Jurassic Park Gender Stereotypes

Women’s roles in movies have changed dramatically throughout the years. As a result of the changing societal norms, women have experienced more transition in their roles than any other class. During the period of classical Hollywood cinema, both society and the film industry preached that women should be dependent on men and remain in home in order to guarantee stability in the community and the family. Women did not have predominated roles in movies such as being the heroin. The 1940’s film Gilda wasn’t an exception. In Gilda, the female character mainly had two different stereotypes. The female character was first stereotyped as a sex object and the second stereotyped as a scorned woman who has to be punished.

In Hollywood film women 's roles have varied quiet considerably between genres, geographical placement, and period settings. These factors contribute to the different representations of women 's roles in the film they are present in. The roles are diverse going from the traditional maternal role to that of manipulative murderer. Women 's roles in movies can be almost equal to the male roles, and the co-stars are not given the majority of the acclaims just because they are male. Society has set certain standards that women are supposed to follow. The most common image of women is that they are very passive and try to avoid conflict in any situation. More and more in society women are breaking down the social barriers that confine them to their specific roles. The films Rear Window and Resident Evil show women in roles that are untraditional for our society. These two movies help to show how women are rebelling against social norms and that they are taking more active and aggressive roles. In film noir’s we can see women represented as the femme fatale, a woman whose mysterious and seductive charms leads men into compromising or dangerous situations. In action movies we see the heroine who is strong both physically and mentally, and has the ability to use weapons. Women seem to be more trapped than men because they are supposed to live up to society’s standards dealing with beauty and size, which are more physical characteristics. These specific guidelines have been set by

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 primarilythat 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. Men were typically employed, successful gentlemen, while the woman’s only job was a housewife. The film industry was mostly dominated by men. In terms of jobs, women were given mostly family roles and rarely were shown outside of their homes, while men had

Femme Fatale women of the film noir movies of the 1940’s were the start of normal and demented personalities. The decade of the 1940’s saw the rise of the independence of women. Film Noir demonstrated the lives of women, the challenges, and emotions these women portrayed while men were away for World War II. However after the return of men, by 1945 many of these women no longer saw themselves as temporary replacement of men work roles these women now wanted to continue their lives and continue working. These women now had a sense of them and were no longer limited to seeing themselves solely in relation to men as they had done when men were away at war (Goldin 1991). In this era film noir exposes the power attained by women that disrupts the

After World War II, a new genre in film titled film noir became popularized in America. With its name literally translating to “black film” or film of the night, pictures in this genre featured dark undertones such as crime, post-war woes, cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. These are likely shot in black and white, and if not, they still give off a gloomy feel that black and white would give. Classic films considered to be film noir also often feature the femme fatale character, a promiscuous woman who manipulates the main male character through seduction to get her way. These women, who are portrayed as being independent, not only represent the way women were viewed at the time, but demonize women for their change in economic status

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.

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

The Film Noir genre is the product of the 1940’s which reflects the darker attitude of society representing depression, realism, and amplifying a new dynamic for women on screen. As World War II progressed, there was less money compiling in Hollywood. The little money collected affected the creative drive for the directors in how they were able to produce for their films. The smaller budget impacted money to spend on lighting, sets, costumes, as well as providing pay for extras to appear in scenes. In addition to the money limitation, the realism presented in this genre expresses the reflection on the darker tones in 40’s society. As War was active, many experienced turmoil in their personal lives. Serious situations stirring emotions

During the years of American Cinema there was a development of the female roles based on how the role of woman changed in American culture. At the beginning of society, women were seen as those who do not get jobs, who depend on men for almost everything, and were just a part of the family to cook and clean. Then in the nineteenth century, there was the fight for woman’s suffrage and the start of women not just living in the house but having the right to vote. Then with both world wars and The Great Depression woman were needed to work to help provide for the family while the men were at war or just to bring in an additional paycheck. Then, in the 1970’s the feminism movement had a very high role in society making women become more

Filmmakers use traditional gender stereotypes to produce characters audiences can easily identify with by portraying conventional images of a person with identifiable characteristics. In previous years, the dominant representation of a women in film has been the passive, subjugated protagonist. However, through the development of female empowerment and added feminist representations of film, the female heroine transformed to become strong and independent women in her own right, as an individual character.

