The Portrayal of Women and Gender Roles in Films

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 7, Issue 4, April-2016 533
ISSN 2229-5518
The portrayal of Women and Gender

Roles in Films
Fahad Alzahrani
Abstract— This paper is about the The portrayal of Women and Gender Roles in Films. This study sheds light on how partic-
ular themes in movies can be interpreted, and how these movies influence how people view themselves in terms of their gen-
der. It also suggests how people behave in light with their gender.
—————————— ◆ ——————————
Introduction Woman can be said to have a Disney plot since it describes the
life of Vivian, an attractive young woman who lived in the
streets but she ends up marrying Edward, a handsome and rich
Media plays a big role of influencing the peo-
man, who turns her into a classy and descent lady. Vivian is the
ple’s daily lives this is because it influences how people
heroine of the movie but she is portrayed as being a street
view the world in general. Mass media is an agent of so-
cialization and from this role; it has been attacked by an hooker and belonging to a lower class. She is turned into a
array of criticism from different portions of the socie- proper lady by a man who belongs to the upper class. This
ty. There is a wide range of media among them television portrays women as weak and dependent on men for survival.
shows, movies, the radio, newspapers, advertisements
and many more. In these many forms of media, there are This research about feminity and feminism will focus
images of men and women. These images are depicted in on the television show Sex and the City based on the book with
different ways and with different characteristics and having the same name (Akass & McCabe, 2004; Arthurs 2003;
different meanings. Social psychologists suggest that Southard, 2008). In this show, the characters have certain char-
these images often alter the way people perceive the so- acteristic whereby the main characters are mainly white fe-
cial realities. Manatu, (2003) argues that these images males who are well educated and economically dependent
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can therefore play a very crucial role in stimulating anti- suggesting that this show was written during a post-feministic
social behaviors such as violence, crime and delinquency era. Arguments have been made for and against this statement
among others. To people such as the critical feminists, by scholars who argue that the concept of feminism is dynamic
mass media is seen as an agent of male chauvinism. This
and ever changing and that there are different ways of looking
systematically depicts a male dominated socio-cultural,
at it as per the context of television shows. Feminity can be
political and economic order. These depictions come
about from the continuous reinforcement of the negative seen to represent the behavioral expectations of women. It can
gender role stereotype of women. Research has been also encompass women’s sexual attractiveness to men (Bazzini
made on a variety of movies in order to analyze the gen- et al., 2007).
der representation in movies. This study will analyze the
forms and patterns of portrayal of women and their gender Theoretical Approaches to Gender Paradigm
roles in Nollywood movies and in Hollywood movies. In
Nollywood, two movies, Ije and Mr. and Mrs. Both acted in Social constructivism is an ontological viewpoint
2012 will be analyzed. Sex in the City 1 and 2 will also be
harboring the basic idea that the world has a social foundation
analyzed. The results obtained will help shed light on how”
suggesting that the world is socially constructed. This is about
the man” and” the woman” are perceived. The findings
from the chosen movies revealed that women were per- the social order on how people perceive the world and how
ceived as the weaker sex and, consequently, as sex ob- they distinguish between right and wrong (Good, 2008). It is
jects suggesting that women are stereotyped in the vari- crucial to note that gender roles have been constructed inter-
ous films and movies. estingly in the set movies.
Language is the main medium through which hu-

Literature Review mans interact since it creates meaning. According to Hall, lan-
guage is neither the property of the sender nor the receiver of
An extensive research has been done to cover many different meanings. When shared language produces meaning and this is
forms of media. Aside from television, radio, cartoons, music when representation takes place. Another approach to gender
and games, new forms of media are being introduced through paradigm is the discursive approach. This particular approach
the Internet. Information from prime-time television is the was influenced by Michael Faoulcault and it spins around the
most commonly analyzed data in research. A wide range of production of knowledge and meaning (Lind & Brzuzy, 2008)
methods has been used to analyze this data with the common
methods being discourse analysis and quantitative content
analysis (Bazzini et al., 2007). At times, political messages and
Discussions of Findings
ideologies are passed in films and movies which may be seen to
The results of these findings will be discussed in
represent the ideas of the opposition at the time.
line with the objectives of the study. Women in the African
films fit into old frames in which they are portrayed as sex
Lauzen & Dozier (2005) suggest that the way some objects and objects to fulfill the desires of men. They are
characters are depicted in a show can represent their political also seen as domestic servants and wicked mother-in-
and social views at that point. For instance, the feminist’s laws who always stir trouble for others. The few working
movement against patriarchic oppression of women, or the class women are the subordinates in big companies and
black rights movements towards giving black people the same the young ladies have been portrayed as promiscuous
rights as the white people is political. The movie Pretty Woman (Jamieson & Romer, 2008). They are seen to be weak
is viewed differently by different audiences for instance; the when they resort to use their sexual appeal to get material
black feminists see it as spectators in terms of the different gains and possessions from men. In these movies, women
genres of gender, race and class among other genres. Pretty
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 7, Issue 4, April-2016 534
ISSN 2229-5518
are the cause of misery to their homes and even get the greatest and most popular genre and it should be ap-
blamed for the deaths of their husbands. proached with caution.
For instance, Susan Abah, the main female character Bibliography

