Gender Stratification In Movies

Gender stratification is a phenomenon in which the unequal aspects of social, and economic life are highlighted and explored between genders. When looking at gender stratification we are aiming to get an understanding as to how and why society has placed us in these roles, and how over time we are going beyond, and breaking the seams of these societal expectations, redefining the gender roles. Gender stratification is important to understand because when we are self-aware of this issue, change can then come about. The idea of equality among the genders has long been talked about, and much has progress has been made however, there is still work to be done. There are an array of topics you can research when looking at gender stratification, and
it is my belief that this is important, gender stratification is too broad of a term to be looked at holistically. In order to bring about more awareness, and change you must be specific, in doing so you are tackling one of the many problems of gender stratification one step at a time. In my case I have chosen to research how the portrayal of men, and women have changed over the course of the nineteen fifties to present in the film industry of the United Sates, and how this may influence our real life perception of the gender roles through the lens of the history discipline. It comes as no surprise that women have been in the background of many films for decades, utilized merely as a sexual tool to grab the attention of audiences pre dominantly consisting of males, in fact in a Geena Davis Institute study on the top four hundred movies from nineteen ninety to two thousand six women were found five times more likely to be dressed in a sexual manner to their male counterparts. This research also found that when they looked at over one thousand TV shows created for children there were more than twice the number of male to female characters. This is because men in the U.S have long been considered to possess the intelligence, strength, and power to accomplish all, thus making them more appealing on screen who at that time want to experience what it feels like to be great, and in control, they don’t want to be exposed to a women on screen in control it’s at this time unfathomable. The male aura because of popular societal belief is to be leader, and extraordinary. Even now as we begin to have women play larger roles in films across the nation, we can still see the underlying ideals of gender roles. Hilary Pennell, and Elizabeth Morawitz conducted a study on female undergraduates in the Midwestern region of the US, this study was on the sexualized female superheroes of X-Men, and the sexualized female victim of Mary Jane in Spiderman ,it found that even though the female superheroes were put in positons of power, because their bodies were so overly sexualized this power was less regarded for , in fact the study found that the victim , and the female superheroes were seen in almost the same light as the women did not find that equality was found in either one of these portrayals of women despite one being a superhero. There are not many superhero movies that contain women as the heroine , in most cases men are these heroes while women are depicted as being helpless , and weak this again attest to the idea that in society women are below the likes of men.
However the problem has not always been the over secularization of women, at the beginnings of film history the issue was ironically the containment of women. Megan Stem Wade states in her research paper on gender in postwar class room films that from 1946 through the 1970’s there were films called social hygiene films in which mini movies were watched in educational settings serving as the base example of how men, and women should act in societal settings. The films had titles such as “What to do on a date”, which served to encourage abstinence, and waiting ‘til marriage, while titles such as “You and Your Family” shows how the “normal” family should act on a day to day basis, women were to stay home, and take care of the kids while men were to go out and support the
family. Films like these affirmed to Americans special set of guidelines as to how each gender should act further accepting them as a social norm.
However in the years to come many in the film industry would begin to challenge these guidelines starting with films such as 1960’s Mary Poppins. Anne Mcleer in her essay makes clear that although not radical ,”Mary Poppins” would begin to have us question our traditional roles. Films like such challenged the idea of the stay at home mother, and the father being the bread winner, even questioning the role of the father in their children’s lives, encouraging men to be more involved. Yet even as we began to progress, giving women larger roles in film with films such as Julie Andrews in “Victoria, Victor Victoria”, and Tracy Turnlab in “Hairspray” many in the film industry still encouraged traditional ideals. This was espeacially prevalent in the 1980’s, in Elaine Berland , and Marilyn Wetcher’s research they give us the example of the film “Fatal Attraction” this film shows us an stay at home mother with a husband who is cheating on her with a career driven women, and all of the problems that come with this
infidelity. At the end we see the picture of the happy family after infidelity leaves the home reinforcing our ideas of the traditional home, women at home with the kids, and men out making a living to support the household. As we look at our current film industry we can say we have come a long way, women now play much larger roles, and many films are now even the main protagonists for example Katniss from the largely successful Hunger Games, however even now if we truly explore the underlying roles of genders in films today we would still be widely surprised as to how much work there is to come. I believe that my research question has the full capability to become a great research question, and in stride I believe that we can also learn a lot from it as well. My research question has all of the components of specificity, and I also have access to all the resources that I would need in order to go further in depth on my research question. My research question would not violate any ethical rights, however it would challenge the ethics in which this country is widely ruled over. The timing of this research question could not be at a better point, much in our world is changing especially in the United States, much of what we would have never guessed to see in the 1950’s is now happening, we have an African American president, gay marriage has been legalized, and even weed is now in many places is becoming legal for recreational use, this shows us that our country is leaving behind its conservative ideals in strive for an more open minded country. The information gathered in this study will not solve any specific problem right away, however in doing this research we are opening the minds of those around us causing them to think, and it is only when we think can change come about, and this case can gender equality come about. My research question belongs to the humanities academic culture , in the discipline of history, it resides here because with my research I will be focusing on the history of film starting with the 1950’s gradually going through time until we get to the present. The methodology that I would use in order to complete my research is literature review , and participant observation