Spy Essay: Stereotypes Of Women In Spy

1356 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Discrimination in terms of physical appearance

Stereotypes of Women in Spy
Ever since the times of Ancient Greeks, comedy has been used to help point out humorous human flaws. Irony in satire makes us think about our flaws, whether they are individual, social, or political. Although satire in theatre is used to make people laugh at individual flaws likes greed or lust, it can also be used to bring change. A popular form of satire, stereotypes, is used today. However, the way that stereotypes are used in current films can lead to adverse change such as by reestablishing negative stereotypes while reinforcing racism and sexism. The movie Spy is a good example of how satire can lead to negative consequences by reaffirming negative stereotypes of women. Specifically, Spy demonstrates how women …show more content…

The movie Spy intends to emphasize that women can play an important role in today’s society and work environment; however, it does not accomplish this goal as the main protagonist is a woman who has an unattractive appearance and overly comical characteristics. Due to her appearance and behavior (which is the opposite of everything the media emphasizes is ideal for a woman), Cooper (Melisa McCarthy) is constantly doubted and discriminated against instead of being respected. Ultimately, the lead character’s central purpose is to provoke laughter, not admiration.
Because of her appearance and size, when Cooper attempts to show her talents and take on different tasks, she fails and provokes laughter. Cooper is overweight, clumsy, and ‘rough around the edges’, and so, …show more content…

When women are sweet and effeminate, men tend to respect them and have a desire to protect them. Cooper contrasts this stereotype so that others don’t consider protecting her or even including her. Moreover, her lack of femininity is also the reason she doesn’t get respect from other characters, mainly her colleagues. For instance, the lack of respect from her colleagues is shown through moments like when she is supplied with specially designed weapons that are supposed to make her look like she has stomach issues, such as constipation and hemorrhoids. In people’s minds, Cooper’s masculinity cannot simulate their emotion of care and support. She is far away from femininity and, as a result, far from being accepted or

Show More
Related

  • Napoleon Dynamite Stereotypes

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    Movies are a new edition in today’s culture. They are a new form of art medium that has arrived in the late 1900s and were a new way to express ideas and viewpoints of the time. A good example of this is the movie The Manchurian Candidate. The movie had a simple plot a man is kidnapped after the Korean war and is hypnotized to work for the communists and take down the U.S. This movie showed the American public’s fear of communism at the time. If a movie like this can easily portray the fears of the American people at the time then it can easily portray stereotypes of gender. There have been thousands of movies where the male protagonist is a rough tough dude but there is one movie that has that stereotype is broken. That movie is none other than Napoleon Dynamite.

    Read More

  • Misconceive?o By John Leo

    751 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mr. Leo wrote this piece not only for informative purposes, but also to convince a particular audience that, whether intentional or not, characters have taken on harmful images some may find offensive. He is not speaking only to his fairly educated, loyal readers, but also to those who may have taken part in producing the movie. Mr. Leo makes visible to his readers what he believes to be stereotypes in the film. People may not have noticed these before, so he makes clear definitions and comparisons. To the rest of the audience, those who had a hand in making the movie, he makes a plea not to redevelop these characters in future films.

    Read More

  • The Role of Women in Screwball Comedy Films

    4993 Words  | 10 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Stereotypes In Stand By Me

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    In American society, gender stereotypes are highly discussed amongst individuals and stereotypes as a whole remain a central focus of art. Creatively, Rob Reiner addresses stereotypes in Reiner’s film Stand by Me by shedding light on multiple stereotypes. In a scene from Stand by Me entitled “Milk Money,” Chris, one of the main characters from the film, cries to Gordon because the school Chris attends holds the misconception about Chris stealing the milk money. Near the end of this scene, Chris says, “I guess I’m just a pussy, huh?” (find time). Chris’ inquiry raises questions about the use of the word “pussy” and its negative connotation. Throughout the film, Gordon, Chris, Vern, and Teddy, the main characters in the movie, frequently use terms to describe each other, which characterize the stereotypes in American culture. In Reiner’s movie, Reiner utilizes these four young boys to adeptly illustrate the manner in which boys and men should act. Additionally, Reiner employs the main characters in the film to display various stereotypes that society holds for both men and women. Reiner’s film shows that men have a preconceived and detrimental belief that showing emotion is a sign of femininity and therefore weakness because society sets unrealistic standards for men.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Documentary Film: Miss Representation

    586 Words  | 2 Pages

    First, the film is associated with the concept of gender, which emphasizes the physical, behavioral, and personality traits that are considered to be appropriate for men or women. Males are expected to be strong, aggressive, and competitive while females should be beautiful, emotional, and especially sexually attractive. Many girls and women feel deeply depressed when comparing their bodies to the unrealistic models’ bodies on advertising which is edited by Photoshop in many hours or even in many days. Those female characteristics presented in daily TV shows, movies, advertising, video games have become normal and widely acceptable. Also, the film associates with the concept of patriarchy which believe in male dominance. According to the misrepresentation of female role on mass media, women often see themselves in the roles of mothers, workers, models, or gold diggers. Women are valuated via their beauty and sexuality rather than their capability. Conversely, the appearance of males in heroes, executives, or political leaders in mass media makes men more powerful than women. The media generates the gender stereotypes and makes people believe in their gender roles. Finally, the sociological relevance of Miss Representation is that the media plays an important role in shaping male and female’s belief in their role and value. As the result, it is understandable for gender behaviors and gender inequality in the

    Read More

  • Miss Representation Gender Roles

    554 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is no secret that there is an obvious difference of how women are portrayed in the media versus men. This movie discussed female characters never having lead roles and stated that when they did it ended in the women depending on, loving, or having to have a man. One young high school girl said, “Women never play the protagonist. The girls are

