Gender stereotypes and narratives have been around for as long as anyone can remember. These stereotypes and narratives are in just about every society throughout our world. Gender dynamics have been popular in film production, where some speak about issues that seem very contentious including stereotyping and gender roles. Some of the writers deliver constraints in their gender narratives, which appear to portray troubles such as the insignificance of women or men’s manliness, which would possibly make the male gender seem more predominant to the female gender.
Some of the narratives talked about in my essay include Photoshopping Real Women Into Cover Models, Geena Davis & Media’s Portrayal of Women, The Mask You Live In, and the Brave New Voices Grand Slam Finals where four young females destroy the female stereotype. These videos aim to illustrate and discuss the oppression of women
...in most cultures as both men and women have the ability to achieve a tremendous amount throughout society.
Individuals shouldn't be judged solely on their gender. They should be judged based on their character, skills, perspectives, and abilities. Many countries still view women as lesser individuals. This essay focuses on the four videos provided and obstacles related to gender that restrict women's perceptions and opinions in various cultures.
The first video focuses on four women and their journey on getting a cover model makeover. BuzzFeed wanted these women to participate in an experiment (upworthy, 2014). BuzzFeed took four average women and gave them a professional makeover. Once these women received their makeover, they conducted a professional photoshoot. After the photoshoot, the photos of each woman were photoshopped. The photoshopped photos took all their imperfections away and
changed everything that made these women who they are. Each woman had almost the same reaction after seeing their photos.
One of the females stated she always wanted to see herself but after seeing the photos she questioned why she wanted to look that way (upworthy, 2014). None of these women seemed to be happy with the way they looked. These women concluded that they were happy with the way they looked, and they didn’t need to change themselves to look or feel beautiful. This video shows us that the world we live in is not perfect. What we see in magazines is not 100% reality and is not obtainable.
No one is perfect. We live in a world where most think we must look a certain way. If we’re comfortable with the way, we look and who we are it shouldn’t matter what other people think. You must love yourself. If you don’t love yourself the way you are it will be hard for others to love you. Just remember we are who we are, and we must be comfortable with who we are and be the best person we can be.
In the next video, Geena Davis brings to light that there are fewer female characters in children’s programming and movies. Geena Davis conducted studies and collected data on how many females are in movies. She was shocked after conducting her studies. She found out that 17% of crowds sense are female and leading roles in family films males outnumber females three to one (Geena Davis, 2018). This has been this way for almost 75 years.
That is a long time to see very little change in
the film industry. There has been very little change even though the media industry states changes were being made. They need to open their eyes and realize there hasn’t been much change. From this video, we realize how few females there are in leading roles not only in the movies but in the real world. During this video, there is an interview with Debbie Sterling who is an engineer and CEO. She started a toy company to interest girls in engineering.
Males make up 89% of the engineering world making it a man’s world. Yet 50% of our U.S. population is made up of females (Debbie Sterling, 2018). Geena Davis brings up a good point. That if children don’t see females in leading roles like CEO’s, doctors, or politicians they won’t think of becoming one of these leaders. We must open the doors for our young children. Little by little things are changing. We don’t want our girls to think they can’t do something that a male is doing. We need to support our young children in what they want to do when they get older.
If they accomplish their goals and want to be the best. They can be next President, CEO, or high ranking official. There has never been a female President. Many individuals feel that a woman is unable to do the job. If we never elect a female President, we will never know. There are many capable women out there that can do this job and probably do it better. Until we step away from stereotyping women will still be inferior.
In “The Mask We Live In” video we are shown there are even
stereotypical struggles amongst our young me. During the video, these young me try to be themselves and stay true to themselves but have a problem doing that. It is a struggle because of all the masculinity stereotypes. They are viewed as less of a man if they show feelings or emotions.
Most males are brought up and told to suck it up and be a man. These are the three most destructive words that every man receives when he is a boy when he is told to be a man (Joe Ehrmann, 2013). By telling males to suck it up and be a man they feel this is the case all the time. By doing this they build up walls and struggle with who they are and how to act.
Today this is how boys are raised and taught how to act. Boys are more likely to act out and more likely to become aggressive. Most people miss this as depression or see them as a bad kid (Dr. William Pollack, 2013). This is all due to the masculinity stereotypes. With having these struggles or depression males are unlikely to seek professional help. Boys should feel they can open up about what they are feeling and not keep things bottled up inside. No one should feel alone and struggle with who they are. No one should be pressured acting a certain way either.
This can lead to suicidal ideations, suicide, and possibly homicide because they are struggling with their identity. Most males feel they must prove all the time that they are a man and that they are not weak. We need to get away from these stereotypes.
We need to show our young men it is okay to be who you and not have to prove yourself to anyone. We need to make a change the way society sees our males. They have feelings and emotion just like anyone in this world.
The last video brings us to four young women who destroy female stereotypes. These young women are very talented. This video makes any woman strong and independent. They talk about Halloween costumes from when they were little and what they are as adults. Today it is hard to find a costume not geared towards being sexy. This is what is wrong with our society and the stereotypes out there. There is more to women then dressing up as a princess or a sexy nurse. One of the young females said it best that the boogieman is a lot less frightening than a strong woman (Asha Gardner, 2013).
Some people fear a strong and independent woman. No matter what we want to be and no matter how we want to dress it is our decision and our choice. Society has stereotyped women as stay at home wives and taking care of the household. While the male works and brings home the money. This is not the case anymore. Women are not staying home they have careers. Most of the time women are talked about for the clothes that they wear. When women wear certain outfits, certain labels are given to them.
The young ladies in this video would rather be called a monster if this is what being a woman means (Upworthy, 2013). To them being called a monster is better than have to
worry about any type of judgment. This should be a model for every woman just call me a monster if you have nothing but judgment toward me. We need to move forward as a society and break these stereotype barriers. We all have to be willing to make these changes.
In conclusion, the stereotyping of both men and women have been around for many years. It is hard to change the minds of many people who have been taught this for so long. We as women have fought for equal rights. We are overcoming the stereotypes and showing society we can have a career and raise a family. We continue to fight for more equal rights and seen as equals. We to show our young men that it is okay to have feelings and emotions.
We should never tell them to get over something because they are a man. Sometimes we are so focused on the stereotypes and discrimination against women we often forget men go through some struggles as well. We need to come together and one and start breaking down these barriers. This will not happen overnight or in a few days. It will probably take years. As long as we are all open to change, we can make change happen.
