Critical Review On Gender Representation

They seem to solely skew towards television being the main cause of disempowered women. Without providing other influences on the stereotypes of women, the film’s views become bias. However, because teenagers spend 31 hours every week watching television, it becomes one of the leading causes of gender stereotypes. Also, based on the statistics provided of women being represented far less than men in America’s government, strongly supports Edelman’s quote, “You can't be what you can't see.” It is hard for young women to look up to empowered female leaders, when they are not being represented in the media.

Hollywood films have influenced our values and beliefs of socio-cultural groups within a film. In the context of race and gender the films Cowboys and Aliens (2011) and the searchers (1956) both share similarities. These two successful films are 55 years apart the both convey the perspectives of race and gender through the reflection of American Indians in these films. The films The Searchers and Cowboys and Aliens show that Hollywood has changed the way we see the status of Indians. In the earlier film the Indians are represented as killers and mongrels as in this current day and age we have grown to accept them and appreciate their culture. This is done prominently through both films as they feature the interaction between white Americans and Indians. The searchers depict the Indians as the villains who capture the girls from the white American families and are seen as a risk to the community. In the

The film, based upon dialogue, use of imagery between the lead characters, and just the overall plot structure, suggests that the roles of the characters offer new possibilities. Like other films in Hollywood over the years, rather than exploit women and use the heavy appeal of sex, the film uses a contrasting mirage of a healthy and intimate relationship based on equality; the woman is not depicted less than her worth, rather as an individual achieving parity through her intelligence, creativity, and economic independence. In the process of creating this relationship, however, the film mythologizes the roles of men and

The female characters were weak, more concern about being attractive, not smart and they emotional during social situations. In regards, to female bias on TV, a 1977 Nancy Signorelli’s "study of Television Shows and Commercials, Movies, Music Videos, and Teen Magazine Articles and Ads,” shows that women play fewer and less significant roles in "television programs.” It further clams that females “are seen working... or cast as professionals" only in limited scenes. Instead, they are presented more as having no occupation and caring more about their relationships. The report further indicates that "women rely on their male… partner to help them solve problems and… achieve their goals;" and that "women in media” do things that describe them as "stereotypical females..., grooming or peering…" The findings by the report are convincing; especially when watching those episodes during the TV

Choose one or two examples of media texts and explore how they might challenge or disrupt Mulvey’s concept of ‘the male gaze’.

In Laura Mulvey’s article, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” she writes about the relationship between voyeurism, cinema, and gender. She begins by describing the concept of scopophilia, which means to gain pleasure from looking. She writes that scopophilia is inherently active/masculine, and that pleasure is derived from looking at other people as mere objects. On the other hand, the passive/feminine is derived from the experience of being looked at (pg.188). Mulvey sees this binary relationship between viewer and object being viewed as a part of our culture, and the greatest example of this is found in cinema. She argues that the act of moviegoing satisfies these voyeuristic desires in people. She writes, “The mass of mainstream film portray a hermetically sealed world which unwinds magically, indifferent to the presence of the audience, producing for them a sense of separation and playing on their voyeuristic fantasy,” (pg. 186). In this essay, I will further discuss her viewpoints on cinema and voyeurism, and how it connects to the film Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock.

Ridley Scott’s ‘female buddy movie’ Thelma and Louise centres around issues of male dominance and the freedom of release from society. Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise (Susan Sarandon) are women suppressed by the men in their lives. They take a vacation to escape for a few days and after an attempted rape and murder they end up fugitives on the run for their lives. This unintended event ends up being for them the best adventure of their lives, as they are able to divest from the rules of society and become the independent women they are. By subverting the traditional role of gender in the genre, the film shows how feminism impacted the film industry by challenging Hollywood and the gendered myths and social patriarchy, providing women with a voice, and changing how spectators view how women are looked at through women’s eyes and their experiences.

