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Women in Hollywood

‘Research funded by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, found that out of 112 films produced in 2007 only 3 were directed by women.’(Feltey and Sutherland, 2017) In a time where women and minority groups are taking a stand and fighting for equal rights and opportunities the lack of diversity in Hollywood has never been more apparent; ‘a constant in Hollywood films is the absence or marginality of women of color, described by bell hooks as ‘cinematic racism … the violent erasure of black womanhood’ When Black women are present in film, their roles bear little resemblance to the real lives of Black women.’(Feltey and Sutherland, 2017). Up until recently female roles in the majority of films and television shows were never at the forefront of the story and mostly portrayed stereotypical traits such as being unintelligent, reliant upon the male lead, unambitious or man-obsessed; ‘women’s intellect is rarely the center point of television or film narratives, and when it is, t...
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Masculinity and the Media

Masculinity is a cultural concept that does not have one clear cut definition. However in todays society being ‘masculine’ implies that, as a man, you have to be emotionless and stoic; ‘from childhood, many male children are socialized to avoid expressing vulnerable emotions and come to expect negative reactions from others following emotional displays. Thus, boys and men may come to associate their masculine identity with extreme stoicism, such that experiences of strong emotions may cause men to feel intense shame’ (Jakupcak, Tull and Roemer, 2005). The idea of masculinity and what it means to be a man has been increasingly discussed within the media; ‘masculinity and the media, which first came into focus in the 1970s and gained increased scholarly attention in the late 1980s, has continued to generate work that theorizes, interprets, and evaluates masculinity with/in the media’ (Hanke, 1998). However within this debate there are always controversy surrounding masculinity and w...
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Feminism in 2018

Although feminism is a concept that has been around since the 17th century and was concerned with basic equality issues such as voting, economic and legal rights for women it has now expanded into a movement which encompasses all forms of activism concerning women and equality. Many have dubbed 2018 as ‘The Year of Feminism’. However with increased media coverage surrounding feminism, are we now loosing what it means to actually be a feminist?  It can be argued that increased awareness within popular culture of such important causes such as wage equality can only be a positive; ‘In the last half century, the movement for gender equality has faced setbacks in accomplishing its ultimate goal’ (Callahan, 2018). By mainstreaming the topic it should mean that the conversation is happening and as such change will happen, however the word 'feminism' is rarely associated with the causes that it represents, within the media. 'In the articles she studied, discussions of feminism...
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Gender Stereotypes In Legally Blonde

From looking at a variety of media it is clear to see that they try to pigeon-hole women to specific career fields and this can have a detrimental effect upon those women and young girls who are consuming the media; ‘negative portrayals of professional women can weaken women’s career aspirations’ (Ezzedeen, 2015).  When looking at the roles of gender within the media, and more specifically films, the first one that came to my mind was the  Legally Blonde franchise. The basic plot of the first movie is about Elle Woods, a stereotypical blonde, materialistic, sorority girl majoring in Fashion Merchandising, she is the object of what Lauar Mulvey (2004) would classify as the ‘male gaze’.  After her boyfriend, Warner breaks up with her to find someone more “serious”, Elle decides to show Warner that she can be serious by getting into Harvard Law School and surprising him there. Upon arrival she sees that he has already moved on with another girl and so the rest of the fi...
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LGBT Movement within China

This week’s workshops on the LGBT movement in China gave me a real insight into the struggles that the LGBT community there faces, something that I hadn’t thought about much before. Although many topics surrounding the challenges, of being queer within the Chinese community, were broached I was most intrigued by the cultural implications that being queer within China has on the family members. Many don't ‘understand’ what it is to be LGBT and think of it more as a life choice rather than something that they cannot control; ‘this decentred identity is also often interpreted as a desire to abandon authentic & traditions for the lure of capitalism or modernity’ (Ho, 2010) . So what does it mean to be a part of the community in China? This was briefly touched upon in the panel session whereby I discovered that many of the LGBT community are forced into straight marriages in order to escape any ‘shame’ that comes not only with being queer but also through being unwed in general; ‘s...
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