Introduction
Gender stereotyping remains rooted in society in spite of the many cultural, legal, and intellectual challenges that have called it into question. Gender is always been misunderstood as being entirely associated to the individual’s sexual reproductive organs. Gender is a socially constructed role, which is either feminine or masculine. These constructions are often interconnected with sexuality whereby a certain trait is attributed to a particular sexuality (Warren, 2013). The paper will examine and challenge society’s limiting perception of gender on women and men through prescribed gender roles. The gender role issues will be discussed with reference to the four gender-related videos.
The media represent men and women in stereotypical ways that mirror and sustain socially recognized views of gender thereby limiting roles of both genders.
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Challenging Gender Limiting Narratives
The traditional gender roles and stereotypes continue to have a strong impact on the division of between men and women. Media is the most pervasive and one of the most powerful influences on our perception towards women and men. It is woven throughout our daily lives influencing their messages into our mind. All types of media communicate images of sexes, in most cases propagating unrealistic, stereotypical, and limiting perceptions. The stereotypical portrayals of men and women in general as represented by the media continue to limit our perceptions of human possibilities. Men are portrayed as sexually aggressive, powerful, active, and largely uninvolved in human relationships. For example, in the video, The Mask You Live In , the film investigates the limiting stereotypes that boys face as they grow into adulthood. Boys are subjected to conflicting and destructive messages on a daily basis that have an adverse impact on them. The messages passed across often favor sex over love, violence over kindness, physical strength over compassion, and dominance over empathy. These stereotypes have compelled boys to live in masks as tough facades and have limited them from expressing their feelings. The film provides insights to society of the need to come together and offer support to our boys and to resolve the various challenges boys in America are facing. Helping the boys “take off their masks” is a greater step towards promoting acceptance of oneself for who they really are ( The Representation Project, 2016b). Therefore, empowering and encouraging boys and girls to be their most authentic selves is important and society can achieve this through creating a more caring, compassionate, and conscious culture for our boys and girls.
On the other hand, women are portrayed as sex objects who are young, petite beautiful, dependent, passive, and often dumb and incompetent. The females are often portrayed devoting their time and energies improving their appearances and homemaking. Additionally, the media portrays women and girls in a demeaning and hypersexualized way. For example, the women and girls in media today such as female newscasters are required to dress in revealing outfits as they deliver news. In addition, we see women dressed scantily misbehaving in television reality shows. These portrays girls and women as objects, who can be valued only by their sexuality, youth, and beauty and not their ability to provide leadership. This perception could result in suppression of women rendering them voiceless, objectified, dehumanized, and disempowered. Ultimately, this could result in prevention of women and girls from realizing their full potential, which poses negative effect to individuals, society, and democracy (Warren, 2013).
Just as consistent with our cultural views on gender, the media permeate our lives in ways that they misrepresent genders, which may mislead us on how we see ourselves. These misrepresentations have challenged in some four films that have put a strong stance against gender stereotyping. For example, in the video, Cover Model Makeover , comprises of four women characters who change their lives from ordinary to model status. Before becoming models, the ladies confess to have had insecurities with their physical looks. However, after the makeover, the four ladies acquire new looks and the outcome is spectacular. They are still not satisfied with the results because they came to the realization that the images delivered does not align with their perception of self. The makeover provides the four ladies with the understanding of what it takes for models to appear as they do in movies and magazines ( Gilkey, 2014). This offers insights on how the media places unrealistic perceptions of beauty on women based on their image. The images of women displayed on magazines are outwardly flawless, their bodies are superficially perfect, and their faces are puzzlingly smooth. However, the movie reveals to us the makeover process, depicting that the model images appearing on media and magazines are a product of digital alteration. According to Gilkey (2014), the video plays a major role of providing the people with insights regarding the limitations on gender according to society. The society focuses on beauty of women and celebrates it as an achievement on the side of a woman. This perception of beauty placed on society has a huge negative impact on women. It is crucial for the broader society to discard this perception of beauty, which is attached to human achievement. It is evident that the standards of beauty constructed by society are unrealistic and unachievable . Therefore, it is important to change these standards and eliminate the limitations placed on women, because their achievement can be more than physical appearance.
In the video, Miss Representation , the film depicts the relevance of valuing people as human beings as a whole, and not based on gendered stereotypes ( The Representation Project, 2016a). According to the film an estimate of two-thirds of girls and women are having an eating disorder problem in their quest to fit the model body as portrayed in the media images. Statistics indicate that approximately 53% of the girls aged 13 years are not happy with their bodies. By the time they reach 17 years, the number rises to 78% . Thus, this film helps to deliver a message of acceptance to girls and women to embrace all types of appearances and body.
It is evident that most women and girls have no idea they themselves are embracing these negative stereotypes that is influencing them negatively. For example, in the movie, Watch these 4 girls destroy the female stereotype like the monsters they are , t he film explores how women face sexism and objectification on a daily basis among other types of discrimination. It reveals how many women lack the realization when they are taking part in and promoting negative stereotypes. The four young women in the movie utilize their creativity and intelligence to face some of the issues they experienced. Through poetry, the young women are able to pass the message across that women have a choice in whatever they want to do including their being, behavior, or dressing, should be entirely her choice and not as dictated by society (Warren, 2013). Therefore, raising awareness among women and girls will help to enhance their understanding on what gender stereotype is and how to eradicate the problem.
Conclusion
The gender stereotypes have compelled most people to live as facades and fail to embrace their authentic self. The four gender-related videos have helped to provide insights regarding the negative impact of stereotypes placed on both women and men. It is evident that stereotyping does not only apply to women but to men also and it is critical that we as a society to change these negative perception. The films have focused towards eradicating these stereotypes by passing the message that the value of women is not defined by her beauty and sexuality rather by her success in career and leadership skills. The films have demonstrated that the media can be used positively to set the record straight against stereotyping. This is an indication that the entertainment industry is heading in the right direction. Therefore, to eliminate the gender stereotypes, it is important for all stakeholders to work collaboratively to pass the right message that will change the perceptions and attitudes of people, hence influencing the society’s culture positively.
References
Gilkey, M. (2014). Ladies get the 'cover model' makeover of their dreams ... And then hate theresults. (n.d.). Upworthy. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from http://www.upworthy.com/4-ladies-get-the-cover-model-makeover-of-their-dreams-and-then-hate-the-results-11113?c=reccon1
The Representation Project (2016a). Miss representation. (n.d.). The Representation Project.Retrieved February 21, 2014, fromhttp://film.missrepresentation.org/
The Representation Project (2016b). The mask you live in. (n.d.). The Representation Project.Retrieved February 22, 2014, fromhttp://therepresentationproject.org/films/the-mask-you-live-in/
Warren, R. (2013). Watch these 4 girls destroy the female stereotype like the monsters they are.(n.d.). Upworthy. Retrieved February 22, 2014, fromhttp://www.upworthy.com/watch-these-4girls-destroy-the-female-stereotype-like-the-monsters-they-are-rw1-9b
