Sexism in Film

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In society, women are often perceived as the weaker sex, both physically and mentally. In modern times women have leveled the playing field between men and women, and feminism is a highly discussed topic, but for years, women faced discrimination and prejudice both in life and in the workplace, due to their sex. This way of thinking flooded into the world of film. In their works, the authors of each of the various sources address the limitations and liberations of women both on and off the screen in nineteenth century Film and Cinema. Not every source is completely filled with information related to the research topic, but they do cover and analyze many of the same points from different perspectives. Prominent points addressed in each source include the domination of the male voice in cinema, the presentation of women on screen, and society’s influence on the status of women roles in film. A common concept in a lot of the sources is that men dominate the film industry both onscreen and off. According to the article, Why There are no Women in the Movies, “men make the movies and the relationships and roles are molded according to the male viewpoint” (Yates 226). This, in relation to the other sources, is a very valid fact. Coinciding with his point, Hollywood Film Critic, Richard Corliss states in his TIME Magazine article, Calling Their Own Shots: Women Directors Make it in Hollywood, that “the guys ran things—as producers, directors, bosses…” Men were behind the scenes, they decided what scripts got chosen to be made into films. They were the heads of production companies and producers of the films. Whatever they said…went. Men were not only in charge of what was going on onscreen, but they monopolized off-screen positions as we... ... middle of paper ... ...e. “The Allure of the Predatory Woman in Fatal Attraction and Other Current American Movies.” Journal of Popular Culture 26.3 (Winter 1992): 47-57. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 March 2015. Mahar, Karen Ward. Women Filmmakers in Early Hollywood. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2006. Print Pomerance, Murray, ed. Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls: Gender in Film at the End of the Twentieth Century. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001. Print. Quart, Barbara Koenig. Women Directors: The Emergence of a New Cinema. New York: Praeger, 1988. Print.. Segar, Linda. When Women Call The Shots: The Developing Power and Influence of Women in Television and Film. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996. Print. Yates, John. “Why There are no Women in the Movies.” Journal of Popular Film 4.3 (1975): 223-234. America: History & Life. Web. 13 March 2015.

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