Gender Stereotypes in Films Essay
Erwin Goffman (1959) in “The Presentation of Self, ” asserts that “when a person plays a part he implicitly requests his observers for taking seriously the impression that is certainly fostered prior to him. ” That is, individuals tend to behave according to the approved norms and behaviors with the culture or society they are a part of, and in turn reinforce and reproduce these kinds of set of best practice rules and habit by acting according to them. Accordingly, each individual truly “believe the fact that character she or he sees in him/herself or in another person actually have got the characteristics that he or she seems to posses” (Goffman 1959) which is how specific and collective identities are formed.
Likewise, symbolic interactionism, espoused by simply Herbert Blumer(1969), asserts that “human creatures act toward things on such basis as the meanings they assign, to those points, ” where “the which means of such things is derived from, or perhaps arises out of, the social connection that one has with other folks and the culture. ” Thus, society has the capacity to create, put in force, and strengthen gender segregation through the building of a pair of standards define what beauty or masculinity is within a specific culture which can be propagated and learned through social interaction of individuals. Regrettably, the norms and rules for accepted behavior are mediated upon not only by individual plus the society he or she is a part of, yet also by simply issues of power and control over the instruments of cultural creation and duplication such as the advertising.
The mass media as a powerful vehicle of prevailing thinking and norms therefore takes on a tremendous role not only in the propagation valuable systems nevertheless also in the creation and maintenance of oppressive and disempowering standards. A great examination of sexuality stereotyping inside the mass media, specifically in film, would expose that the media perpetuates and continues to strengthen sexist beliefs on men and women’s experiences of romantic love and sexual interest. This is displayed in the characterization of women in music videos, in which the identities of girls are described either as damsels in distress or sex kittens—in both ways pining and waiting for the male’s sexual interest.
Some tunes even bring outright masochistic tendencies, including Shaggy’s “Hey, Sexy Lady” video which will portray girls as worth, or even requesting, undue intimate attention or perhaps violence from your male by simply objectifying their bodies intended for men’s lovemaking purposes. Actually in songs that allegedly carry strengthening messages for females, the female continues to be rendered be subject to the loneliness and despair of looking for Mr. Right despite the illusion of giving the smoothness the freedom to decide on her partner, as illustrated in Leann Rime’s video “Something’s Have to Give” or perhaps “Can’t Combat the Moonlight. ” In the latter online video, women’s hapiness is proved to be largely reliant not in herself but on the interest of the man population.
However, men remain depicted inside the media because the more robust sex, often shown because the robusto and aggressive sexual animal, the predator on the prowl intended for his prey in contrast to the greater subdued going out with expectations of women. This is shown in Shaggy’s video, “It Wasn’t Me” which display graphic intimate scenes with the male figure cheating in the girlfriend, which in turn insinuates that infidelity is alright for men if they will don’t get caught and perpetuates the notion that men are produced macho by their promiscuity. Thus, it comes without surprise that despite the surge of feminist and sexuality theory, gender stereotyping remains pervasive as ever.
This is because of in part that stereotypical male or female roles are getting to be deeply inbedded within and a large degree, have been set up as a usual, in today’s modern culture and in portion to the continuous enforcement and reinforcement of such stereotypes by mass media, which in turn clearly confirm Goffman’s theory on identification formation and Blumer’s theory of how individuals only understand things and actions from your perpective in the culture they may be in. While Goffman observes, individuals are formed not only by impressions that they create individuals but likewise by the opinions and symbolism that other folks create as well as prescribe for these people.
Through the images of women portrayed by the multimedia, young girls happen to be led to think that they should learn to present themselves in exactly the same way as the socially contructed image of women: beautifully made-up, submissive, and sometimes desperate for the interest of males. On the other hand, the media likewise mirrors as well as prescribes the ideas and concepts of what should certainly constitute maleness: dominance, electrical power, virility, and aggressive sexual interest. Music Online video Links: Rimes, Leann. “Can’t Fight the Moonlight. ” http://www. vimeo. com/watch? v=YO_7XLdtaI8 Rimes, Leann. “Something’s Gotta Give. ” http://www. vimeo. com/watch? v=_tgf7MpQ0c4 Shaggy. “It Wasn’t Me. ” http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=cQ4axo9rmJY Shaggy. “Sexy Girl. ” http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=PG2h0NgJN9s&feature=related
