She also spoke about the inequalities faced by women in the working world because of this. Women both on and off the screen are being made out to be a pleasurable object to heterosexual males. In this essay I will discuss the inequality of women and men working in the film industry both on and off the screen. The gaze is a term developed by Jacque Lacan that describes the personal awareness of the fact people can view you and how you react/ let it affect you. Being aware that people can judge you and view your appearance and the realization that you are also an object.
Assess the fashion industry using the feminist perspective Feminists argue that that in society men oppress women and that women do not have equal rights when compared to men, they argue that the family serves the needs of patriarchy and that we reside in a patriarchal society where males are the dominate sex. Feminists take a critical view on most things in society but a main one being fashion. Feminism itself simplifies down to equality. It is shown to be not about attacking men but improving society and having equal chances between both sexes. It states that many women’s focus is on her wardrobe so they can impress the opposite sex as they feel useless if they fail to impress, they also argue that fashion is a more female dominated area, they show that most of the top fashion designers are male ruled and that Radical Feminists such as Germaine Greer believe that all key societies (including fashion) have been found on patriarchy (ruled by men).
For example, cultural feminists look to the different values associated with womanhood and femininity as a reason why men and women experience the social world differently. Other feminist theorists believe that the different roles assigned to women and men within institutions better explain gender difference, including the sexual division of labor in the household. Existential and phenomenological feminists focus on how women have been marginalized and defined as the “other” in patriarchal societies. Women are thus seen as objects and are denied the opportunity for self-realization. Gender Inequality: Gender-inequality theories recognize that women's location in, and experience of, social situations are not only different but also unequal to men's.
For example, there are many cases in the first several stories of Arabian Nights when women are disloyal and evil, but there are also stories about the wrong of men. This is because Shahrazad wanted to balance human wrong and she attempts to expose the wrongs of both sexes equally. According to feminism, the women's and men's rights are equal. So, she tried to explain that women can also make mistakes as men and it is not right that they take into account only women's mistakes (Smith, 1).
The Patriarchal Hurdle of Feminism in Films The three articles share parallel views, essentially echoing how the portrayal of women within performing arts, particularly in films, has evolved over time. Films produced prior to 1970s frequently contained prominent sexist biases, stereotyping women to their traditional submissive roles and portraying them as subservient to men. Films produced after the 1970s, however, were observed to gradually contain greater and more positive representation of women within the social hierarchy, with women sharing equivalent if not greater autonomy compared to men. Despite such trends reforming the sexist stigma, progress has been and still is impeded by a deep-rooted patriarchal ideology. It is largely due to this hereditary social ideology that feminist movements face their limitations.
Advertising has now reached the point where companies are no longer afraid to exploit women to sell their products. Advertising has associated itself with sexism, often discrimination against women; making them an object inferior to men. The women presented in advertising are often stereotypical in that that have the desired figure, look and attitudes expected by a male target audience. Two advertisements that demonstrate these representations of women are the print advertisement LYNX Jet “Get-on, Get-off” and the TV advertisement LYNX Pulse “The girls are ready”. The LYNX campaign relies heavily on the AIDA principle, which aims first to attract the male target audience attention, hold their interest to create a desire for the product which in-turn persuades the intended to purchase LYNX products.
The Question of Maleness in Philosophy In the article entitled “The ‘Maleness’ of Philosophy”, Jean Grimshaw examines several arguments about the field of Philosophy and whether it is dominated by the male perspective. Throughout this article Grimshaw dissects the ideas of masculinity and femininity, philosophy and different philosophical ideas while also commenting on the different ways that certain ancient Greek philosophers excluded women from their philosophical theories. After grappling with these topics Grimshaw comes to the conclusion that even though some philosophical theories and ideas can be seen as male, Philosophy as a discipline has no inherently male characteristics. The reason why Philosophy is often seen to be male gendered is because many philosophical ideas and theories have been shaped by the social and political ideas of their times. In regards to masculinity and femininity, Grimshaw questions the notion that these ideas can be defined in an absolute way.
‘Misogyny is an exaggerated pathological aversion towards women. Misogyny is usually regarded as directed against women by some men, but women can also harbor misogynist views. In feminist theory, misogyny is recognised as a political ideology similar to racism or anti-semitism, existing to justify and reproduce the subordination of women by men.’ (http://www.free-definition.com/Misogyny.html) The Buddha’s teachings were not misogynistic. The ‘Buddha was born in B.C. 560 and died at the age of eighty in B.C 480.’ (http://www.angelfire.com/realm/bodhisattva/buddha.html) Hindu Society in which he was born regarded woman as inferior to men.
Compare And Contrast The Representation Of Gender In Two Media Texts With Reference To The Work Of One Or More Feminist Critic Media texts today represent gender, setting standards on society. Our ideas on what it is to be masculine and to be feminine could be said to be decided by what we perceive through the magazines, cinema and Television, as well as other mediums. Through trends in these outlets society has somewhat parodied the media, washing off on how we see ourselves and our peers, stereotyping the male and female gender. When cinema was in the public domain and the first films were shown it reflected society at the time. The male dominance and the female’s vulnerability.
We know this is not true because women have done everything in this world that men have including dangerous adventure sports yet they considered to be lower than men .Their talents are not as recognized as men’s talents are and they are mostly looked upon as not being fit for the same jobs as men are. These issues are presented in the texts examined in this essay. The song “What it feels like for a Girl” by Madonna and the essay “Fifty one percent Minority” by Doris Anderson are about Gender Inequality and how women are treated in society. The song by Madonna describes the pressure women feel to conform to social norms of politeness and subservience and the essay by Doris Anderson is about discriminatory practises that are done against women in Canada. Anderson is also one of Canada’s leading advocates of women rights.