Film title: Southern Ideals
150-word film description:
This film is developed as a critique of women’s roles and expectations in a patriarchal society. These film stills are a satire of the set of instructions placed in front of the female population. These societal expectations, no matter how ridiculous, is meant to be fulfilled by not only young women but all women. This film shows how this young woman is growing up in the South, meant represent how a southern debutante is required to juggle multiple aspects of life to please the man in her life. More or less going from being her father’s daughter, then handed off to be her husband’s wife. This film is meant to be set in the fifties, when etiquette classes were still prevalent; and grooming, propriety, and traditional values were taught by books or by courses. There was a specific path for women to be educated, but confined to the life of a housewife. Thoughtless conformity is the driving force of these southern ideals, traditional roles to be maintained.
Film still title: The Debutante
Chapter 11 or 12 heading: art critiquing gender roles
200-word film still description and analysis: This film still is of a woman in the 1950’s, in the midst of an etiquette class. She is dressed nicely, not a hair out of place. Her expression is set, concentrating on the balancing act at hand. In one hand she is cooking something in a pan, possibly making food for her husband. In the other, there is a cup in a saucer, representing a
Song of the South is a movie based off of “Uncle Remus” a book about the stories of Br’er Rabbit. In the book, Brer Rabbit has many encounters with Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear. The stories about Brer Rabbit include The Tar Baby, Brer Rabbit Earns a dollar per minute, and Br’er Rabbit’s Laughin Place.Then in 1946 Walt Disney made a movie based on the book. The movie has many songs that have an uplifting feeling to them like Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, Everyone’s got a Laughin Place, and How Do You Do. Some songs were forgotten but Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah remained a classic Disney Song. But when The movie was then re-released into theater weeks after the release because of the racist comments it made. Many people thought it was not necessary but others did
Disney has faced a large amount of criticism from critics over the tropes and stereotypes that it portrays in its animated films. This is not a recent event however. One of Disney’s most notorious and controversial films, Song of The South, was released in 1946. Song of the South, set during the Reconstruction Era, focuses on a young boy named Johnny who learns that his parents will being living apart for an unknown amount of time, moves to a plantation in Georgia, while his father continues to live in Atlanta. Depressed and confused over the recent events Johnny decides to run away to Atlanta, but is drawn to the voices of Uncle Remus, an ex-slave living on the plantation, telling stories of Br’er Rabbit. Although it is implied that the African American workers are no longer Johnny’s family property, the black characters are still wholly subservient and are happy to be so. James Baskett plays Uncle Remus as a blissfully, happy companion ready to please. Due to this “magical negro” trope, the characters’ ridiculously stereotypical voices, and the unrealistic happy and joyful relationship between the white landowners and their black help, Song of The South, is one of Disney’s most offensive, racist, and fictitious film. Disney’s portrayal of Uncle Remus is his veiled justification of the mistreatment that minorities received before and after the Reconstruction Era.
Masculinity didn’t do a good job of attaining the hoped-for standards, as they didn’t have other equally profound consequences for American middle-class culture at this time. It justified the exclusion of women from the world as acceptable to both women and men at this time, and it cultivated strong bonds around women as well. They in fact shared the biological experiences central to their definition as women and spoke the same language of virtue and piety, which essentially means that they instilled a awareness of a set of common goals for them and experiences present for them, which had values specific to women, and distinct from those of men. The key to this was the extensive networks of female friends that were present during this time period for these women. Since women were supposedly better than men during this time, it was feasible and easy to believe that women were obliged and privileged to work together and help other women, who were fallen, and poor, who were having some sort of trouble during this time period as a result of the society that they were present in during this time period. Southern white women during this time were aware of the ideology of domesticity during this time, and they would try to implement it and its teachings for their lives, but their expectations were frequently articulated during this time period. There was little industrialization, domestication, urbanization, immigration, and therefore, social dislocation present during
Sheila, in the opening stage directions by Priestley, is described as being a “pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited.” This statement depicts clearly the privilege and wealth enjoyed by the young girl, who is getting married to Gerald Croft. Priestley also makes a point to enunciate her excitement of the engagement, with Sheila marrying a man of a class higher than hers, which was of extreme importance in 1912, the time this story is said to take place. He also plays along the stereotype of the early 1900s judgement of what a girl’s goals ought to be, marriage being the most important. Hence, in order to achieve a suitable marriage, it was extremely important for girls to be pretty.
In her story, “Old Woman Magoun” she delivered a feminist message more directly than ever. It’s based in turn-of-the-century New England, patriarchy still defined relationships even though the men themselves had degenerated. The story reflects the realities of Freeman’s own life, as her father’s business failed and her mother became the support of the family. However, Freeman’s life was not unique; rural New England is
Despite being looked at in a certain way, Women are being portrayed as “going exactly where their mothers and grandmothers have already ‘been’: into sexual bondage at the hands of a male ‘Friend’” (Christle 1). This is showing how even though women are changing the way society works, some people still want it to be the same. In the story Connie’s mom wanted Connie to be like her and her sister, just the average, not overly pretty looking lady. Some people think that “women have been silenced,” (Spelman and Lugones 574) but Connie had other ideas, she wanted to be different from them. She was constantly looking at herself in the mirror and thinking about what others were thinking about her. When she went out, she would always wear nice clothes that would get her noticed. Looking through a feminist lens one can conclude that Connie’s family sees women now as they always were.
