Irish Feminist Network
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Work
    • The Coordinators
  • Publications
  • News & Events
  • Articles
  • Take Action
  • Contact Us
    • Irish Organisations

Enough gender-stereotyping – We get the message

6/4/2012

10 Comments

 
Picture
We owe it to both young women and men to change media messages which repeatedly reinforce harmful norms of masculinity and femininity. By Clara Fischer.

With the drama of the Oscars over for another year, it might be time for reflection on the messages the film industry, and particularly Hollywood, is conveying on a near-global scale. Messages in film? But surely the entertainment industry is simply about that: entertainment? Not so: research shows that what might seem like light-hearted comedy or action-packed drama, is in fact increasingly gendered – that is, it portrays women and men in pointedly stereotypical ways. Worryingly, this phenomenon is having extremely negative effects on women and girls. A recent report by the American Psychological Association cited impaired cognitive ability, depression, low self-esteem and eating disorders as consequences of the sexualisation of women and ever-younger girls through the media.

While films constitute only one particular aspect of the onslaught of objectifying and sexualised images within the larger 24 hour media cycle, they give us a particular insight into the cartoonish nature women are assumed to hold, but also to accept as audience members. Women usually star as the love interest, the princess to be rescued, or as the general supporter of the male protagonist, lurking somewhere in the background as a Side-Show Berta. Alternatively, as we know from such movies as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, women are hyper-sexualised and dangerously assertive. This latter variation on the theme should not be confused with a kind of liberated and independent agency, but rather constitutes another example of the reductive and objectifying view described in the literature as the ‘male gaze.’ Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, as they say, but who is the beholder?Certainly the filmmakers, producers, and studio bosses are overwhelmingly male, and overwhelmingly white and upper/middle class. Is it any wonder, then, that their experiences and stories are told, while women’s fall to the wayside? Even when women’s stories are told, though, they usually come in chick-flick form, which means they revolve around getting, keeping, or regaining a man – hardly a faithful depiction of the very complex lives we lead, yes, as partners, as mothers, as lovers, but also as workers, as leaders, as teachers, as writers, as politicians, and the myriad of other roles we may adopt in our daily lives.

A simple way of highlighting the lack of meaningful portrayal of women in movies is the Bechdel test, developed by Alison Bechdel in her comic strip, The Rule. According to the test, a film has to fulfil three criteria to pass: 1) the film has to have at least two women in it 2) these two women have to talk to each other 3) they have to talk to each other about something other than a man. This minimum of women’s relatively substantive inclusion in film is rarely achieved. Indeed, the majority of our most cherished movies fail to fulfil the principles of the Bechdel test. That is not to say that these movies can’t be good or inspiring pieces of cinema, but rather that the clear absence of women in film is a systemic problem. It is the sheer scale of women’s omission from movies, which makes the test so powerful and damning.

As noted, on those rare occasions where women do star in more sustained roles, perhaps even as the protagonist, those roles are increasingly stereotyped. Not only is this trend particularly damaging for younger female viewers, who adopt self-objectifying attitudes and behaviours, but it feeds into a larger raunch culture which ultimately disempowers women by promoting women’s sexual availability or physical appearance as the sole measure of our worth. The financial return for such a culture is of course handsome: the peddlers of beauty and slimming products, of unnecessary surgical procedures, and of dietary programmes and fads are indeed rewarded by the heightened anxiety women feel about their bodies, and ultimately, themselves.

And yet, there appears to be a weakness in this profit-driven model of women’s objectification: women might actually opt out. In a recent interview, Meryl Streep made this point by noting that the clichéd depictions of women in film might actually drive women away, thus leaving the profiteers minus a fairly large demographic. Films such as MissRepresentation, which highlight the complex and often negative role the media plays with regard to women’s portrayal, have also met with a level of enthusiasm which clearly indicates a groundswell against the stereotyped images women are bombarded with on a continuous basis. It seems that the mainstream movie industry has confused the beholders of beauty, their female viewers, with the reductive cartoon characters they assume them to be, instead of recognising them as the critical, thinking human beings they really are.

While opting out and critically engaging with the media is a viable option for media-literate adult audiences, it is less so for those who are still developing a sense of themselves. We owe it to these young women and men – for gender-stereotyping similarly skews boys’ attitudes and identities – to change the media messages, which repeatedly reinforce harmful norms of masculinity and femininity. One way of doing this is by simply taking our purchasing power elsewhere, by withdrawing economic support from the culture of objectification. If we believe Simone de Beauvoir’s famous dictum that “one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman”, we seriously have to question what kind of women, and men, our society is fostering.