Since its humble beginnings in the later years of the nineteenth century, film has undergone many changes. One thing that has never changed is the filmmaker’s interest in representing society in the present day. For better or worse, film has a habit of showing the world just what it values the most. In recent years, scholars have begun to pay attention to what kinds of ideas films are portraying (Stern, Steven E. and Handel, 284). Alarmingly, viewers, especially young women, are increasingly influenced by the lifestyle choices and attitudes that they learn from watching these films (Steele, 331). An example of this can be seen in a popular trope of the “romantic comedy” genre in this day and age: the powerful man doing something to help, or “save” the less powerful woman, representing a troubling “sexual double standard” (Smith, Stacy L, Pieper, Granados, Choueiti, 783).

Women in society have been portrayed many ways in film according to the era or according to what society considers appealing. Often times when a women is placed at the center of the story and is the main actress she is the product of what society makes her out to be. Dating back to the Postwar era in Germany to now women in films, particularly the women in Pandora’s Box, A Women Under the Influence, and Frances Ha all to some extent become the outcome of social disintegration. The women in these films are the result of the broken and disturbed societies. In G.W. Pabst Pandora’s Box we will see how Lulu, the main protagonist fits into her society through by representing society during the postwar and stabilized period in Germany. Then through John Cassavetes A Women Under the Influence we will see how Mabel struggles to live in a society that expects so much of her. We will discuss how her illness is the result of certain social roles imposed on her. Finally, through Frances Ha we will see

Genre is a reflection of society. Film noir is a genre that has a distinctive relationship with the American society from 1941 - 1958 because it reflects America’s fears and concerns from when they experienced major upheaval after The Great Depression and during World War I. In particular, the unstable atmosphere from the aftermath of World War 1 as Bruce Crowther, author of the book ‘Film Noir: Reflections in a Dark Mirror’, elaborates on how Film Noir films produce “a dark quality that derived as much from the character's depiction as from the cinematographer’s art.” These dark moods are transparent through the key features of the femme fatale, the film techniques and the impact of the Hay’s code on American film and American society.

The presentation of women on screen is another highlighted issue in many of the gathered sources. Because men were ultimately in control of what went on the screen much of what the audience perceived were women from the male imagination or fantasy. Bernard Beck elaborates in his article Where the Boys Are: The Contender and other Movies about Women in a Man’s World that, “…women have been used to dress up a male story or motivate a male character” (Beck 15). Women were often insignificant and trivial characters. Although, Kathe Davis disagrees to a point. In her article, Davis offers a dissonant opinion to the fore-mentioned insignificance of the female character. She instead describes many female characters as “predators,” and analyzes the roles of lead women in three prominent films of the nineteenth century. In each film, she finds parallels and similarities of cases of “female emasculation” and instances where “women are turned into objects of male desire” (Davis 47-48). Davis does not perceive female characters as being insignificant, just stripped of their power and misrepresented. She discusses how females of power are often portrayed as crazy

How women are perceived by others, and how women perceive themselves, impacts their leadership roles in the work place. Stereotypes and gender biases are themes women have been dealing with for centuries. How women are perceived by social medial and television have been influencing how they are treated by men, and how they view themselves when it comes to taking a leadership role in their organization. According to Omega Institute (2012), “The rapidly shifting landscape of new media and technology, including reality television and celebrity culture, continue to reinforce gender stereotypes” (p. 1). This leads to men still growing up viewing women as home makers versus bread winner. With more women entering leadership roles in the work place they lack the respect from men due to how these men have grown up to know the typical role of a man and woman. Men tend to feel belittled due to the gender stereotypes seen on television, and this leads to women struggling to succeed as a leader with the lack of support from their male counterparts. Lack of confidence with women in the workplace is also influenced and effected by how women are perceived in social media and television. According to Steele (2005), “Exposure to stereotypic commercials persuade women to avoid leadership roles” (p. 276). As young women grow up seeing the typical gender stereotypes they lack ambitions to break the mold and