For Tuesday: Reading Genders
Instead of doing a reading
this weekend, I want you to ‘read’ something you might otherwise just
watch. In other words, I want you to
carefully watch either an episode of a favorite TV show or a favorite
movie. However, while doing so, I want
you to examine ONE character in the show, male or female. Consider how this character represents the
“idea” of gender—that is, of being male or female. How does he/she act, dress, behave, talk, etc? What norms or rules do they seem to be
following? How do others in the
show/film react to them? Likewise, how
are we supposed to respond to them? Or
consider it this way: if we were from another planet, and this character was
our true introduction to being male or female, what would we know about
it? What rules would we try to
follow? What ideas might we not see or
understand based on his/her performance?
Some ideas:
- In a movie like Transformers, there are
all these guys and robots (all of whom seem to be male), and there’s
always one token woman. What kind
of woman is she? What’s her role
in the film?
- How do action heroes represent an ideal/idea
of being male? From Rambo to The
Rock, who are these guys, and what idea are they trying to sell us?
- Who are the women in superhero movies? Every superhero movie has one or two (but usually only one
or two); are they following the same ‘script’ as the male
superheroes? Does being superhuman
change the rules of gender—or reinforce them even more?
- How do men and women act in period dramas such
as Downton Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, etc.? What is our idea of the way men and
women used to present themselves?
- Does a show like The Big Bang Theory¸about various ‘nerds’, really change our
perceptions/ideas about gender?
Are the men showing us different ideas or possibilities about being
male? The women?
REMEMBER, this is just an
informal assignment, so treat it like an in-class writing prompt. Watch the show or movie, and then write for
6-7 minutes, analyzing what you’ve seen.
This may help you on Paper #3,
so put a little thought into it.
Shelby Southern
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Keen is a lead character in the show The Blacklist. She is a strong woman character but they do sometimes have her portrayed to be the confused, innocent, and helpless girl. She is the girl that everyone lies to because they think that she is too emotional and innocent to handle the truth. She almost always wears high heels which seems a bit unrealistic to me since she has to run a lot. She always has her makeup on just right and her hair is always pretty even when she is fighting or tired or bloody. They will sometimes make it seem like she is helpless and always needs a man’s help in order to appeal more to men that may watch the show. She can also be the strong women figure that can protect herself but she always looks very pretty in order to appeal more to the women who watch the show. She is a typical character that appeals both to what men want in a woman and also what type of woman that other women want to be seen as.
Amber Simpson
ReplyDeleteElena Gilbert is the main character in The Vampire Diaries. She is constantly torn between the Salvator brothers. Throughout the episode, she dresses very fashionable and feminine. Others on the show respond to her like a mother responds to her child; they're always trying to save Elena and protect her. She holds a very strong, independent character for having such issues with who she loves. She is very protective over her family, especially her brother. Elena shows care and love towards everyone, especially those close to her. She shows her feminine qualities through her hair, makeup, heels, compassion, and just the way she presents herself in general. She does a good job portraying her feminine qualities, obviously, by the way Stefan and Damon fawn over her all the time.