Dr. Clara Fischer 
IFN Co-ordinator

Cross-posted from Politico.ie, THURSDAY, 05 APRIL 2012 14:01 CLARA FISCHER
10 Comments
http://www.diabloautobot.com link
3/9/2014 08:05:28 pm

This is an excellent post I seen thanks to share it. It is really what I wanted to see hope in future you will continue for sharing such a excellent post.

Reply
http://www.anglo-auto-leasing.org link
11/9/2014 04:44:17 pm

Excellent and decent post. I found this much informative, as to what I was exactly searching for.The Article is quite impressive and thoughts been put up has clearly got something to state.

Reply
http://www.myhouseforkids.com link
23/9/2014 04:33:57 pm

This is an excellent post I seen thanks to share it. It is really what I wanted to see hope in future you will continue for sharing such a excellent post.

Reply
http://www.gatewaycanyonairtour.com link
10/10/2014 04:30:27 pm

Thanks for the information! Now I know what i will do the next time i travel. Looking forward to go to Thailand later this year! Thanks for some pointers!

Reply
http://www.perfectwristwatch.com link
11/11/2014 03:09:43 pm

I like this post. It's quite unusual and innovative. Writer might be really gorgeous. Someone could easily claim that he is a genius. 

Reply
wirelesshealth2013 link
19/3/2015 04:13:26 pm

I am able to view that you just are placing the a Aaron C. Meyer lot of initiatives in your blog site. Hold posting the nice function. Several definitely helpful information in there. Book-marked. Wonderful to determine your web site. Cheers

Reply
icelandautorental link
7/4/2015 02:31:36 pm

Wow what a Great Information about World Day its very nice informative post. thanks for the post.

Reply
icelandautorental link
7/4/2015 02:37:20 pm

This is an excellent post I seen thanks to share it. It is really what I wanted to see hope in future you will continue for sharing such a excellent post.

Reply
wafiya link
8/9/2020 05:58:17 am

http://lucknow.wafiya.in
http://chandigarh.wafiya.in
http://jaipur.wafiya.in
http://vadodara.wafiya.in
http://ahmedabad.wafiya.in

Reply
aa
5/10/2020 10:56:26 pm

http://want2relax.biz
http://www.lipkiss.in/agra-escorts-uttar-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/ahmedabad-escorts.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/airhostess-escorts-mumbai.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/ambedkar-nagar-escorts-uttar-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/amritsar-escorts-punjab.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/andheri-escorts-mumbai.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/bandra-escorts-mumbai.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/bangalore-escorts-karnataka.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/bareilly-escorts-uttar-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/bhuj-escorts-gujarat.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/call-girls-in-mumbai.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/belapur-escorts-maharashtra.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/bhavnagar-escorts-gujarat.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/bhopal-escorts-madhya-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/chandigarh-escorts-punjab.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/chennai-escorts-tamilnadu.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/colaba-escorts-mumbai.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/escorts-in-india.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/escorts-servic-in-mumbai.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/faizabad-escorts-uttar-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/foreigner-escorts-in-mumbai.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/gandhi-nagar-escorts-gujarat.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/gautam-buddha-nagar-escorts-uttar-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/gaya-escorts-bihar.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/ghaziabad-escorts-uttar-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/goa-escorts-goa.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/gorakhpur-escorts-uttar-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/gwalior-escorts-madhya-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/haridwar-escorts-uttarakhand.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/hyderabad-escorts-andhra-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/indian-escorts.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/indore-escorts-madhya-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/jaipur-escorts-rajsthan.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/jalandhar-escorts-punjab.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/juhu-escorts-mumbai.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/kanpur-escorts-uttar-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/karjat-escorts-maharashtra.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/kerala-escorts-kerala.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/khajuraho-escorts-madhya-pradesh1.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/khar-escorts-mumbai.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/kolkata-escorts-west-bengal.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/lucknow-escorts-uttar-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/ludhiana-escorts-punjab.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/manali-escorts-himachal-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/mathura-escorts-uttar-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/meerut-escorts-uttar-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/mohali-escorts-punjab.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/moradabad-escorts-uttar-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/mumbai call girls.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/mumbai escorts service.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/mumbai-aiport-escorts.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/mussoorie-escorts-uttarakhand.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/muzaffarnagar-escorts-uttar-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/nainital-escorts-uttarakhand.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/noida-escorts-uttar-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/panvel-escorts-maharashtra.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/pathankot-escorts-punjab.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/patna-escorts-bihar.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/pune-escorts-maharashtra.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/rajkot-escorts-gujarat.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/ranikhet-escorts-uttarakhand.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/rishikesh-escorts-uttarakhand.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/russian-escorts-in-mumbai.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/saharanpur-escorts-uttar-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/sakinaka-escorts-mumbai.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/shimla-escorts-himachal-pradesh.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/surat-escorts-gujarat.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/thane-escorts-mumbai.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/thiruvananthapuram-escorts-kerala html
http://www.lipkiss.in/vadodara-escorts-gujarat.html
http://www.lipkiss.in/vashi-escorts-mumbai.html


