Race and Gender Media Analysis

Introduction 

Mainstream media acts as one of the most pervasive lenses through people of different genders are viewed within society. The images that we see on television, films, or on music videos are engraved into out subconscious. More often than not, these images prove to be erroneous. They showcase existing stereotypes and the naive perceptions of gender-based behavior. However, the mainstream media also acts as an important communicator of how such themes affect our day-to-day lives. Media may address issues such as workplace discrimination and the impact of perceived gender roles on women’s career trajectories. Purl is a 2018 movie that covers the issues of masculinity in society, absence of gender diversity within modern workplaces, and discrimination based on perceived social identities. The film’s key aim was to communicate these issues in a simple yet integrative way. Its ease of accessibility to the general public shows that the mainstream media is finally ready to confront existing race and gender matters head-on.

Plot 

Purl is an American short animation film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. The features Purl, a ball of yarn who joins B.R.O. Capital as an entry-level employee and strives to assimilate herself into a masculine workforce. At first, she is thrilled to become part of the corporate culture. However, Purl soon finds out that her despite her best efforts to fit in, her male coworkers collectively look down upon her. She feels isolated.

Purl decides to change her appearance after realizing that it is company culture to wear suits and matching haircuts. She also begins imitating how men talk and laugh, which causes her colleagues to start noticing her. They even begin hanging out together and sharing jokes. Nevertheless, her life takes a contrasting turn when a yellow ball of yarn, Lacy, joins the workforce. Purl realizes that Lacy is going through the same isolation that she had undergone. She decides to invite her for drinks and join the rest of the team. The film ends as we are shown how Purl has helped B.R.O. Capital morph into a more diverse workplace. Several balls of yarn work in close proximity with their male counterparts. Purl has since changed back into her initial appearance and all employees can now talk casually and openly relate with each other.

The Issue of Masculinity in Society 

Ideally, Purl focuses on the perceived variances between the sexuality of men and women within the workplace. The film showcases how masculinity affects interactions between men and women, as well as the career trajectories for both gender categories. Jewkes, et al. (2015, p. 96) define masculinity as,

“ A set of values, established by men in power that functions to include and exclude, and to organize society in gender unequal ways. It combines several features: a hierarchy of masculinities, differential access among men to power (over women and other men), and the interplay between men’s identity, men’s ideals, interactions, power, and patriarchy.” 

The authors add that the initial idea of hegemonic masculinity helps analysts to recognize the insolences and habits that men partake in and which foster societal gender inequality. The social disparities between men and women eventually bring about a domination of the former gender on the latter, and this can be directly linked to disproportions in workplace power.

Hegemony as an idea was first introduced by Gramsci. Hegemony is not attained through the use of brute force but through a gradual accord between men and women (Jewkes, et al., 2015). This mutual agreement is brought about by those who can benefit from it as well as those who are oppressed. The men benefit by gaining positions of power from where they can gain access to women’s attention, while the women are denied chances to reach this perceived level of influence.

The movie delves into the issue of masculinity in the workplace by showing how men typically isolate themselves from their offices and shun out feminine intrusion. They build a cocoon from where they can relate with one another without interference from female colleagues. The company, B.R.O. Capital, is dominated by conventional men who spend their free time sharing vulgar jokes and talk about sports all day. They also extend this behavior to their interactions after work as seen by their excitement to leave the workplace early and head to their favorite fast food joints.

Work as a Toxic Masculinity Contest 

The subject of how toxic masculinity affects workplace environments also comes into play. Toxic masculinity is described as “the need to aggressively compete and dominate others” (Berdahl, et al., 2018, p. 423). A typical toxic workplace becomes embroiled in superiority contests, the aim to earn more than the others, and the taking of irrational risks. Basically, toxic workplaces are those where the employees’ primary objective is to prove one’s ‘manhood’ over the others.

The strategy department where Purl works in is depictive of such an environment. At one point, the department holds a meeting whose key objective is to devise a productive approach to problem-solving that the finance department can assimilate into the company’s budget. Purl proposes that they will need to work together with the finance department from where a neutral ground can be accomplished as opposed to leaving the strategy department to scheme in isolation. However, her idea is swiftly blushed aside by her male colleagues. Instead, they propose a counterproductive and aggressive approach. To her amazement, the idea is unanimously agreed upon by all male coworkers.

Toxic masculinity is a structural challenge associated with low productivity. The vice is damaging to everybody especially women. It makes others feel uncomfortable and looked down upon. Women feel unequal and have to find ways to become more ‘aggressive’ within a toxic workplace. Toxic masculinity also nullifies existing creativity and individuality. For instance, the strategy department ends up adopting a terrible approach instead of going for an evidence-based tactic. On the other hand, Purl’s idea is blushed aside and such behavior may make employees in her positon feel inferior and surplus to requirement. As a result, they may fail to positively contribute to workplace culture in the future.

The Issue of Gender Diversity in the Workplace 

As it concerns workplace environments, gender diversity means that men and women should be equal in terms of employment, promotion, and remuneration. Gender diversity also incorporates people from other genders such as the gay and lesbian communities. Gender-diverse environments have in the past been linked to improved workplace performance. This is because diversity enables companies to attract different customer bases. In addition, organizations also gain access to the best talent.

