Sasha Nathan, Gender, Sexuality and Media Module

‘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...

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...