North Country

Many stereotypes of women were depicted in the movie North Country. The first major one that I notice was when the main character was talking to her childhood friend after washing her hair. He friend told her that she worked at the town mine. The main character automatically asked her if she was a secretary there. This is a large stereotype that has affected women for a long time. Many people assume that the job a woman would be working in a male environment such as mining must be as a secretary. This is because they feel women would have no place doing anything else. This also can relate to a woman working in a corporate office. If a woman told a person she met that she works for Target in their corporate office, chances are likely that the person may assume she is a secretary, epically if she is good looking. The next major stereotype that I witnessed was right after the main character moved in with her parents. She was talking to her father about the marks on her face and the father automatically assumed that she had cheated on her husband. That was his justification as to why she was beat. Many times in the struggle between man and women, women are made to look at fault due to promiscuity. The "a man can do no wrong to his wife unless she deserves it" notion is in use. The third stereotype that stood out to me was used when the main character was sitting down with her family eating. She made an announcement to the family that she wanted to become a Miner. Immediately, her father replied by asking her if she had become a lesbian. This stereotypes women who choose traditionally male oriented jobs as being homosexual. The is rooted in the idea of a "butch" or "manly" lesbian who is usually larger and stronger allowing them to handle more physically demanding jobs. This way of thought is that the physically demanding jobs are opposite of being "girly" and a woman who chooses not to be "girly" must then be lesbian.
Men were also stereotyped throughout the film.