boys and girls living in todays society in a number of ways.
What we are going to be looking at in this paper is the inequality of how gender is represented in popular culture today (specifically, film) and how the works of Hayao Miyazaki contributes to this issue. Before that I will briefly explain the definition of gender I will be using and the concept of social constructionism which allows this definition. Social constructionism …show more content…

Here we learn that culture (the way we think, talk and act) can be shared and passed down through generations via powerful (popular)media institutions such as television or film. It is a way of mass social learning and is especially influent on young people who consume an overabundance of these types of media. Through popular films and television, they are being shaped by the messages they communicate. One of those messages is how you should think and act depending on your biological sex. Cultural values and beliefs regarding gender, that is (Samowar, Porter & McDaniel 2016, 52-54; Jackson 2009, 26). Samowar, Porter & McDonald continue to mention how some cultures are gender-biased. Many cultures are patriarchal meaning that they are male dominated. As a product of this ideology, the stories that are passed down (through films) portray women unequally compared to men. Women are commonly portrayed as passive and submissive whereas men are portrayed as powerful, active and in …show more content…

When watching Totoro, you are introduced to two young sisters as the main protagonists. They are noisy and have booming laughs. The girls happily destroy a rotten piece of wood holding up a roof, gleefully announcing that it´s collapsing. They are adventurous, confident and curious. They do not fear the supernatural (soot spirits) that resides in their new house and even challenges the spirits to show them self. In Spirited away the main protagonist is a young girl. Throughout the movie she proves herself extremely capable and flexible to conquer the challenges in front of her. She also exhibits enough courage to go against No-face, saving everyone else in the bathhouse. In the end she has become a confident and independent warrior of this spirit realm. Miyazaki also do not deny the role of “antagonist/villain” to be cast by women. In Spirited away, the manager of the bath house Yubaba is a fearful powerful woman that controls men as well as women working for her and whom the protagonist Chihiro is pitted

Show More
Related

  • Victoria Bromley Feminist Analysis

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    This means that these women have less privileges than black males, because even though both of them share the same race, male as a gender is generally ranked higher than women. Similarly, black men have less privileges than white men, because the white race is ranked higher in society. These universalizing assumptions rely on the essentialist way of thinking, therefore blocking the fact that women’s lives are much more diverse, as each woman has different, multiple life experiences and personality traits. This idea of the power-dominated group of society is known to be rooted from the other oppressive structures such as Eurocentrism, heterosexism, transphobia, and ableism. For example, Eurocentrism is “a view that Europe is the centre of the world and “civilization”, and everything must be measured against this standard.” (56). This ideal standard is creating oppression towards members of society who are not necessarily white, male or heterosexual, thus, allowing inequality to take place and unearned privilege towards this group of “power-dominated” people. From children’s Disney movies, kids witness masculine and feminine stereotypes from a very young age. These reinforced stereotypes teach children how men and women should act, look and behave. For example, in the movie “Hercules”, a delicate and gentle princess finds love with the big, muscular, and ‘manly’ hero named Hercules. As these films describe that men are the complete opposites of

    Read More

  • Gender In Borderlands By Marjane Satrapi, And Virginia Woolf

    1833 Words  | 4 Pages

    Enter into any café on the UCSC campus for a prolonged period of time and you are likely to hear the words “gender is a social construct”. Initially you’ll think to yourself, “what a load of granola” this is an expected reaction because for most people the concept of “gender” is natural. Its not until you are able to see how the idea of gender is constructed from physiological differences between males and females as discussed by researcher Miller AE and his team of scientists. Or how men possess great privilege because of gender roles, and women are seen as objects, that you will truly be able to understand that gender is nothing but a social contract. Authors Gloria Anzaldúa, Marjane Satrapi, and Virginia Woolf discuss in their novels Borderlands,

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Femininity And Sexuality Of Women Within The Patriarchy

    805 Words  | 2 Pages

    Seeing femininity as a social construct is important in understanding how it is controlled and shaped by society. This concept is

    Read More

  • The Gender Blur

    1540 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over?” Deborah Blum states that “gender roles of our culture reflect an underlying biology” (Blum 679). Maasik and Solomon argue that gender codes and behavior “are not the result of some sort of natural or biological destiny, but are instead politically motivated cultural constructions,” (620) raising the question whether gender behavior begins in culture or genetics. Although one may argue that gender roles begin in either nature or nurture, many believe that both culture and biology have an influence on the behavior.

