Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The changing roles of women
Female representation in the media
Female representation in the media
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The changing roles of women
For decades, women of all types have been depicted through popular art (television, movies, etc…) negatively as lower in status and power, weak, vulnerable, and over dependent on men. As years progress, phenomenal changes in roles of women in the Western society seem to progress as well, but still not close enough to the level of the opposite sex in terms of respect, approval, and what is accepted. Television in today’s day fixates our perception of women. It gives us an inaccurate idea of how we think women should behave or how they do behave. There’s a movie I used to watch called White Chicks. Although it is a well-known comedy movie, it has set the tone for women in a generalized group in a cliche manner. The film synopsis is …show more content…
Cady accentuated her feminine body by wearing a tight short dress with her breasts pushed up. Cady also had tons of makeup on her face. Makeup boosted her sexuality even more by making her appealing to her schoolmates even Aaron Samuels. Another scene was when Cady and her friends sabotaged a relatively popular girl (Regina George) by cutting holes in her tank top chest area. Regina George noticed that her tank top had two holes and it showed some of her bras, but it did not seem to bother her. As she was walking award school with that particular tank top, girls seemed to be inspired by it and set it as a fashion trend. By the end of that scene, almost every girl at that high school had their tank top the same way. This film sends out a poor representation of what girls should aspire to be …show more content…
It was an approach that most women in the film depended on. Some of Elle Woods attire, in the beginning, were revealing and pinkish. This was what girls were wearing and they felt that they fit societies expectations. Halfway through the film, Elle has an epiphany and dresses more conserved, but still with some color. This is the perfect situation of women being seen as nothing more than a trophy girl to a strong dominate potential lawyer. This is one of the more positive cases because it speaks to women that believe their role in life is small and nothing more or equal to the opposite sex. Elle Woods conquered through the stereotypes that women faced in that day helped shaped the perception of women and
The documentary, “Miss Representation,” is a film about how women are perceived in the media. It is written, directed, and produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. She is an actress and a film maker who advocates for women. In the beginning of the documentary, Newsom discusses her struggles as a young woman surrounded by the pressures of looking a certain way. This film is targeting mainly women of all age that has experienced her struggles. Jennifer Siebel Newsom effectively convinces the audience of “Miss Representation” that the media has molded women in a negative way through statistics, celebrities’ and younger generation’s testimonies, and clips from the media.
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.
Miss Representation, a documentary film produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom released in 2011, presents a contemporary issue which is the misrepresentation of women’s portrayal in mass media. The media is powerful in shaping audience’s belief in how to be feminine. Women are expected to be beautiful, attractive, and even sexual on the media to attract audience’s attention. Also, the film points out the existence of social system in which men are considered more powerful and dominant than women. Finally, the film tries to increase the awareness of female real value including capability, educational achievement, and leadership. Consuming the media wisely to eliminate gendered stereotypes can help young women build their confidence and be successful.
Feminism is evident throughout the typical gender stereotypes such as the ‘perfect’ girls are the blonde, skinny ones. When students are asked about their thoughts on ‘the plastics’ in the beginning of the movie, they tell that they are preppy and attractive. The stereotypes in this movie cause hurt feelings and discrimination towards all of the females. Girls were also viewed as sex symbols based on their looks and physical appearance, not their ability and intelligence. In the movie, most of the girls are known for copying ‘the plastics’ look which is usually short skirts and tank tops making the outfit look provocative. Another example is on Cady’s first day of highschool, she is asked if ‘her muffin is buttered’ which is a sexual question. Feminism is definitely shown throughout the female characters personalities and
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).
