Blog #8

The main topic that was shown throughout the videos we watched in class is the issue of gender roles and stereotypes. For our in class discussion we were asked if there was any movie that we knew passed the Bechdel test where the class was silent. Which is kinda shocking being that if we can't think of a movie that can pass such a simple test than something needs to change. In our society men are shown to be protectors, bread winners, and known to not share their emotions. While women in our society are shown to be caregivers, stay at home moms, who are very emotional. The video from class that I will focus on is the Colin Stokes' TedTalk: "How Movies Teach Manhood." In the video the speaker talks about how movies geared towards men/boys portray the leading protagonist as tough, loners, that often end up with the female lead who main role was to play the love interest. And he went on to discuss how he didn't want that for his son and daughter and would rather have them watch more movies based on teams and friendships such as the Wizard of Oz as his prime example. The media often continues the portrayal of gender stereotypes within our society from t.v. shows to movies, even for commercials. There are countless commercials I seen for food/cooking products where the woman is always at home cooking a delicious meal, where the man comes back from work to enjoy the home cooked meal. Or where they portray the man as comic relief where he is clumsy and incapable of solving his problem, until his wife comes in to save him from whatever crazy situation he has gotten himself into. Gender roles are deeply ingrained in our society for both men and women as shown through many movies even those geared towards children by Disney. Where the man is the savior to the leading women who is oftentimes portrayed as a damsel in distress seen in such classics as Cinderella and Snow White. Due to this, there has been a rise in movies that are now pushing to have strong female leads to empower young girls. Where they can stand up for themselves and won't have to wait to be saved. As seen in movies like Brave, The Hunger Games, and Divergent where the female protagonist greatly affects the outcome of the story due to their key roles.