Module 2
Wow! The Tropes Vs Women and The Bechdel Test video clips were a game changer for me. I like to think that I am an advocate for gender equality. Yet, I hadn’t noticed that this principle was being applied to some of my favorite movies and television shows. These tropes are highly visible, yet, because this has become such a normal occurrence in the media, we often do not actually perceive what is going on. In this case, many forms of media often only feature one leading woman surrounded by a cast of men. This is often referred to as “the smurfette principle.” Women are often stereotyped as being blonde, passive, or playing a limited role in society such as mother or wife. In the educational article, The Children Are Watching, author Carlos E. Cortes, defines the term stereotype as “powerful, evocative terms” that “when used carefully and selectively, they communicate powerful ideas.” (Cortes, 2000, Pg. 2.) In this article, Cortes explores the media from an ideological perspective. He argues that it is in our nature to generalize. However, mass media often subscribe certain traits to these stereotypes.
It is my opinion that, the aforementioned smurfette principle is issuing a powerful message to young women, and society as a whole, that in order to be of value a woman must be surrounded by men at all times. Otherwise, she can only define herself as just being a wife or just being a mother. Women are constantly being stereotyped in the media and the smurfette principle is just one example of how this is occurring. It is very rare that filmmakers cast a woman and portray her as a multifaceted character with many talents outside who she is in comparison to a man.
I was shocked at how many movies did not pass the Bechdel Test. In order to pass this test the movie or television show must pass the following questions:
1.) Are there two or more women present (with names)
2.) Do these women speak to one another
3.) Do they speak to one another about a topic other than a man
I even applied these rules to one of my favorite shows on Showtime, Penny Dreadful. I assumed that because the show features a female lead, it would pass with flying colors. Boy was I wrong! Yes, the main character is a woman, however, she is featured with a man or group of men in almost every scene. A detail that I had not previously noticed. What’s more, when she is shown speaking to a female psychologist, the stories center around her past love affairs. By teaching students these rules, we can increase the visibility of these inequalities in the media and work towards creating a society that does not think in the norms of the “privileged white male.”
What’s more, author Larry Gross, confirmed my suspicions in his work Out of the Mainstream: Sexual Minorities and the Mass Media, that this issue doesn’t just affect women in the media. I was saddened, yet not surprised when I read this text. I felt that, due to the nature of the information, this article was embarrassing the protectionist philosophy to media literacy.I felt as though the author was warning his audience against subscribing to any of the notions that he mentioned. That we should protect our students from absorbing this information fed to them from the media. Gross paints a very accurate portrait of what it means to be “mainstream” in the media and the impact that this has on our thought process. (Gross, Pg. 406-407.) He then moves into a compelling discussion surrounding the repercussions of being an outsider. For homosexuals in particular, this fear of the outsider leads to isolation, because the mass media has played a direct role in ascribing to them how masculinity or femininity should look. Additionally, Gross reminds us that “ for the most part gay people have been simply invisible in the media.” (Gross, Pg. 410.) When they do include homosexual characters in their stories, the media tends to overlook characters who fit within their box of social norms, they just happen to be gay in favor for those who fit the stereotypes that the media has created. I can only hope that as we progress as a society, we can see more extraordinary, positive, gay characters who do not fit within Hollywood’s stereotype emerge on screen.
Children as Consumers really stuck out to me as well. I enjoyed the fact that this article took a factual approach and included several different clips from media sources, much like a magazine or research paper might. I think there were several lessons in this article that I will take with me as a mother. As a marketer, a majority of this information was not new to me. Children can be some of the best brand advocates. They also have the highest purchase power out of any demographic. Yet, I did not realize to what extent the media was targeting children. Even in most marketing companies, it seems to be a debate whether it is ethical to direct advertisements to children or not. I agree with the Swedish people, who have banned advertising to children since the 90’s (Shah, 2010, Pg. 5.) Common sense seems to dictate that children lack the ability, at a certain age, to be truly critical of what they see on the television. The facts back this logic. It follows then, that children should be shielded from any media that intends on coercing them into believing a non truth or pushing them towards an unhealthy product. Shah prompts the audience with the question, “can the media be trusted to self-regulate.” I would argue that no, they cannot. The benefit for corporations greatly outweighs the cost.