in Mr.and Mrs., is a domestic servant throughout the movie as
she is seen in the kitchen cooking or just doing household
Manatu, N. (2003). African American women and sexuality in
chores. Susan was sexually abused as she suffered marital rape
the cinema. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland.
from her husband. Another female character, Linda, who works
for Susan’s friend, is being sexually abused by Linda’s husband.
Anyawu, the lead female character in Ije, is also suffering the Bazzini, D. G., McIntosh, W. D., Smith, S. M., Cook, S., &
same fate. She is being sexually abused, first by her husband Harris, C. (2007). The aging woman in popular film: Un-
derrepresented, unattractive, unfriendly, and unintelligent.
and then by his allies and associates. Anyawu’s sister, Chioma,
also suffered sexual abuse from a lawyer, who happened to be Sex Roles, 36(7-8), 531-543.
defending Anyawu in the murder trial.
Lauzen, M. M., & Dozier, D. M. (2005). Maintaining the double
Analysis standard: Portrayals of age and gender in popular films. Sex
Roles, 52(7-8), 437-446.
Men and women perform different roles and at
times these roles do not hold true for all individuals. However, Good, H. (2008). Girl reporter: Gender, journalism, and the
a majority of people live in accordance with these roles. Society movies. Lanham, Md. [u.a.: Scarecrow Press.
assigns classes of social roles to both male and female individu-
als, in the same manner that society views the different sexes. Lind, A., & Brzuzy, S. (2008). Battleground: Women, gender, and
These gender roles can be a hindrance to both men and women sexuality. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.
as they can limit the capabilities of what males and females can
do. Gender roles can actually enslave individuals as they can Jamieson, P. E., & Romer, D. (2008). The changing portrayal of
force them to be what others want them to be. adolescents in the media since 1950. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Through social tyranny, the society will suppress the
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choices of males and females pushing them into certain behav-
ioral modes, personality characteristics and occupational roles
as approved by the society. Men will, therefore, have an oppor-
tunity to develop their talents (Busby, 2005) while women will
be denied such an opportunity. For instance, Indian films depict
women as housekeepers who need to bear enough heirs for
the family. They also show that women should not have career
but the men are portrayed as being able and learned who enjoy
white collar jobs. This will in turn discourage women from
schooling and formal education thus limiting their career choic-
es to those careers which do not require too much time outside
the family home.
Conclusion
Gender representation in media influences how
people perceive gender issues since some specific gender
roles uplift and strengthen the images of men. These mov-
ies clearly show the gender power structure where men
are depicted as the stronger sex. Although some women
in movies are portrayed as being strong and independent,
they cannot dispute the evident gender power structure.
For instance, Carrie, who enjoys a good economic status
from her writing career, agrees to get married even if she
doesn’t need it, in addition she does away with her dream
wedding thus getting married in a small city hall wedding
just for the sake of someone. When she cheats, she is
given a big black diamond ring just to remind her that she
is married. Even though Carrie comes out as being strong
and independent, she is still seen as being dependent on
a man at the same time. A variety of scenes portray her as
being submissive. This supports the gender ideology that
women have to be submissive and dependent on men.
As mentioned in the introduction, this paper adds to

the literature on how genders are represented in media. Specif-
ically it looked at gender representations in African and Holly-
wood movies. It is interesting to note that there is less gender
equality when it comes to gender representation in movies. It
would, therefore, be in order if this research concluded that
these gender stereotypes affect the way the normal people
view life. Movies showcase a lot of themes, gender is among
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http://www.ijser.org

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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 7, Issue 4, April-2016 533

The portrayal of Women and Gender

Language is the main medium through which hu-

For instance, Susan Abah, the main female character Bibliography

As mentioned in the introduction, this paper adds to

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