This movie asked and addressed several questions and topics that were related to the American Sixties. The role of women and wives, feminism, and suburbia vs. urban are some of the issues and topics that this movie presented. Joanna Eberhart the main character lived in urban area and moved down to suburbia. At first she could not adjust to suburbia because it was too quiet. All the women’s were living their lives for the husband. The lifestyle, clothing, and everything else seem very different than urban lifestyle.
We live in a society where the similarities between female and males are seen at birth. It begins innocently with the toddlers; girls get pink while boys get blue. The gap between boys and girls develops with time and becomes increasingly apparent. There are still gender stereotypes today, but it is not as bad as it was in the past. Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl” perfectly portrays gender stereotypes. It represents gender concepts as cultural constructs in the period it was written. These conceptions are comparable to current stereotypes about gender. The book gives us a list of commands from a mother to a daughter. Men in the society are dominant to the women, and the set of rules is a product of patriarchy whereby the mother and daughter appear as subordinates to the men in their lives. The article makes one aware of the prevailing masculine hierarchy that exists in a family, and how it creates firm gender roles for females in the society.
The women of the story are not treated with the respect, which reflects their social standings. The first image of the women that the reader gets is a typical housewife. They are imaged as “wearing faded house dresses and
Mango Street has built a definition of how women should be like. In the vignette Linoleum Roses, Sally is living the way her husband wants her to live. “Sally says she likes being married because now she gets to buy her own things when her husband gives her money.” Here we see how Sally depends on her husband’s money. “She sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission.” Sally is a prisoner who lies to herself saying she’s okay when in reality she is not. She has so many limits that she’s afraid to break the rules. We see how men insert fear in women’s
In Jamaica Kincaid’s story, Girl, a mother is talking to her daughter about all the proper things she must do to be considered a good girl to her family and to the public, and when she grows up, a proper lady. She must follow the rules that are given to her by her own mother and by society. The mother also teaches the daughter how to act when things don’t go her way. She is told that along with being a proper lady, she must also be able to get what she wants and be independent. This story was written in the late 1970’s and gender roles, for women, back then were not being “followed” because women wanted equal opportunities (Women In the Workforce). “Gender stereotypes are beliefs regarding the traits and behavioral characteristics given to individuals on the basis of their gender” (Deuhr). This essay will discuss the gender roles that were given to women in the story, during the late 70’s, and in today’s society.
Women rule this movie, from Margaret as the editor of a major publishing company, to the Matriarchs of Andrews family. Margaret is greatly feared and respected in her position, even convincing an author that hadn’t done in interview in twenty years to come onto Oprah. Andrew’s mother easily cows his strong-willed father, showing the influence the women in the family have. Not to mention that Andrew’s grandmother can make anyone do what she wants, simply by saying “Before I die?”. All these women are loved and obeyed, whether the men realize it or not.
The protagonist in “Boys and Girls” is faced with constant pressure from her family, especially from her mother; to follow the values society imposes on being the “ideal woman”. The girl’s mother and grandmother are people whom have conformed to their role in society, unlike the protagonist. By observing her mother she has a glimpse of what it is like to embrace a “women’s role” and what her life will behold if she followed her mother’s path. The protagonist summarized her mother’s duties as “endless” and “peculiarly depressing” in contrast to her fathers “services” as being “important”. She finds that being a mother meant work that no one will praise or award, as result, felt she had no place in household work due to lack of adventure and challenge. To conform to a women’s role was solely
Women are meant to behave and act proper. Though it may not be quite the same today, however, every once in awhile society still expects women to behave and act a certain way. In the past women were supposed to act like ladies and be the proper quiet housewife. Women were raised to speak, behave, and perform tasks a certain way that society deemed as right and proper. Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl” shows just that. Her story is about a girl who is basically scolded by her mother on how to act and perform daily tasks. Her mother's belief is that a woman's reputation is everything and if her daughter keeps acting the way she does she will lead a promiscuous life. She does not want that for her daughter, or for her daughters reputation to come back to her if it is not a good one. Kincaid utilizes the theme of image and social acceptance are most important for woman through symbolism, repetition, and tone .
The Minority Report is a film that tries to stop crimes before they happen, with the enlistment of 3 teen pre-cogs. These pre-cogs predict future murders and the authorities swoop in and arrest the would-be murders, before they have the chance of committing the crime. Even thing goes great until Anderton, a cop played by Tom Cruise, is suspected. Written by Philip K. Dick and then turned to film by Steven Spielberg in 2002, the short story to film became a success. Though there are many differences between the book and the movie, one would think Steven Spielberg would not be able to grab audience’s attention, but with his skills, Spielberg went above and beyond all measures. Many times, novels to films end up being either a great hit