Suicide Squad: Female Characterization In The Media

“Female characterization in the media is almost always in the form of a trope, a fetishized or one-dimensional character that we are almost expected to act out in our every-day lives," says Kaya Masler, Director of the Women's Student Assembly at the University of Southern California.

It seems that no matter where you look, women are being made into sexual objects. Movies, television shows, music videos and video games heavily focus on women’s physical appearances especially their sexual attributes as being their most significant assets. Women tend to be depicted in demeaning ways portraying them as objects in positions of inferiority and low social power. With little representations of women in the media that a “real women” can relate to, we are limited only to a hyper-sexualised image of women that are misleadingly being portrayed as empowered. That is, for women to be even slightly considered successful, they must in turn be sexualised.
We have increasingly been subjected to a sexualised representation of women in the media.
A recent example of this is in the DC Comic’s film, Suicide Squad. As a woman being a lead actress in this film, it is assumed to be a main selling point that Margot Robbie was cast for her abilities as an actress, but on the contrary, more-so because the producers know she is desired and that sex sells. The sexuality of this film is derived from the portrayal of Harley Quinn who is psychotic and what seems to be accentuated is her provocative nature and attire. Seemingly being empowered by beginning the role as a Physiatrist, later then to be demeaned into the role being described as “vapid, silly and prone to pratfalls” (Blaylock,
n.d.).
At the beginning of the film where all the characters are introduced, Harley Quinn’s initial portrayal is of her in her cell in a mental asylum. It begins playing the song “You don’t own me” by Lesley Gore. Insinuating that she is a sexual object, by the lyrics stating, “I’m not one of your many toys”. Then showing her being approached by the head guard, where she suggestively licked the bar of her cage saying “come play with me”. Followed by another remark saying “I sleep where I want, when I want, with who I want”.
Abusive comments directed at Margot Robbie as an actress, with accusations and criticism from fans of the movie calling her “Whorely Quinn”. After the endless attacks from critics and fans alike Margot’s self-consciousness is clear in her statement to New York Times saying “I’m not wearing hot pants next time”.
The consequences of the sexualisation of women in contemporary society are many. The American Psychological Association released a report showing that the sexualisation of women negatively affects females across a variety of health domains. These include mental and physical health, sexual development also cognitive and emotional consequences. As sexualisation and objectification undermine a person's confidence with their body. Eating disorders, depression and low self-esteem are the most common mental health problems diagnosed in women have been linked by this research.

In modern western society, the inequality between the sexes is prominent by women’s sexuality being exploited then judged, then on the other hand men are appraised for the same acts. An opposing opinion stating otherwise by online blogger ‘heresmytheory’ “So since men find it to be such a challenge to find a sexual partner, and women have no trouble at all, it makes total sense that this double standard exists. Women have the luxury of being picky, while guys pretty much take whatever they can get – beggars can’t be choosers. So when a woman doesn’t discriminate amongst who she’s sleeping with, she’s abusing her power of choice. Anyone who abuses a power is considered to be looked at negatively. On the other hand, when one man manages to sleep with a whole bunch of different women while most guys are struggling to sleep with just one, it makes him look talented.”
This is perfectly expressed in the song “Can’t hold us down” by well-known artist Christina Aguilera. She words it by saying “If you look back in history it's a common double standard of society, The guy gets all the glory the more he can score, While the girl can do the same yet you call her a whore”. On the other hand the widely-used complement of saying a man is “Don Juan” or a “ladies man”. We idolize and praise their expressed sexuality for engaging in numerous sexual affairs. Whereas when a woman is heard of engaging in such sexual affairs she is judged and viewed as a promiscuous tramp.

Our global cultures obsession with sexualisation is to the detriment of the self-esteem of the vast majority of the female population. The fact of the matter is that if we are to encourage women to have empowering lives we need to create an image that is a true representation of their worth!