http://zanu.in/about.html
http://zanu.in/contact.html
http://zanu.in/gallery.html
http://zanu.in/ahmedabad-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/altamount-road-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/andheri-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/antop-hill-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/ballard-estate-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/bandra-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/belapur-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/bkc-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/borivali-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/breach-candy-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/chembur-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/churchgate-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/colaba-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/cuffe-parade-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/cumbala-hill-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/currey-road-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/dadar-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/fort-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/four-bunglows-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/ghansoli-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/goregaon-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/jogeshwari-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/juhu-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/kalamboli-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/kamothe-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/kandivali-west-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/kanjurmarg-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/khar-escorts.html
http://zanu.in/kharghar-escorts.html
http

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    We welcome submissions to the blog, subject to editorial review, please contact us if you're interested. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IFN. 

    Categories

    All
    2in2u
    50:50
    Abc
    Abortion
    Abuse
    Action On X
    Advertising
    Austerity
    Backlash
    Bechdel Test
    Body Image
    Bookclub
    Book Club
    Book Review
    Broadcasting Authority Of Ireland
    Budget 2012
    Burlesque
    Caitlin Moran
    Clara Fischer
    Colette Fahy
    Comreg
    Conference
    Cosmetic Surgery
    Cuts
    Dating Violence
    Decision-making
    Democracy
    Diane Kelly
    Domestic Abuse
    Domestic Violence
    Dunnes Stores
    Edinburgh Fringe Festival
    Education
    Emma Regan
    Empowerment
    Equality Audit
    Eu Commission
    Events
    Female Sexual Experience
    Female Sexuality
    Feminism
    Feminism And Gendered Economic Inequality
    Feminism And The University
    Feminism And Young People
    Feminist Activism
    Feminist Books
    F Word
    F-word
    Gaa
    Gender Budgeting
    Gender Equality
    Gender Quotas
    Gender Stereotyping
    Gender-stereotyping
    Ger Walsh
    Government
    GRL
    Guest Blog Post
    Guest Post
    How To Be A Woman
    Hunky Dorys
    Ici
    Ifn
    #IFN2012
    Ifn Conference
    Ifn Events
    Immigrant Council Of Ireland
    Independentwoman.ie
    Ireland
    Irish Examinar
    Irish Feminist Movements
    Irish Feminist Network
    Irish Independent
    Irish Society
    Irish Times
    Iwd
    Jeanette Winterson
    Letters To The Editor
    Lgbt
    Liberation
    Literature
    Marketing
    Maternity Leave
    Media
    Media Images
    Menstruation
    Michelle Mulherin
    Mick Wallace
    Missrepresentation
    Miss Representation
    Music
    Naomi Elster
    News Media
    Nwci
    Objectification
    Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit
    Over Sexualisation
    Padded Bras
    Parental Leave
    Paternity Leave
    Poetry
    Politics
    Posters
    Pre-teens
    Priests For Life
    Privilege Checking
    Pro Choice
    Pro-choice
    Prostitution
    Queer
    Quotas
    Recession
    Reform
    Reproductive Rights
    Ruth Farnan
    Rydyard Kipling
    Science
    Sex
    Sex Education
    Sexism
    Sexism In The Media
    Sexuality
    Sexual Violence
    Silent Majority
    Sisters
    Spunout.ie
    Stripping
    Submissions
    Syria
    Transgender
    Trump
    Turn Off The Red Light
    Tv3
    Twilight
    Under Representation
    United Nations
    Vincent Browne
    Violence
    Weight
    Wexford
    Whai
    Women
    Women Hurt
    Women In Science
    Women In Sport
    Women In Syria
    Women's Aid
    Women’s History Association Of Ireland
    Workshop
    X Case

    Archives

    July 2017
    November 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    May 2011

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Work
    • The Coordinators
  • Publications
  • News & Events
  • Articles
  • Take Action
  • Contact Us
    • Irish Organisations