A critique of how women are represented in media
Thriving in the early C17, feminist movies and theory condemnation, sought not only to understand sexism, but also female- hood to inspire a positive attitude towards women. The earlier films failed to portray women in the right way. The imagery, metaphors, and language did not portray the woman as capable, intelligent and doing meaningful work or making the right choices and positively contribution to society. Women on Screen create an opportune intervention into serious deliberation about the representation of feminist and feminine distinctiveness in current visual culture. Melanie waters put together research work to show how certain creation of feminism and femininity are prevalent in cinema and movies. She gives new insight into a diversity of past feminist media sensation. She demonstrates in her essay that from movies such as chick flicks to actuality shows, to modern, quality stage show, female issues have not been treated appropriately. The important question about the relation between feminism, femininity and visual traditions also comes out. The inherited negative portrayal of women on screen is discoursed by the second wave feminism. The question asked then, is the function of feminist hypothesis in investigating and molding representations of female distinctiveness in the 21st century (Gillis 67).
Feminism and popular way of life as Joanne Hollows and Rachel Moseley posits are hard to accept without addressing the issues of femininity. Despite the fact that, in the1960 and 1970, there is an active wave of feminism, many people only became aware about it because of these measures of representation of women in the media. However, this did not serve the whole purpose of feminism.
The subsequent wave’s main agenda was on representation in virtual movies, especially the “naive“ and “deceptive” pictures of women in popular publication, promotion, writing, television, and movies. This was so disgusting to a point that De Beauvoir in the second feminism saw gender inequality in the roles played by women in popular images. Mostly women acted the role of the witch, wicked step mother, or the simple the woman in the kitchen or housewife doing domestic chores. This was the common image in the fairytales movies to contemporary Hollywood pictures as well as in work of fiction such as that of D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf. A journalist Friedan’s concern is the dogmatic model of domesticated womanhood in most works of fiction due to the popularity of the conservative gender politics of the day.
This may have informed the writing of such magazines as the ladies home journal and the good house- keeping by Mccalls of the 1950s. Later, there was Kate Millets’s sexual politics whose inspiration is from the misguided proportions of the fiction works of Henry miller and Norman Maile. Later on, there was Germaine Greer’s “the female Eunuch” of 1970 that dismembered the second wave hence increased interest in the scrutiny of the ways in which the ‘genuine” or “trustworthy” woman hood was in accurate or distorted within the widespread philosophy. Simultaneously, he tried to support the agenda of the wave as a way in which the society sought to correct the professed representation prejudice and chauvinism.
Consequently, it is paramount that present-day intellectual recognize and cross-examine the tendency within some of the obtainable research that suggest the continuation of feminism away from the sphere of representation. In any case, as Hollows and Moseley put forward, such disparagement “presupposes that feminism or the feminist, can enlighten the society about fashionable culture, but does not scrutinize what in style culture can tell the humanity about feminism (Neumaier 78). Therefore, given the inextricability of femaleness and trendy culture, any one-sided interpretation of the kind that Hollows and Moseley illustrate are biased and deceptive. Whether it happens in the real world, psychologically, mentally or spiritually or on some other intensity, revolution of the popular culture allows female protagonists to bargain multifaceted desires and decline the obligatory nuptials plot. Many Hollywood pictures such as the voyager, the heiress, and the Flamingo road, to Carrie, the alien, the Brave one, and the slasher, Horror genre display the third wave. The later book boldly unsettles ordinary understanding of genre motion pictures, the female sexuality, and Freudian theory by making female representation extremely relevant.
In 1975, Bryan Forbes produced the Stepford wives movie, which sought to discourse problems faced by women born and raised during the housewife era. In the early seventies, second wave feminism started, and women became inquisitive of their responsibility in life. They wondered if their life will remain like a routine where they are to be homemakers. In the movie Stepford Wives, open-minded ladies who are aware of their sexuality and are more or less empowered just like their male counterparts are in constant conflict with females who are domestically harassed and sexually dominated by men.
The housewife character in the movie is depicted as a robotic creation of men’s wishes for a perfect woman. She was incapable of expressing herself since she is used to routine and commonplace sentiments. On the other hand, the enlightened woman is brave enough to express her feelings regardless of what people around her think. This dissimilarity is clearly drawn back to Freud and his ill-famed puberty elaborate; ‘‘females appear to be from an era with a foundation of ‘compassion’ as seen in their portrayal of personality in an approach that males do not’’ as stated by Melanie Waters’. This statement by Melanie is evident in the movie where some women are suppressed by their husbands.
In the movie, there is an embellishment of the relationship between men and women where men dominate women in such a way that they create women whose main duty is to tend to their every wish, which are sexually attractive, but are ignorant of their own rights. Although the second waves of feminism are intended to empower women, unwitting Stepford wives remain indifferent. They overdo and deride the life of females in the seventies. It is argued that, women are defined by what men wish for to satisfy their desires. In the movie, a male character fashions a robot into a perfect woman to meet his sexual desires. He even goes ahead to sell his idea to his fellow men in Stepford community. The man’s intention is to continue his domineering attitude towards the female even after she became empowered and prosperous.
In the long run, second wave’s feminism is meant to look into disputes, and the role played by sexuality in man-woman relationships. The issue of rape rises as a tool that men used to control women. In the movie Stepford Wives, men imposed their authority over women by creating a robot that resembled a new and developed portrayal of their wives. The robots intention is to be the ultimate imaginary woman the man wanted, a sexually attractive and submissive. According to the second wave feminism, the changing of roles for both men and women sought to bring into being a new Stepford.
