Gender Inequality in Hollywood Essay

As most everyone knows, the American culture has become subject to an innumerable amount of stereotypes that are based upon just about any aspect of life. It is clear that this is unhealthy and provides for an unsafe environment for many American citizens. Regardless, social media and advertising essentially encourage the

When looking deeper into where stereotypes really began it is evident that the media was the main influencer in not only gender stereotypes, but also a huge proponent in racial stereotypes. “Racism and the media touches directly the problem of ideology, since the media’s main sphere of operations is the production and transformation of ideologies” (Dines/Humez18.) An ideology is basically a system of ideas that is specifically formed around economic and political theories, making racial stereotypes fit into this category flawlessly. This quote is basically saying that people will stereotype anyone based on their skin color, to match an idea of what they have in their head. For example, a common stereotype is that all African American men have stolen something within the span of their life; so if you see an African American male approaching your car window you may feel the need to lock your doors. However, when looking at the bigger picture you may discover that just because the mans skin is a different color, doesn’t mean that he is any different from you or me. So how did these stereotypes become so popular among our nation? Well, once media took over, it alone changed a lot of the world how we knew it, and racial/gender stereotypes were one of the major areas impacted. Around thirty-nine years ago a young scholar of African American

In todays society people tend to stereotype others in many ways. The media has created a misconception on humanity that has spread among society. News, Internet and other sources of information have created a negative view on certain people in the

In contemporary film women's roles in films have varied quiet considerably between genres, geographical placement, and between

Stereotypes are like lice, once a person has them it is hard to get out of one’s head. Every group of people come along with specific stereotypes, a widely believed mental picture of the group. Stereotypes are based on truth, but usually tend to be exaggerated, unlike stereotypes, there are misconceptions. Misconceptions, a view that is incorrect and based on untruths, are formed from having stereotypes. Stereotypes are usually formed when one person in a particular group acts or does something causing people to think just because one person in that group is like that, the whole group is. The older generation passes down stereotypes to the younger generations and instead of getting to know the group, people just keep assuming. Movies are another

Stereotypes are part of our everyday life and are used not only by the media but by everyday citizens as well. A very large percentage of the media is feeding off by stereotypes of many types of people and their cultures. No matter if this label is negative or positive towards a certain group of people the media still uses stereotyping to attack, label, or simply make fun of others in the community. While it may seeming harmless essentially this subconsciously teaches the viewers that being unkind or straight out uncivil is

“Media stereotypes are inevitable, especially in the advertising, entertainment and news industries, which need as wide an audience as possible to quickly understand information. Stereotypes act like codes that give audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people—usually relating to their class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, social role or occupation.”

Since the 1940’s, movies have predominately portrayed women as sex symbols. Beginning in the 1940’s and continuing though the 1980’s, women did not have major roles in movies. When they did have a leading role the women was either pretreated as unintelligent and beautiful, or as conniving and beautiful: But she was always beautiful. Before the 1990’s, men alone, wrote and directed all the movies, and the movies were written for men. In comparison, movies of the 90’s are not only written and directed by women, but leading roles are also held by older and unattractive women. In this paper I will show the variations and growth of women’s roles in movies from the 1940’s though the 1990’s.

However, living in a democratic society there is freedom of choice, independence and social equality is a right and in the age of technological innovation. This is where we get hands on information on any particular subject matter we intend to choose through any form of media. However, what we do not know is how much of the knowledge we consume through mass media is accurately representation of the reality. Stereotypes work well in political campaigns where government takes certain steps as a propagandist to exhibit information to a group of targeted audience in order for them to have a certain view or opinions towards others, which is profitable in any manner for the government itself. However, governments take these steps for various reasons including creating opinions towards other governments, religious affiliated groups, other national citizens, etc and the only reason is for its profitable means whether it is for elections, power or control. For example, 9/11 attacks supports the fact that media demonstrates a

The film industry has created the conventional gender roles of society into their movies. A majority of films have supported some of the male and female stereotypes. In the history of the film industry, the role of men is primarily that of the stereotypical working class man or hero, while the roles of women are primarily portrayed as being somewhat inferior to men. In the 1930s through the 1970s, men held the leading roles in films while women played smaller roles. In terms of jobs, women were given mostly family roles and rarely were shown outside of their homes, while men had successful careers and did many activities outside of home. “Women were shown doing housework and men were the beneficiaries of their work” (“Women’s roles in the

Evidence that lead to these stereotypes is found all over popular culture in movies, TV shows and social media. Although the assumptions

People constantly try to gain direction and insight from their evaluations of other people. One such way they do so is through stereotypes. Stereotypes are cognitive constructs involving an individual’s half-truths and distorted realities knowledge, expectations, and beliefs about human groups. As such, racial stereotypes are constructed beliefs that all members of the same race share certain specific characteristics. In America, the media and Hollywood play an integral role in entrenching and dispelling these stereotypes. However, Hollywood and the media create characters according to stereotypes to attract an audience, from which the viewers can reflect on and laugh at the stereotypes recognizable within American society. This paper seeks to discuss the common stereotypes in American society and how the media and Hollywood promotes those stereotypes and their impacts.

Stereotypes are a typical thing in everyday lives of society. According to Urban Dictionary, “Stereotyping is when you judge a group of people who are different from you based on your own and/or others opinions and/or encounters” (Christina E.) Stereotyping is used by people everyday and most do not realize they do it. People use stereotyping as a mental shortcut to help free up other mental resources. Humans use many different categories to stereotype. Everyone stereotypes people and things to place them into certain categories. People want to be viewed in a certain way and they will represent themselves so that they are looked at in the way they desire. Humans do not quite understand others so in order to have a better understanding, they use stereotypes. Some individuals misrepresent themselves so that they are viewed in a certain way and placed in a group or in a category. Some individuals want to be someone they are not in order to be placed in a specific group. When a person pretends to be someone they are not in order to fit in, they lose sight of who they really are. People dress, talk and act different so the public will associate them with a group. Majority of society misrepresent themselves. Some white males wear their pants sagging and their ball caps backwards because they want to be viewed as a thug. Media plays a role in stereotyping. Individuals gather ideas from social media and television. For example, a girl may Echols 2 see a model and want to look like her, so in result she does everything she can to be placed under that category. People also stereotype others by their ethnic background. As David Childs states in his article “Let’s Talk About Race”: Exploring Racial Stereotypes Using Popular Culture in Social Studies Classrooms”, “ ...representations of African American women in music videos, portrayals of black males as violent in the media and the lack of visibly successful African American role models,” (Childs 292). This example shows how people can be stereotyped by race and how those representations are not always true. While others spend time trying to fit in, they end up losing their true identity. Although some people want to be stereotyped, others simply do not. These people want

he United States has claimed for years to be a melting pot, where race or various preferences do not define our role in society. Most everyday people do not even realize or notice the amount of stereotyping that occurs in mass media. It is important to understand the different types of discrimination marginalized groups face. Stereotypes can affect everyone, whether it is based on their race, gender, or sexual preference. Media makers could easily find ways to not discriminate against people, but perhaps this would make that specific media outlet less popularly attended to.

on society and culture. But since the beginning, there has been trend of male dominance in entertainment. This has contributed to gender inequality by not giving young girls strong role models in movies. It has also created ideal gender images that young children and adults feel obligated to follow. In more recent years, with the rise of feminism and gender equality, many have begun to push for changes in movies and Hollywood. Gender inequality in film can be reduced by creating more roles for women, avoiding gender stereotypes such as the damsel in distress, and avoiding oversexualizing women.