Literary Analysis: The Objectification of Women in Film

Literary Analysis: The Objectification of Women in Film

In 2010, and even before that, television was reported to be the most influential medium. The staff writers at tvnewscheck.com, report that, “Television reaches nearly 90% of adults 18-plus every day, and more than 80% of every age, income and education break included in the study.” After reviewing this study, it is evident that the social construction of image and values are more strongly influenced than ever by the medium of television.

In 1973, Marge Piercy released a poem named “Barbie Doll.” This poem, “…implicitly criticizes the ways in which women are socialized into stereotypical feminine behavior” (http://www.enotes.com/barbie-doll). This poem symbolizes the direct effect that the media has had on women in society, by minimizing their form to an object, a ‘Barbie’ doll. The objectification of women since the inception of filmmaking will be apparent when exploring the roles women had in this most influential medium.

Dr. Harry M. Benshoff and Dr. Sean Griffin, both acquiring PhD’s at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television, approach the subject of gender and American film with extensive research and accuracy in their second edition book, “America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies.” Part IV: Gender and American Film, of their book, incorporates theories and citations from many well known experts in the field of gender and race, feminism, history of women in film, etc. The foundation to begin to understand how women have become objectified in film is broken up into sections: Women in Classical Hollywood Filmmaking, Exploring the Visual Parameters of Women in Film, and Gender in American Film Since the 1960’s.

Further Readings:

Staff. (5/20/10). TVB: TV Remains Most Influential Medium. Knowledge Networks survey commissioned by the Television Bureau of Advertising. U.S. ed. Retrieved from http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/2010/05/25/42502/tvb-tv-remains-most-influential-medium

Galens, D. (2012). Barbie Doll: Introduction. Poetry for Students, ©2012 Gale Cengage. U.S. ed. Retrieved from http://www.enotes.com/barbie-doll

Harry M. Benshoff and Sean Griffin, from “Gender and American Film” in America on Film: Representing race, class, gender, and sexuality at the movies, second edition. Blackwell Publishing, 2009.

Blog5

The United States is one of the most progressive nations in the world when discussing technology, entrepreneurship, and equal rights, “In some countries, one’s gender can determine whether or not they can go out at night, do chores, go to work, or any other daily activity” (The A-Blast). In America, we do not treat women as cruelly and unfairly as a majority of other countries do, but in reality there is no difference between small or large scale discrimination, in the end they are both discriminate.

The old cliché ‘knowledge is power’ is true in the sense that the more you know the more the advantage you have when making educated decisions, but just how educated are men and women? What is the difference in numbers? “A study conducted by the Families and Work Institute found that in 1970-71, 94 percent of men earned a professional degree, while only 6 percent of women did. In 2004-2005, 50 percent of both women did” (The A-Blast). The difference six percent to 50 percent is staggering, and evidence that progress is rapidly arriving for women’s education, but the pay-scales between men and women, with the same professional degree, still has some room to grow. 

This article shows the unfair to fair balance in education statistics from 1970 to the present and brings to light men’s increased role around the house, because of a shift in having two incomes, in modern society, versus only one income in early generations. Progress is limited, but nonetheless, is still progress.

 

Works Cited:

The A-Blast. “Gender roles around the world.” http://www.thea-blast.ort/. 20 Jan.2011. Retrieved on . 9 Feb. 2012 from, http://www.thea-blast.org/international/2011/01/gender-roles-around-the-world/. 

 

Blog4

The modernization of our current luxurious, well lit, refrigerated, well stocked grocery store world creates a physical and mental evolution that will take some getting used to in the years to come. I have recently reviewed a few written works and one documentary film, all of which discuss media and their negative impacts on society. Collectively, the works discussed below contribute to the overall thesis that we the people, in order to stop degrading and de-evolving, we must stop telling ourselves lies. We don’t have to be perfect to be happy; if that was the case no one would be happy, because I’m a firm believer that no human is perfect. 

Desensitization theory: “The Creeping Cycle of Desensitization Theory”

This theory states that the media has increasingly been deregulated and is showing more violence, sex, and allowing more vulgar four letter words than ever before. Here is an excerpt, “…as long as there is no strong and effective control over content by government or some other agency or group, the trend toward greater transgressions of conservative norms will continue in the mass media as the years ahead unfold.” Deregulation is the direct result of advertisers creating a monopoly on what is sold and watched on television. Excitement, sex, and passion in the form of vulgarity sells and that’s why it is so easy to be successful in the media world, because the majority of the uneducated population that comprises the majority of viewers of media are predictable. 

Gender Roles: “Miss Representation”

This documentary film was very informative, uplifting in some ways, yet disappointing in others. This film was Informative and thought provoking discussing the roles women had in early and modern film. The evolution of the movie industry’s bipolar switch from using full figured retrospective women like Marilyn Monroe versus the empty figured modern women like Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchey, etc., is upsetting and unhealthy. I was uplifted to notice that the majority of the names in the credits included mostly women. Finally, I was disappointed to hear the staggering figures of how many women are in our government in the United States versus the rest of the world. 

Does Media Create a Bad Body Image: From Body Panic: Gender, Health, and Selling of Fitness (2009),“What Kinds of Subjects and Objects? Gender, Consumer Culture, and Convergence” and from the  Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology (2009), “Everybody Knows That Mass Media Are/ Are Not (pick one) a Cause of Eating Disorders: A critical Review of Evidence for a Causal Link Between Media, Negative Body Image, and Disordered Eating in Females”

In the book Body Panic, I found the convergence of “grooming products offered” to be particularly interesting, because I recall learning many years ago that it was men whom first carried purses and wore make-up. Are the fashions and trends reversing roles in the modern era, where men take from the fashion and grooming book of women? In the journal literature, “Evidence from a very small number of longitudinal studies indicates that for children and very young adolescents, extent of media exposure does appear to predict increases in negative body image and disordered eating.” It is Tiggermann’s suggestion, from Australia, that the importance/ intensity being placed on the image of the perfect body, is the main factor causing mental and physical disorders in adolescents and children.

I have been aspiring to be an actor for quite some time and have noticed, while on set, it seems the most important feature that the female lead possesses is beauty, rather than good acting. But the blame all rolls downhill to the casting director from the higher ups controlling the entire budget; money is power. In conclusion, all the works I have reviewed and even my reality point the finger at the media, our current inlet and outlet for information, when I feel we should look inward and start taking more responsibility for what we input and output. 

 

Works Cited:

• DeFleur, Melvin L. Mass communication theories: Explaining origins, processes, and effects. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2009.

 

• Miss Representation. Dir. Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Perf. Margaret Cho, Cory Booker, Katie Couric, Geena Davis, Condoleezza Rice, Rachel Maddow. Girls’ Club Entertainment, 2011. Film.

 

• Shari L. Dworkin and Faye Linda Wachs, from “What Kinds of Subjects and Objects? Gender, Consumer Culture, and Convergence,” in Body Panic Gender, Health, and the Selling of Fitness. New York University, 2009.

 

• Michael P. Levine and Sarah K. Murnen, From “ Everybody Knows That Mass Media Are/ Are Not [pick one] a Cause of Eating Disorders: A Critical Review of Evidence for a Causal Link Between Media,l Negative Body Image, and Disordered Eating in Females,” Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 2009.

 

Media Article

Hello World