    Read More

  • Disney and Traditional Stereotypes

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    Despite the tremendous steps that have been taken towards reaching gender equality, mainstream media contradicts these accomplishments with stereotypes of women present in Walt Disney movies. These unrealistic stereotypes may be detrimental to children because they grow up with a distorted view of how men and women interact. Disney animated films assign gender roles to characters, and young children should not be exposed to inequality between genders because its effect on their view of what is right and wrong in society is harmful to their future. According to Disney films, it is important for women to achieve the stereotypical characteristics of a woman, such as maintaining their beauty to capture a man, and being weak and less educated than male characters. The women in Disney movies are always beautiful, which helps them to find a man.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Disney

    2315 Words  | 5 Pages

    Media is a powerful agent in entertaining children. It also influences and teaches the youth of society the suitable and appropriate gender roles that they inevitably try to make sense of. The power of media is very influential especially in the minds of the youth. Disney movies target the youth and plant certain ideas and concepts about social culture into the vulnerable minds of children. Media uses gender to its advantage, just like Disney productions. Humorous caricatures reveal some harsh realities about the portrayal of Disney Princesses in many movies made by the Walt Disney Company. Disney mixes innocence with the ultimate form of fantasy to capture an audience. Predominantly, Disney helps highlight the gender roles by showing the audience simply what they want to see. In the attempt to stick to the norm and portray stereotypical female characters, Disney created Princesses. Presented as damsels in distress and inferior beings to men, Disney Princesses give children an inaccurate portrayal of gender roles at a young age. Through Disney’s social success and intriguing films, such as The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast, Disney Princess movies portray stereotypical representation of gender roles through the denigration of the female image, targeting and ruining the perception of youth today.

    Read More

  • Learning Gender In a Diverse Society

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    This article was written to bring attention to the way men and women act because of how they were thought to think of themselves. Shaw and Lee explain how biology determines what sex a person is but a persons cultures determines how that person should act according to their gender(Shaw, Lee 124). The article brings up the point that, “a persons gender is something that a person performs daily, it is what we do rather than what we have” (Shaw, Lee 126). They ...

    Read More

  • Gender and Violence

    1601 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Essay On The Role Of Women In Disney Animation

    1714 Words  | 4 Pages

    Disney has portrayed women in movies by the use of animation characters for over a century since the 1900s. There has been a very big change since the early 1900’s to modern day in Disney’s depiction of the personalities of the women, their attitudes and ideologies towards men, and the way they are portrayed in the movies. This progression has had a distinct development, from passive damsels in distress in need of the help of men, to being superheroes. Therefore, the evolution of women in Disney movies will be analyzed through the use of university level feminist essays, as well as a research paper written about gender roles in Disney animation. The evolution will also be analyzed through examination of the clips of the movies themselves.

    Read More

  • The Sexual Double Standard : How Men and Women Are Perceived According to Their Gender.

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    From a young age , many individuals worldwide are socialized according to their gender and what is appropriate for males and females. Socializing according to ones gender starts from the moment you are born when the nurses give you either a blue or pink blanket to wrap the child in. This allows society to known whether the child is a male or female. The double standard for gender occurs within many areas of development for instance the clothes one wears, the toys that are placed with, the jobs and careers one chooses in their later life. Attachment given by a child's parent reinforces an individual to be socialized and children can also contribute how their parents treat and see them , these are social constructs within parenting (Ambert,2012). All of these things can be gender separated and still are in today's society. Another area where males and females are socialized differently is in the area of sexuality and what is acceptable for males is not always for the female gender. Gender specific norms govern the appropriate amount of partners , when it is acceptable to engage in sexual activity and what motivates ones behavior (Kreager &Staff, 2009). This shows society individuals are socialized according to their gender because males are socialized into behaving a different way than girls but it still be accepted as a norm. Women are taught that it is okay to have sexual relationships but they need a reason, example being in a committed relationship, where as men just need a place. This is a common perception based on ones gender , formed from a western conservative view point ( Fugere et.al, 2008). Gender socialization is a process where boys are seen to be given wings and girls are to be given roots (Myers, Spencer, Jordan...

    Read More

  • Princess Mononoke Critical Criticism

    1323 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many strong women characters present in Princess Mononoke which exhibit themes of freedom and spirit.

    Read More

  • Social Construction of Gender

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    Social Construction of Gender Today’s society plays a very important role in the construction of gender. Gender is a type of issue that has raised many questions over the years in defining and debating if both male and female are equal. Today, gender is constructed in four different ways. The The first way gender is defined is by the family in which a child is raised.

    Read More

  • Social Construction Of Gender Essay

    1599 Words  | 4 Pages

    Social Construction of Gender is a process, stratification system and structure. The day to day interactions emphasize gender as opposites. Take for instance, conversations, formalities of daily life, sayings, and so on. The social construction of gender is created through social interaction – through the things we do and say with other people. This means that gender it is not a fixed or inherent fact, but instead it varies across time and place.

    Read More

  • Portrayal of Women in the Media

    3135 Words  | 7 Pages

    Gender is the psychological characteristics and social categories that are created by human culture. Doing gender is the concept that humans express their gender when they interact with one another. Messages about how a male or female is supposed to act come from many different places. Schools, parents, and friends can influence a person. Another major factor that influences millions of impressionable females and males is television. Not only does the television teach each sex how to act, it also shows how one sex should expect the other sex to act. In the current television broadcasting, stereotypical behavior goes from programming for the very small to adult audiences. In this broadcasting range, females are portrayed as motherly, passive and innocent, sex objects, or they are overlooked completely or seen as unimportant entities.

    Read More

  • Gender Equality within the Household

    3156 Words  | 7 Pages

    Gender is an important aspect of our social life; it comprises of power relations, the division of labour, symbolic forms and emotional relations (Connel, 2000).

    Read More

More about Hayao Miyazaki Gender Roles

Open Document