Modern media is completely saturated with messages about
gender and gender identity. A lot of the messages are similar, but some
conflict with each other. The fact that so many of the messages about gender
are similar could point to the fact that there is oligopoly in the media
industry, and because of that a lot of the media conglomerates are interested
in promoting similar messages (this includes messages about gender).
Like our class textbook from Kidd
says, I would agree that women shown in most modern media are often displayed
as being very concerned about romantic matters, their appearance, and equally
or more concerned about matters of the home then they are about their careers. Although
the statistics show that the media still has a long way go with diversity in
portrayal of women, it’s good to see more female characters in newer TV shows,
movies, and even women displayed in things like music videos and advertisements
being shown as strong, independent, and hard-working women who can have other
aspirations in life other then just to fall in love and be dependent on their
Prince Charming.
I’m going to be very honest here- pop culture has definitely impacted my gender identity, and I can even think of a
couple memories from my childhood of when I was aware that what I was seeing in
the media was making me think “This character or this girl/woman is what I
aspire to be like someday.” The first example would be the character of Lizzie
McGuire from The Lizzie McGuire Movie.
I had never seen many episodes of the TV series Lizzie McGuire while growing up
(as our household didn’t get the Disney Channel), but my parents took me to see
the movie in theatres when it came out (I was eight years old). I immediately
fell in love with the character of Lizzie. A fun, bubbly yet slightly ditzy
teenage girl (who although was not very popular with her peers) who had a
fairytale type experience happen when she traveled across the world. And it
wasn’t the traditional prince/princess type fairytale- it was a culturally
relevant modern fairytale where she was discovered by an attractive teenage
male pop star and invited to sing on stage with him at an international music
awards show; and in the course of a few days she was transformed from a normal
teenage girl into a glamorous celebrity. I literally remember thinking to
myself after watching the movie that I when I was older someday I wanted to get
discovered by a famous international male pop star just like Lizzie did, and be
transformed into a fancy celebrity. I’m sure that tons of other little girls
who watched the movie also had the same wish, but with me I remember thinking
to myself at eight years old literally making that a goal for myself. (Update: clearly I have failed myself as I am now
20 so my teen years are over and I never made it to international pop star
status. ;-) )
Another example from my childhood
would be the movie Ironman. I feel as
though this example relates a bit to the readings because both the Kidd book
and the Leavy Trier-Bieniek text discuss the way that gender plays into the
American film industry, both in the types of characters in movies and the key
players behind the movies (such as who is directing and writing the films).
Anyways, I saw the movie Ironman with
my parents in the theatres when I was thirteen. I was not as enthusiastic for
this film as I had been for The Lizzie
McGuire Movie, as action films aren’t a favorite genre of mine. But my
parents wanted to go, and at that age I didn’t really have much say in the matter
so I went with them. I remember I liked the movie more then I thought I would,
but the female character of Pepper Potts captured my attention. I have only
seen the movie once so I don’t remember the exact details of the scene, but I
know that near the end of the film Pepper helps to save Tony Stark’s life with
her quick thinking and she jumps right to action. She does all of this while
being impeccably dressed and wearing a pair of very high stilettos. I remember
thinking to myself during the film “I want to be the type of woman someday who
could save the world while wearing stilettos.” I remember telling that
aspiration to my parents in the car on the way home, and my mom especially was
thoroughly disappointed with that. She made some sort of comment about how I
was buying into exactly pop culture wanted me to buy into, and how I was too
influential. At the time I didn’t see anything wrong with that type of
aspiration. Fashion was (and still is) a huge passion of mine, so what could be
wrong with wanting to look good while working hard? Of course at age thirteen I
wouldn’t have considered the fact that Ironman
was a movie that was directed, produced, and edited by a solely male team, and
that they probably wanted to make the character of Pepper Potts as sexualized
and feminine as they could get away with for sex appeal to help sell the movie.
It is interesting to me that these
two memories of going to the movies with my parents and aspiring to be like two
female movie characters have stuck with me. I can seriously remember each one
as though it happened yesterday. I think that definitely means that each of
these female characters really made an impact on me at a young age.
My favorite scene from the Lizzie McGuire Movie
 |
| Pepper Potts in the first Ironman movie (I think this is her outfit from that made such an impression on me) |
-Annaliese
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