It is important to note that women, just like men, are ambitious and ready to scale up the corporate ladder. Although women are never sure whether workplace environments can potentially become favorable to them, they frequently chose to work on their goals. From the film, it can be shown that Purl’s new workplace is male-dominated. Men can be seen at multiple levels of management where they don their black suits and fancy hairstyles. She is the only female worker at her department. As time goes by, B.R.O. Capital becomes more diverse as more balls of yarn are integrated.

The absence of workplace diversity in society is a major structural challenge for multiple genders. The phenomenon is mostly caused by negative male perceptions and cultural factors that limit diversity (Devillard, et al., 2014). For instance, not many men acknowledge the challenges that women face in the workplace. This is evident in the film when Purl decides to alter her appearance in an attempt to fit in. After she dons a suit and changes her hairstyle, the men begin to notice her. One male coworker is even surprised as if he is seeing Purl for the first time. Most men would additionally prefer to work in a non-diverse workplace to protect their conventional ways of doing business. In her attempt to contribute during a strategy meeting, the men disregard her idea of departmental collaboration while insisting on the traditional show of might through aggressiveness and ‘manliness.’

Women also have to display high levels of confidence to compete at the highest level. This highly depends on a company’s leadership and communication style. Where leadership is more open, women feel more exposed and confident to try new ideas. In the same way, a culture of unrestricted communication will more likely improve a woman’s performance compared to one that hinders it. After suffering from low self-esteem, Purl takes it upon herself to champion diversity at the company. Her strong leadership style helps more female employees join and settle into B.R.O. Capital.

Social Identity and Discrimination 

One’s social identity can lead to forms of discrimination that are rooted in stereotypical beliefs. Social identity is an individual’s perception of who they are. Our social identities arise based on our associations with particular groups. These identities can either be defined based on our relationships with certain groups or the relationships that we share with individual members within these groups (Hogg, Abrams & Brewer, 2017). In the movie Purl, existing social identities are based on gender. Other social identities can be based on race, religion, or culture.

The social identity theory shows that racial and gender-based stereotypes can lead to workplace discrimination. Prejudiced views may lead to forms of racism and sexism. The fact that people can be put into groups is normal for human beings and often leads to exaggerations regarding their differences and similarities. For example, one existing racial stereotype is that people of Asian origin are relatively smart compared to people of other races. In addition, it is widely believed that women’s roles should be limited to housework while men climb the corporate ladder. Therefore, once an individual aligns with a certain social identity, baseless assumptions are every so often made. These suppositions may lead to workplace discrimination.

In the movie, women are portrayed as fanatics of craftivism. They are portrayed as ‘balls of yarn.’ Purl and her colleagues are interested in ‘feminine’ activities such as knitting, embroidery and crocheting. For instance, the film begins with Purl in an elevator on her way to her workstation. She is carrying her belongings in a box. Inside the box are her knitting tools. Her laptop has a knitted sleeve while her coffee mug also rests inside a knitted cozy. On the other hand, men are portrayed as tech-savvy individuals whose key focus lies in sports and after-work activities. In the elevator, Purl’s escort repeatedly shifts his attention to his cellphone, albeit apologetically. The men also cannot wait to get off work and head to their local drinking den. At one point, Purl attempts to share a crocheting joke with her male coworkers. However, none of them seems to understand the joke and even go ahead to ask her whether crocheting is a kind of sport.

Gender-work identity conflict is a structural challenge that leads to reduced performance, motivation, and job satisfaction. It is common to find that men, women, and members of the LGBTQI community associate themselves with different activities. Although people may wish to engage with members of other social identities, they are often afraid of being discriminated against. The same applies to social identities based on racial composition. People will often feel inferior when they join organizations dominated by members of a different race. Where discrimination is rife, job satisfaction goes down. Victims continuously put in diminished efforts in their work and this leads to poor collective performances.

Conclusion 

To sum it up, Purl is a 2018 movie that covers the topics of toxic masculinity within the workplace, the absence of gender diversity, as well as the presence of discrimination based on perceived social identities. Toxic masculinity has been defined as the processes through which modern men use to belligerently compete with each other and effect their dominance over women. Through the film, it has also been shown that gender diversity means that men, women, and the LGBTQi should be equal in terms of employment, promotion, and remuneration. On the other hand, a person’s social identity can lead to forms of discrimination that are rooted in stereotypical beliefs.

Purl is an ideal example of how the mainstream media may be used to raise awareness on issues of race and gender. Although the media can sometimes become biased, there seems to be a general shift towards its unswerving address of such subjects. When this becomes common practice, it can be expected that racism, sexism, and other forms of social discrimination will end.

References

Berdahl, J. L., Cooper, M., Glick, P., Livingston, R. W., & Williams, J. C. (2018). Work as a masculinity contest. Journal of Social Issues , 74 (3), 422-448.

Devillard, S., Sancier-Sultan, S., & Werner, C. (2014, April). Why gender diversity at the top remains a challenge. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-gender-diversity-at-the-top-remains-a-challenge.

Hogg, M. A., Abrams, D., & Brewer, M. B. (2017). Social identity: The role of self in group processes and intergroup relations. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations , 20 (5), 570-581.

Jewkes, R., Morrell, R., Hearn, J., Lundqvist, E., Blackbeard, D., Lindegger, G., ... & Gottzén, L. (2015). Hegemonic masculinity: combining theory and practice in gender interventions. Culture, health & sexuality , 17 (sup2), 112-127.