The Mad Men movie creation is based on the sixties era, a time when women’s responsibility as females was to take care of domestic duties and their husbands. This philosophy paralyzed their ability to speak and express themselves because they were ignorant of their potential and equity to their male counterparts. In the movie Betty Draper, a female character marries one of the men who propagate this philosophy. She becomes a perfect wife, mother and homemaker; an ideal image of a perfect housewife in the sixties.
Nevertheless, the generation that Betty Draper finds herself makes her suffer. She is to be a good housewife and a mother even when it is against her wish. She claims that her mother wanted her to be attractive so she could get a man to marry. This goes to show that how women in the early sixties lived their lives were not entirely up to them. In the movie mad men, Betty and her children get involved in a minor accident and she fears her daughter would get scars or crippled, and no man would want her for a wife. This incident clearly shows women believe they are born to be married.
While analyzing femininity as presented in Mad Men, two women, Friedan and Brown differ on how the second wave feminism viewed the life of women. Whereas Betty Friedan played a key role in abolishing the flawless housewife idea that portrayed an ideal contemporary woman, Helen Brown through her book ‘sex and the single girl’ hopes to substitute Friedan’s idea with her own philosophy. She claims that women should accept their feminineness and be proud of it even as housewives (Friedan 87).
Helen Brown’s intention is to empower women and give them a voice of their own. She also seeks to enlighten them about their sexuality, and that they have control of it. In the movie, a woman by the name Joan Holloway who works at Sterling-cooper as a manager uses her sexuality to climb the career ladder but still commands respect from her colleagues. However, Miss Holloway’s thrive is short lived when she decides to get married to doctor Greg Harris, a well to do and good-looking young man who rapes her at their engagement party. Despite her education and enlightenment, she forgives her fiancée’s atrocity and marries him because she believes that men were created to be rough and belligerent compared to women. According to her, it is acceptable for a woman to be treated that way by her fiancée (Long 56).
Most people underrate the issue of feminism in Mad Men stating that it is not entirely outdated. Men still sit at the head of the table in most families while women maintain their role as homemakers and submissive wives. This also is evident in the corporate world where women do certain kinds of jobs while men do those they presume befit them. These occurrences tend to give men esteemed privileges as compared to women hence, modern day women like their 60s era counterparts still take suffer in society.
Modern day Women still take a significant share in childcare, housekeeping, looking after aged relations, and to top it on, they are to earn a salary. Whereas men benefit excessively, they do not consider themselves homemakers, though they may not have to work harder provide for their families since there is an extra earning from wives. We see from Mad Men that women in the 1960s suffered, to the extent that even though they lived luxuriously, it did not mean they were content or whole because earning an income is not the pathway to contentment.
It is quite clear that although Mad Men is set in the sixties, nothing much has changed to improve or eradicate the issue of feminism. Most women nowadays to fear to take up certain job occupations claiming that they are masculine. Although they have advanced more than the 60s, women who believed that careers are unfeminine, roles of the female in the society are not clear. It is ironical that modern women who excel in a male dominated career behave like men so as to achieve their professional aspirations.
Looking at women portrayal in the movies The Home of Horror, The Step ford Wives and Mad Men it is clear that feminism promulgation by the media is obvious. Women images are that of being naïve, ignorant, narrow-minded and imprudent individuals. The sixties era presents a woman that has no mind of her own, she is uneducated and imprisoned. The media diminishes the role of women in society and portrays weak individuals who are incapable of standing up for themselves. Women were suppressed by men in a way that violated their human rights especially by raping them and making them feel responsible for the action. In the 60s era, women endured oppression because the society did not value them as persons who can get educated and compete with men socially, economically and politically. Economically, women were not allowed to own property, manage businesses or earn a living as an employee. Socially they were not allowed to get an education or play any role in religious organizations. Politically, they were not permitted to vie for political position or play a part in any political decision of their nation.
The second wave feminism was established to encourage women to embrace their femininity and liberate themselves from the male dominated world. Although, the sixties era woman was replaced by the present-day female who is more advance and enlightened. The problems that faced women in the Kennedy period are still unsolved. Modern day women are still sidelined by society. Although both parents are expected to participate equally in bringing up children, mothers still take the significant share and are also projected to earn a living and meet everyday expenses in the household. A modern day woman continues to struggle with her sexuality from how she looks to how her role in society. Women in the modern age go to extreme makeovers of their body in terms of plastic surgery and dressing to impress men. This mindset imprisons the modern woman making her the same as the sixties woman who did what pleased men and not what she wanted as an individual. Moreover, the modern woman still considers some profession as masculine this shows that though times have changed sexism remains unresolved. The society should thrive to develop and refine the image of women. It should encourage them to appreciate and accept their femininity and the fact that they respected individuals just like men.
Works cited
Gillis.S. & Waters, M Feminism and Femininity in Visual Culture, Edited by Palgrave
Macmillan. 2008
Friedan, Betty. The FemaleCharm, New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.,
1963,
Long, Camilla, Mad About the Girl,the Sunday Times (London) 17 Jan. 2010.
Neumaier, Joe. Insane Men, Fidgety Women: Disillusioned Wives and Feminine Office
Workers Jangle the Emotional Pressure of AMC’s ‘60sShow. Daily News (New York) 27 Jul. 2008.
