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Women and their fight for equality
Essay on female figures in literature
Portrayal of gender issues in literature
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One of the earliest actions of man is to be sexist; this action has been supported by women for centuries and is still present now days. Despite many evolutions in humans, there are still sexist actions at work, religion and society in general since “students enlightened enough to care about how constructions of gender and gender relations negatively affect the status of women globally.” Researches indicate that women began to react to this problem around the 1970s, where they created many feminist revolutions in the United States. For example, it was not until 1920, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that women had a full right to vote and got many rights established in their favor, although the dominance of men in society was still intact. Looking around, it can be said that women do not act the way they did years ago. Nowadays, women respond to sexist and immature attitudes of men, seeking to defend themselves. Women stopped being oppressed by men to become independent women. In Thelma and Louise, the director Ridley Scott provides the use of defensive nationalism, focusing on the attitudes of women in nowadays it is a clear reflection of the reaction of women against oppression. Through scapegoating, it can be observe the domination that Darryl presents toward Thelma his wife, reflecting a lack of harmony and equality in the relationship of this couple; at the same time it can be seen highlighted through the entire film the symbol of friendship between Thelma and Louise, that despite everything that they went through, both women decided to stay together until the end of their lives.
In Thelma and Louise, it can be clearly ...
... middle of paper ...
...aceful atmosphere where ideas from both can share reaching mutual agreement without using physical or mental aggression.
Works Cited
1. Hebert, Laura. "Taking 'Difference' Seriously: Feminism and the 'Man Question." Ebscohost 16.1 (March 2007): 31-45. Literary Criticism. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
2. Man, Glenn. "Gender, Genre, and Myth in Thelma and Louise." Ebscohost 18.1 (Fall 1993): 36-53. Film Criticism. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
3. Greenberg, Roger P., and Peter B. Zeldow. "Sex Differences in Preferences for an Ideal Therapist." Ebscohost (1980): 474-78. Film Criticism. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
4. Naples, Nancy A., and Karen Bojar. "Connecting The Academic World And Real World." Ebscohost 28.1 (March 2004): 100-01. Film Criticism. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
5. Boozer, Jack. "Seduction and Betrayal in the Heartland." Ebscohost 23.3 (1995): 188-89. Firm Quarterlyy. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Braudy, Leo and Marshall Cohen, eds. Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, Fifth Edition. New York: Oxford UP, 1999.
Murray, Judith Sargent. "On the Equality of the Sexes." Ed. Paul Lauter.The Heath Anthology of American Literature, third edition. Volume 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1992. 1058-1064.
Petrie, Dennis and Boggs, Joseph. The Art of Watching Films. New York: McGraw Hill, 2012.
Kerner, Aaron M.. “Irreconcilable Realities.” Film Analysis: A Norton Reader. Eds. Jeffrey Geiger and R.L. Rutsky. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2nd edition, 2013. 462-83.
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.
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).
American commercial cinema currently fuels many aspects of society. In the twenty-first century it has become available, active force in the perception of gender relations in the United States. In the earlier part of this century filmmakers, as well as the public, did not necessarily view the female“media image” as an infrastructure of sex inequality. Today, contemporary audiences and critics have become preoccupied with the role the cinema plays in shaping social values, institutions, and attitudes. American cinema has become narrowly focused on images of violent women, female sexuality, the portrayal of the “weaker sex” and subversively portraying women negatively in film. “Double Indemnity can be read in two ways. It is either a misogynist film about a terrifying, destroying woman, or it is a film that liberates the female character from the restrictive and oppressed melodramatic situation that render her helpless” (Kolker 124). There are arguably two extreme portrayals of the character of Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity; neither one is an accurate or fare portrayal.
Saiving, Valerie. "The Human Situation: A Feminine View" in Womanspirit Rising, Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow, eds. Harper & Row, 1979, pp. 25-42.
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.
The two main approaches to this type of criticism are very different, but help make distinctions in the text. Essentialists focus on the biologically determined sex of a character in literature, while others focus on constructivism or the qualities determined by society as strictly male or female. Constructivists argue that patriarchal gender roles harm women’s confidence and assertiveness, promoting stereotypes and false binaries. Gender constructivism favors the idea that gender and sexual categories are a societal construct that prefers men and restricts women. The application of this literary criticism to a text looks into the character and their relevance to the plot. Focusing on how the character promotes or rejects the imposed gender roles is a significant part in the use of this lens (Hildreth January
Bordwell, David. “The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice.” Film Theory and Criticism. Eds. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. Oxford University Press, 2009: 649-657.
Yousef, Nancy. "The monster in a dark room: Frankenstein, feminism, and philosophy." Modern Language Quarterly 63.2 (2002): 197+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Jan. 2012
Abrams 1604 - 1606. Peterson, Linda H. "What Is Feminist Criticism?" Wuthering Heights. Ed. Linda H. Peterson, Ph.D. Boston: Bedford Books, 1992.
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 ...
Lorber, J. (1994). Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender. Paradoxes of Gender (pp. 54-67). New Haven: Yale University Press.