The media has long been recognized as important source of gender related information, television and cinema specifically influences its audience in a considerable way. (Denmark and Paludi 2008). With regards to the concept of gender cinema can offer a space where ambiguities of identities are played out; understanding the play of the categories of femininity and masculinity is very important in evaluating our own understandings of gender and how we react to different representations of it (Tasker 2002).If a film can show different individuals and we can recognize how social forces shape and constrain the individual according to classifications of gender it narrates an experience where we experience the film as gendered viewers. Film reflects and generates out own experience of gender over and above out own recognition and observation of it. (Pomerance 2001). Gender itself is a very complex concept to understand and portray onscreen, the concept of gender performativity was introduced by Judith butler in her book Gender Trouble: Gender Performance and Performativity.

Film industry is a micrograph of our society. As a result of this many inequalities are provided to the big screen. However, the section of inequality has very broad horizons that it is very difficult to detect and analyzed them. The sexism that prevails is one basic factor and a primary component to this discrimination. Cinema as a constructed representation of almost every societal issue and problems, has many examples of sexists’ behaviors, but also of non-sexist behaviors, and even feminist movements take place to this industry. As a micrograph also all the ideological political and historical scenes and changes are reflected to the “big scene”. One of the

This essay will critically examine on how the female figure is represented throughout a very “selective” media outlet (the film industry), and how society is depicted in the film medium. The chosen media text for analysis is The Hunger Games, a theatrical adaptation of the novel written by Suzanne Collins and directed by Gary Ross. The film is centred on Katniss Everdeen - a teenage girl who volunteers on behalf of her sister, to fight in the annual Hunger Games- and the male District 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark, with whom she shares quite an intense past. Both characters embark on a journey that will test their physical and emotional boundaries, while being hunted by the other 22 competitors who all fight for the same objective: survival.

In his article about how political films have the power to change minds about the government, John Guida discusses Dr. Pautz’s idea that “movies can be a great mechanism for conversation and reflection.” Whereas we as a society might find it hard to confront issues, movies such as Get Out allow for a broader conversation about racism, Moonlight masculinity, Wonder Woman female empowerment, and so forth. But without showing grounding themselves in reality, these movies would not have the effect they did. For example, in Wonder Woman, Diana questions the frailty of women, wondering how they are supposed to fight in constricting dresses. By showing current, or at least World War II current, views of women, the film is able to explore the ways in which women do not need to behave the way they have always been taught to. Furthermore, by making characters relatable, them pushing the boundaries of society is seen as more acceptable, and therefore people are more likely to follow suit. Ergo, it is even more important that filmmakers consider the stories they decide to showcase to see if the change would be a beneficial

Films have the power that moves far beyond pure entertainment. In particular, they can sway our collective imagination and influence our perceptions on crucial issues related to race, class, gender, etc., but the extent to which they reflect real-world situations is bleak, particularly in regards to women. The female characters in films ‘reflect and perpetuate the status and options of women in today 's society ' and play an active part in creating female role models (Kord,

Throughout the years femininity in Hollywood cinema has changed quite drastically. The industry has gone through several phases that changed how femininity was viewed. This paper will address the postfeminist phase in Hollywood, while focusing on the film Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001). It will show how postfeminism is viewed in cinema as well as the characteristics that make a film considered to be postfeminist. Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001) showcases all the characteristics needed in a postfeminist film which makes the film a great representative of postfeminist attitudes in media.

In most parts of the world, females have always been the victim of oppressive patriarchy and male chauvinism since ages. This problem has been represented by many people through various forms of creations be it art, literature or films. Films are the most popular visual mediums of entertainment through which a large segment of people can be approached. Like literature, a film is also a work of art which mirrors the society, it also depicts the reality of the society though it has some fictionality in it. Being a visual medium of presentation, a film creates an instant, direct and more convincing impression on its audience fulfilling its dual purpose of entertaining as well as sensitizing the audience. A lot of movies based on social issues are now being made to create awareness among people about the issues besides entertaining the audience, which is perhaps the foremost purpose behind the making

Laura Mulvey’s article Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema was published in 1975, has set out the concept of visual pleasure and explains it under a system looks in cinema. Her theory points out that men looked at women, men are the subjects of women, and to look at the object position; (women) accept their role of being looked at and creating visual pleasures for men as well as in the social reality. Her approaching is to use the same “political weapon” (“psychoanalytic theory”) that “the unconscious of patriarchal society has structured film form” (the way men used to oppress women) (Mulvey 483), with the hope to leave “the past behind without rejecting it” (Mulvey 485).