    Read More

  • White Chicks Movie Gender Roles

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    Consequently, they must then take on parties, dates, auctions, beach days, and fashion shows, all while concealing their true male identities. While doing this, the movie portrays extreme stereotypes of gender roles and expectations. Although the portrayal of female expectations and characteristics is exaggerated for comedic effect, the underlying points and issues still remain. The way the brothers dress, speak, act, and understand their new social life as females, all contributes to the obvious contrast in gender specific qualities. The consistent sexualization of women and over pompous attitudes of men throughout the film provides exceptional evidence that society has established acceptable norms for both genders. These established roles of femininity and masculinity conflict within the undercover agents as they struggle to act poise, arrogant, non-confrontational, and sexy like their fellow female friends are, yet this is completely out of the norm for them as they are truly males. However, when they slip-up and allow their defensive masculine traits to show through it allows for not only a comedic break, but an exceptional

    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

  • A Few Good Men Film Analysis

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender and the portrayal of gender roles in a film is an intriguing topic. It is interesting to uncover the way women have been idealized in our films, which mirrors the sentiments of the society of that period in time. Consequently, the thesis of this essay is a feminist approach that seeks to compare and contrast the gender roles of two films. The selected films are A few Good Men and Some Like it Hot.

    Read More

  • V For Vendetta Feminist Analysis

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s graphic dysfunctional novel V For Vendetta involves aggressive governments that monitor their citizen’s behavior. The government controls the media and goes after anyone that resist their power. This novel demonstrates the way the government expresses and hardens its power by expressing a masculine hierarchy that mistreats the female body. All the women in this graphic novel are indulged in sexual activities to a ridiculous level and are all made into long-lasting victims. There are three specific young feminine women in V for Vendetta: Evey, Rosemary, and Helen. Both Helen and Rosemary are dependent on the masculine figures in their life. Their masculine figure scraps out an existence for themselves purely through

    Read More

  • Why Women Smile

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    Due to the high performance in education, workplace and family, society expects women more than before, such as: A wife must cook “good” food for her family, give “more” respect to her husband and nurture her children “properly”. A female employee is often perceived as a careful, conservative, considerate and friendly character of others. Regardless to any nature of individual and the group, an outstanding woman constantly involves conflicts because of her need and desire; now, need evolves to basic luxury need and the desire mutates to “I must have it”. Not only men, women fight for a better home, salary, job promotion, status and many more too. In the article, Cunningham speculates women’s smile as their burdens more than a weapon: “ Woe to the waitress, the personal assistant or receptionist, the flight attendant, or any other woman in the line of public service whose smile is not offered up to the boss or client as proof that there are no storm clouds-no kids to support, no sleep that’s been missed rolling into the sunny workplace landscape” (372). On that occasion, Cunningham sounds like a victim. In comparing to their social image, women have a stronger mentality and perseverance in the reality. The emotional appeal (ethos) is wonderful, it connects audience and writer instantly, but there is a risk; some rational readers might suspect writer is an implicit bias because her article laden with too much

    Read More

  • thelma and louise

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    The movie Thelma and Louise attempts to make a difference in the way that people think. It sets out to challenge a number of conventional attitudes toward women. Although it achieves some success in this area for women, it does not do a great deal to rebuff society’s stereotypical images of men. For the most part, men are portrayed in a negative light and in this paper, I will explore where these negative images appear within the movie.

    Read More

  • Stereotypes In Hollywood Film

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    While watching movies, have you ever noticed that the villains in almost every single Hollywood film are of Middle Eastern or European descent? In a reoccurring theme of Hollywood, the villains in these films are almost always foreigners or people of color. This is a stereotype. On the other side of the spectrum, we often see that the heroes of these films are most often than not white males. This is another stereotype. Within the last few years, we’ve seen actors such as Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, and Zoe Saldana take the lead roles, so it can’t be said that there are no non-white heroes, but there certainly isn’t many. Hollywood action movies, moreover than other genres, are typically loaded with an abundance of stereotypes. The way these movies are composed and structured can tell us a great deal about the views held within the American psyche and who holds the social power. The harsh reality is that the media ultimately sets the tone for societal standards, moralities, and images of our culture. Many consumers of media have never encountered some of the minorities or people of color shown on screen, so they subsequently depend on the media and wholeheartedly believe that the degrading stereotypes represented on the big screen are based on fact and not fiction. Mary Beltran said it best when she stated in her “Fast and Bilingual: Fast & Furious and the Latinization of Racelessness” article, “ultimately, Fast & Furious mobilizes notions of race in contradictory ways. It reinforces Hollywood traditions of white centrism, reinforcing notions of white male master while also dramatizing the figurative borders crossed daily by culturally competent global youth – both Latino and non-Latino” (77). This paper will specifically look...

    Read More

  • Gender Stereotypes Essay

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    The work's topicality is characterized by the existence of the gender stereotypes in society, having generalization, and does not reflect individual differences in the human categories. Meanwhile, there is still discrimination on the labour market, human trafficking, sexual harassment, violence, women and men roles and their places in the family. Mass media offers us the reality, reduces the distance, but we still can see the negative aspects too. TV cultivates gender stereotypes, offering ideas about gender, relationships and ways for living. Such media ideas attach importance to many people in the society. Consequently, it is quite important identify gender stereotypes in the media, in order to prevent false views relating to gender stereotypes.

    Read More

  • Gender Stereotypes In Imagey, By Cathy Guisewite

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    To conclude, women nowadays have a more advanced and sophisticated role in society although the sex stereotypes continue to exist and societies’ attitudes change towards gender roles. The contrast between a comic with an extract from a memoir which share a common theme, provides us with information about the different attitudes that cultures have towards gender stereotypes and especially towards women.

    Read More

More about Spy Essay: Stereotypes Of Women In Spy

Open Document