Older Women Taking Charge!

A few days ago I was up kind of late with a friend and we ended up watching a few shows that I have never watched or payed attention to before. One of these shows was Golden Girls. Seeing a show with the four main characters being older women got me thinking about the fact that it is very rare to find female actresses over the age 35. But it seems that there are some shows and movies out there that do actually want older women for their show.

As we discussed in class women are most commonly portrayed as young and attractive even when they're supposed to be acting someone in their later years. Also actresses over 35 seem to have a hard time finding work in the world of TV because they look "old". I found it refreshing and fun to have a comedy about four older women. Not only were these women older than the average they were portrayed in their later years. I enjoyed the fact that in the episode I saw they didn't exactly stick to "elderly" roles. For example, Blanche (the woman in yellow) is trying to make a man that has stood her up twice, jealous by going out with and flirting with another man. These are usually actions associated with a younger woman yet they are being acted out by an older woman. Unfortunately I could not find the video clip. :(

After seeing this show I remembered watching a movie with my mom called Calender Girls. This movie was about older women who were doing a nude calender shoot to raise money for local hospital. It was funny and witty. I enjoyed the fact that it portrayed these women who were supposed to be "beyond their prime" as spunky, ambitious and above all very brave about doing a nude shoot. Generally when anyone hears the phrase "nude calender" they automatically think of younger women being in the photos because that is what the media has conditioned us to expect.

I was very happy to see that these women were all in their later years. None of them could have been under 35. I like to think that the number of shows and movies about older women in non-traditional roles is on the rise. It makes me happy to see that movies like this one are coming out to shake up the norm a bit. I was excited to see that someone wasn't afraid to make a movie about older women and portray them in an entirely untraditional way. Here's the trailer. I hope you all get a chance to enjoy a little bit of a different view on older women!

You're The Man, Man!

In class we were discussing how TV shows and movies help create the definition of masculinity. A majority of the examples we came up with were all about men being strong, tough, and dominating. I decided to analyze a few kids movies to see if I could find the "definition" of masculinity in these as well. The first movie I watched was How To Train Your Dragon. I have seen it before and I remember the main character being made fun of for not being "viking-like". Even this cartoon had a definition of how to be masculine. The main character, Hiccup is the example of how to be a subordinate male. His own father, who is a good example of a dominant male type, tells him that he is a sad excuse for a Viking which translates to being a sad excuse for a man. In this movie the Viking culture represents masculinity. Even the women of the tribe are tall, strong, tough, and sometimes slightly dominating. All of these things are what Hiccup is not. Even the girl, Astrid, in his dragon training group is represented as tougher than he is. 

 

The first thing that indicates to the audience that Hiccup does not fit into the dominant male group is his size. He is small and scrawny as compared to the other Vikings who are big, muscular, and tall.  The second thing that is shown to the audience is the fact that Hiccup is uncoordinated and can't catch a dragon. When he finally does catch a dragon he doesn't have the heart to kill it marking him as subordinate once more. Everyone makes fun of Hiccup for not being more "viking-like". This ridicule helps educate the audience that it is better to be more masculine which means being rough, tough, muscular, and a dragon killer. Although  by the end of the movie Hiccup displays certain masculine traits that help redeem the fact that he was a subordinate male to begin with. Hiccup exhibits extreme bravery and cunning which are valued traits and therefore seen as "masculine". These traits are greatly praised by his group and they finally begin to accept him. 

Another children's movie I watched that defined masculinity as being big and bad was Beauty and the Beast. Gaston, the main man after Belle is large, strong, and tries to be very dominating of all the women he meets. 

At some points he is almost violent towards Belle when she refuses to marry him. Gaston is made out to be the best and an all around wonderful guy who is loved by all. He is painted as the character that everyone wants to be. Big, tall, and a hit with the ladies. His sidekick is a perfect example of the subordinate male that no one wants to be. The sidekick is small, unpopular, and ugly making Gaston look even more manly and dominant. The Beast is an even better example of "masculine". The Beast is a metaphor for being manly. He is aggressive, large, strong, and tries to control Belle. When the Beast starts to fall in love with Belle and show emotion he becomes human again which marks a step down from being a dominant man.

Socialization about how to be masculine starts at a young age and is helped along by movies like these that show "manly" men as being strong, tough, tall, and dominating in some way.

Perpetuating Gender Norms and Stereotypes through Glee

            The popular hit series Glee helps to perpetuate gender stereotypes and encourages young people to follow them by telling the audience being this way is “cool”. All of the girls in the Glee show always look very pretty; they wear skirts, dresses, and other very fashionable outfits.  They also wear makeup and usually have their hair down. A stereotype about women is that they should always look nice and wear “gender appropriate” clothes. Glee helps carry on this stereotype by making their female characters conform to gender norms. Women are also said to be catty and very into their own groups. Glee portrays this by making a few of the girls mean cheerleaders that band together to pick on the other girls. In truth high school does not have clearly defined groups anymore, but Glee makes the line between popular high schoolers and non-popular high schoolers very clear.

            The show portrays stereotypes about men too. They wear generally more comfortable clothes at school in the form of jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies. In the earlier episodes not many boys wanted to join the high school Glee club because they considered it “uncool” to sing. This is a common stereotype among high schoolers today. Boys in choir are often made fun of or it is assumed that they are gay. Glee also has a gay character that faces being bullied and frowned upon in almost every episode. The gay character is very feminine in his dress and mannerisms, therefore; the more “manly” men (such as the football players) make fun of and haze the poor boy for not conforming to the gender norm. The favorite form of torture the bullies prefer besides the usual verbal abuse is a slushie to the face. Here's a compliation of some hits...

            Most of the Glee characters follow a specific gender norm. If there are characters that are out of the ordinary for men or women they are generally picked on by the other young people in the school. This popular TV program helps reinforce gender stereotypes and norms to all viewers watching whether they realize it or not.