This fieldwork aims to sociologically analyze gender roles and expectations within the movie White Chicks. In this film brothers, Marcus and Kevin Copeland, play the role of two black FBI agents looking to get back into good graces with their superior after they accidentally ruined a drug bust. They are assigned to escort two rich white females, Brittney and Tiffany Wilson, to the Hamptons for Labor Day festivities. While traveling they experience a minor car accident, leaving the girls with a single scratch each on their face. Because of their socialite status, the sisters no longer wish to continue their trip in fear of humiliation. The agents fear losing their chance of redemption, so they decide to disguise
For example, when the documentary showed the band members and how they were symbolizing women. The band members had the woman against the wall with either no clothes or just undergarments on and throwing slices of meat at her. A lot of films and music portray this message that women are just a piece of meat and that they are only good for sexual experiences. Another example was Snoop Dog’s lyrics in his film, Diary of a Pimp, “you gotta break these hoes for Snoop” learning the lifestyle of a rapper and a pimp illustrating prostitution of women. Dreamworlds documentary also mentioned this when talking about the lives of women when a man is not present in their life. It illustrated scenes of sadness and loneliness. Women are not creatures who desire sex all the time and the purpose of the film was to teach us that how women are presented in music videos is not right. Women are more than just their bodies and do not need to continue to be objectified. Every media production should follow the Bechdel Test in communication of women and their actions. Women in music and films should not always be talking about men or living their life under the control of a man. Media acts as if women can’t be independent. If media continues to show women getting treating as objects and knowing that media influences society, then in society people will continue to think as if treating a woman as such is acceptable. Treating women as objects is not acceptable at all. However, what we see from media shows
...es, in the eyes of the modern moviegoers, this position is no longer reasonable due to the strides already made by women in quest for equality. It is a reflection of how the past American society treated its women and draws to the traditional inclination of the Americans to achieve financial independence as seen in this post war film.
Noted in Yvonne Tasker’s Working Girls: Gender and Sexuality in Popular Cinema, Goldie Hawn says this about women's role in the film business “There are only thee ages for women in Hollywood: Babe, District Attorney and Driving Miss Daisy” (1998, p. 3). While Haw...
The attitude towards women has changed dramatically since 1990, the year that this film came out; you will however, find a few men who still have the attitude that women were put on this earth for their enjoyment. In the early nineties, women were hyper-sexualized and viewed as pawns in a game. MTV showed music videos with scantily clad women, which were seen as extremely scandalous at the time. The nineties was also an era of growth, liberalization and sexual discoveries that carried over from the eighties.... ...
Pretty Woman, 1990s Hollywood movie, embodies many new as well as old values and ideologies. I was surprised when I saw that, the old themes and sexual stereotypes are not completely abandoned, but the old portrayals of gender stereotypes are transmuted.
One of the major conflicts is the intrapersonal conflict Cady has with herself. Cady goes from being home-schooled in Africa to entering the “girl-world” in high school. Throughout the movie, Cady is trying to fit in, become popular and to get the attention of her crush, Aaron Samuels. This causes Cady to ultimately lose herself in the process of becoming Plastic. In the effort to take revenge on Regina for taking Aaron back, Cady loses her own self by attempting to be Regina. This gets Janis to notice Cady’s transformation especially when Cady throws party the same night of Janis’s art show and doesn’t even show up to the art show. Janis came to Cady’s house tell her: “You think that everyone is in love with you, when actually, everyone hates you.” Cady then has to decide whether she wants to become a better person or become someone she’s
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 ...
Elle must go through the fight of her life, for Warner, for herself and for all the blondes who suffer endless humiliations every day. Once Elle wood is accepted into Harvard no one takes her seriously. By this being presented in the film it shows that people underestimate blondes and listen to all the stereotypes that people call female blondes. Elle woods makes many bonding friendships/ relationships throughout her journey to become ‘good enough’ for warner even though he became engaged to another girl Vivian who also attends law school. Vivian makes sure that everyone dislikes and puts Elle down as they all think she isn’t smart enough, but the friends she makes think otherwise.
The media and television broadcasting of women is not all negative. But current culture is constantly taking the easy way out. It refuses to explore different ways in which women can be represented. That is why for years to come women will still be seen as motherly, passive and innocent, sex objects, or they are overlooked or seen as unimportant entities. Whether it’s motherly birds on kids TV shows or scantily clad dancers on Monday Night Football, the portrayal of women has yet to catch up with what real life women are like. There are single women, obese women, and smart women. Women who are single mom’s, lesbians, or don’t have any children at all. Women are able to do the same type of work as men without being manly. The day that women are treated as equals on television will whole new level of success for feminism.