Representation of Women in Films

Representation of Women in Films

In different sources women are represented in different ways. Films

show different cultures. Women in the 50's and women in the 60's and

70's are seen in different lights. It was only until the 70's that

women were seen more as independent.

There are also many differences in the way women are seen in Great

Britain and U.S.A. Different sources such as film posters, still

images and films will be studied and compared to show the varieties of

cultural diversity.

Image 4.9 is a still image from 'creature from the black lagoon' It

was a sci-fi film from 1956.

From the picture we can see that the woman has quite an active central

role, but is not as heroic as someone like Ripley from 'Alien'. She is

seen more as a sex object. In the 50's this was seen as normal as

women were the minority and had little say in what they did in life.

They were made to look pretty and clean. Looking pretty is exactly

what this woman is doing. She may be classed as a sex object by the

way she is revealing the flesh of her arms and legs and her hair is

very long. The 'creature' has picked her up and she looks as if she

has fainted at some point. Her arms & legs sway and her head drops

back to make her hair look longer than its actual length. The

'creature' is holding her as if she is a helpless baby. He has

positioned one arm under her upper thigh and one arm under her neck.

This looks as if he is supporting her.

Women in the 50's were seen as pretty feminine women who like cooking,

cleaning and obeying their husband. The women in the image represents

a typical 1950's woman, stereotyped as soft and pretty.

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... in the 1950's. Women now have more privileges.

Both 'The Stepford Wives' and 'Educating Rita' display varieties of

cultural diversity. 'The Stepford Wives' mainly displays the change of

women throughout the decades but 'Educating Rita' concentrates on

different classes such as middle and working class. 'Educating Rita'

also does concentrate on women as Rita is a women but it concentrates

on the classes and how they differ from one another in Great Britain.

Films portray lives and issues in the world. The issue involved here

is cultural diversity. Films describe the different types of cultures

and explore how the lives of people are lived. 'Educating Rita' and

'The Stepford Wives' cleverly construct ideas of women in the 50's and

80's and create ideas and messages of how the lives of women have been

in the passed.