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Females in Film

             Since the beginning of the motion picture industry women have been somewhat subdued and restricted to playing stereotypical roles in movies. Up until recently women, for the most part, women have been quite limited as to the roles in which they could take. For many years women were stereotyped as housewives, maids, secretaries, nurses, and schoolteachers in cinema (to name a few). Over the past couple of decades however, slowly but surely, women's roles and rights in Hollywood have slowly been coming around for the better. They have begun to be recognized as true professionals and in return have been rewarded with more positive recognition and better more appropriate roles. Julia Roberts, Michelle Pfeifer, and Cameron Diaz are just a few of the many women who have truly come out on screen and helped to break to barrier for women in film. They have played roles such as Erin Brockivich, Catwomen, or the owner of the Orlando Breakers, a professional football team, roles which would never have been conceived to been played by a women in the past. However while a change in women's rights in Hollywood is happening, there roles still reflect the ways in which things used to be, not only in the motion picture industry but in society as a whole. Despite all of the progressions made by women throughout the years, it is quite obvious to realise that they are still portrayed as somewhat of a lesser being then their male counterparts. This is displayed quite evidently in the movies "The Associate" starring Whoopi Goldberg and Diane Wiest as well as in the movie "American Beauty" starring Annette Benning, Thora Birch and Mena Suvari. Both of these films demonstrate the views which Hollywood and Society cast upon women in the real world. From everyday occurances like taking care of a family to succeeding in a predominantly "male oriented business world", these films showcase the trials and tribulations of what women must endure despite anything they may have already accomplished.


Essays Related to Females in Film

1. Film Overview - The Breakfast Club

... being put in place in the 21st century. One thing that remains the same throughout the years is the emphasis placed on gender roles in society. No matter what, there will always be some type of sexist undertone in any type of work published. In The Breakfast Club, the sexist undertone is a bit more prevalent throughout the film. The fact that the only three females that are ... really featured in the film are a stay at home, minivan driving mom, a rich spoiled young girl, and a complete basket case shows the stereotypes of the ... roles that are set for women; either you are young and ...

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2. The Use of Sex in Teen Comedy Movies

... males) and the cute but not sexually interested in best friend (often females). These gender scripts for film and television work because they provide conflict in every story, and also keep the audience entertained the most because these characters are the most dynamic of all in scripts. The final concept of teenage sexuality that appears in film and TV comes in the form of a type of coding scheme ... that writers used to express sexuality. In this scheme, there ... ...

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3. Tokenism in Not Another Teen Movie

Stereotypes are an undeniable aspect of the world we live in; not only do they allow individuals to make snap judgments about others they do not know, they also "distort people's perceptions and interpretations of ... group, such as race. For example, when many all-male universities were forced to become co-ed, the few females they were required to admit became the "token" females due to the fact that they were included in the group based solely on their gender. Tokenism is felt even more strongly when the individual is part of a ... minority group, as illustrated by the film Not Another Tee...

  • Word Count: 272
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4. THE GAZE IS OFTEN LINKED TO POWER AND GENDER IN VISUAL CULTU

... Pleasure and Narrative Cinema". The gaze takes a psychoanalytical look at the moving picture and many of its ideas are based on Freudian theory. In simple terms, Mulvey believed that films where made with an intentional male audience and females on screen are there to be looked act, not to act. This is supported by John Berger "men act and women appear. Men ... to their desires, and mute the discourses of the male characters" Ripley Scott is well known for his strong lead females and another famous lead female was the character Ripley from Aliens. However an argument to support Mulveys ...

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5. Jealousy in Peter Pan

... , Disney released the classic cartoon tale Peter Pan. The movie has become a staple in American children's film. Despite what one might think, Peter Pan contains blatant sexual stereotypes and constantly portrays females as conniving and jealous. Tinker Bell's jealousy of Peter and Wendy's friendship portrays the most obvious case of jealousy in Peter Pan. Throughout the movie, whenever a third party mentions Wendy, Tinker Bell ... share her pixie dust with Wendy and her two brothers. Tinker Bell's only concern is Peter's attention, and she believes that the more females who are with Pet...

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6. The Role of Women in Fairytales

... reliant on her brother to save her or dictate to her. She then remains the dominant figure through to the close of the tale. Although Gretel helps, uniquely, to show females in a higher role compared to most fairytale representations, it is only allowed to happen through certain conditions. If Hansel and Gretel had not been separated then she may have continued the ... described as being `different` and `slow`, and Disney allows this to be seen as positive as it is accepted to be an individual in the crowd. This film is about tolerance, accepting difference and freedom. The finale of th...

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7. Latin Sexualization in Hollywood

... a great influence on society, and their depiction of Latin women is detrimental to the careers of Hispanic actresses aspiring to work in film and television. In the case of the American entertainment industry, "less than five percent of actors in top Hollywood films are Hispanic," and the Latinas featured are the most likely to be shown half naked, if not fully ... are nothing more than their physical attributes, sets minority women up for limited opportunities within the industry. Hollywood's intentional type-casting of the Latin woman justifies their hyper-sexual display in film and te...

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8. A Wench In The Works

... the movie, which had been the intention from the start. Now, though, Karen will read the book and discuss the novel with Gould. Karen tries her best to stop the film deal, the business agreement between businessmen, from completing. Instead, Karen sees an opportunity to advance herself "to gain power over a powerful man. Karen adopts the nonsensical book as her ... with Karen what has already been determined a failure. Indeed, by the next morning Karen has already replaced the permanent secretary, Cathy. When Fox arrives and Gould tells him that Fox's film is being dropped for the novel...

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9. Film Noir

... , they are cynical, tarnished, obsessive (sexual or otherwise), brooding, menacing, sinister, sardonic, disillusioned, frightened and insecure loners (usually men), struggling to survive and ultimately losing. The females in film noir are either of two types - dutiful, reliable, trustworthy and loving women; or femme fatales - mysterious, duplicitous, double-crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, tough-sweet, unreliable, ... irresponsible, manipulative and desperate women. Usually, the male protagonist in film noir has to inevitably choose (or have the fateful choice made for him) betw...

  • Word Count: 1859
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