Themes In Bend It Like Beckham

Men and women have been subject to certain stereotypes throughout the ages. The gender roles of different societies transcend age, race, and location and affect us all. The Odyssey by Homer, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson explore the phenomenon of gender biases that many, if not all, societies deal with. At one point or another, it may become true that when men or women cross the threshold of prescribed gender roles, they are often belittled or ridiculed.

The novel “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen depicts a social structure in which there are clear gender expectations. These gender expectations control and restrict the lives of both genders, most notably women. In. Austen’s world, women have few opportunities to support themselves, and have high expectations attributed to them. Men were held to similar standards. Upper and middle class men were expected to add to their families’ wealth, be charming, and eventually marry. Deviation from these spoken and unspoken rules, such as Lydia and Wickham’s elopement, would result in becoming a social pariah. In “Pride and Prejudice”, the characters of Elizabeth Bennet, her sister Lydia, and Mr. Darcy challenge the aforementioned gender roles put in

Gender roles are categories that characterize what it means to be feminine and masculine in society, on how people think about gender as they relate to one another (Adams et al., 2013). For example, women are expected to be accommodating and emotional, while men are usually expected to be self-confident and aggressive, this shows how men and women are to behave in society. However, these sayings were taught to individuals based on norms, or standards created by a society which is called Gender Socialization (p. 318). Growing up as a child, we were taught as girls to play with dollhouses, pretend kitchen sets, cleaning supplies and play dress up. Whereas boys are taught to play with cars, sports equipment’s, action figures, and weapons. However, if a boy was playing with dollhouses, or playing dress up, he would be considered gay, or not masculine and looked down upon by society, and families. The same goes for girls who play with boy toys, or dresses as a tomboy, this is what we are taught to play with at a young age. Our families tell us how to behave, our schools tell us what

Jesminder Bhamra, like the director, is British-Asian. Just like Director Chadha had refused to take traditional Punjabi dancing lessons and watch Bollywood films as a child, Jesminder unintentionally rebels when trying to integrate cultures. Jesminder’s traditional Sikh parents want her to be ‘good’ by completing university and marrying an Indian man. However, due to local

In “Why Boys Don’t Play With Dolls,” Pollitt writes about the differences between growing up as a boy growing up as a girl. She brings up the stereotypes that society naturally creates between genders in early ages, which leads to the lifestyle and path that boys and girls are raised in. Parents and feminist alike play a big part in establishing these sex roles. They raise their kids wanting them to be successful at what they are expected to be good at based on their gender and the trend that has been set before them.

Gender roles are developed in the overall spectrum throughout society. This is often developed by children and guided by society by through approval and disapproval of certain actions. This includes actions such as society telling boys that playing with dolls is “girly” (CH. 10.). Society develops these roles, and people that break them are often seen as different and outsiders. These also develop in the society of sport, where values have been traditionally associated with males. As men often did studies with sports, there was

As Sociological Images notes, dissimilar to men, why should gathered reject all things womanlike, women are urged to adjust manly and female attributes. NPR's article Two Families Grapple with Sons' Gender Preferences appears to offer believability to this

What you want in comparison to what your family expects form you is a common disagreement through most family households. In the movie ‘Bend it like Beckham’ we saw the conflict between jess and her parents on how they feel and what they want for her, how jess sees the situation and how it is resolved. Throughout Jess’s journey she is constantly pulled in what she truly wants and what here family/culture expects (internal conflict).

To begin with, Bend It Like Beckham is a film about an Indian girl named Jess who lives in London with her family who is very strict about the way culture shapes how they live. She is an amazing soccer player and is asked to join a great team by Jules, a girl who sees her playing at the park. Unfortunately, Jess has to hide this team from her parents for her mother strongly disapproves of the shorts that expose her legs, especially her large burn scar on her thigh. Moreover, she mainly does not want Jess playing soccer because it is masculine and unattractive in her eyes, and she should be focusing on attending a university. Jess’s mother states that Jess needs to learn how to cook delicious Indian food in order to attract a husband, rather than worrying about sports. Due to this presence of folk culture in her home, Jess decides to lie to

Mrs Paxton wants Jules to be a lovely young girly girl who loves going shopping for bras and wearing pretty clothes, but instead she chooses to be a tomboy and have short hair and be who she wants to be. Being stereotyped because you’re a girl who plays soccer doesn’t limit your ability to be who you want to be and do what your dreams are. In the book Bend It Like Beckham, Jules gets stereotyped by her own mum. Mrs Paxton is always trying to get her to wear lacy bras and have nice hair instead of sports bras and messy short hair. But what her mum

Another concept of race in the movie revolves around the idea to ethnicity. When Jess's teammates question her about an acceptable marriage in her culture, she states them that it would be unacceptable to marry someone “white” or “black” and more importantly forbidden to marry a Muslim. From this scene the audience can understand that she is only allowed to marry a Hindu Indian man as, if the groom is not Indian then the in the society she will be considered the “odd one” which would also bring disgrace to her family.

Bend it like Beckham is a film that was written, directed, and produced by Gurinder Chadha, a British film maker who was grew up in India. The film focuses on the main character's desire to play football and the conflict she faces due to her obligations to her traditional Sikh family. The character, Jess Bhamra, must make the decision to pursue football or follow her parent's wishes and complete school and marry and Indian man. As Jess struggles to find her own identity without losing her family, she befriends a British footballer Jules. Jules' parents offer an interesting parallel to Jess' family, showing that although cultures may be very different in some ways, they are actually very similar in others. Director Chadha explains that

Bend it Like Beckham and The Notebook are two relationship films that express passion, love and struggle through the main characters. From a viewer’s perspective both movies have a lot to offer when it comes to being engaged. Though the two films are compelling in similar ways, like in commitment, the films hold more differences than the you realize. For example, the culture and era of the movies contrast, and will be further explained through the essay.

The first time the audience encounters Jules, she is shopping for clothes with her mother. Mrs. Paxton is attempting to convince her daughter to buy lacy push-ups bras by telling her that “all the girls have bought one” and that it will give her cleavage; she is teaching her daughter that, as a girl, it is expected that you carry your body in a certain way and that one must appear as an object of desire for men (Chadha & Navare, 2002; Ahmed, 2017, p. 26). When Jules picks up sports bras instead her mother is appalled. Indeed, her daughter is not performing acts that are congruent with British femininity; throughout the movie, Mrs. Paxton spreads a white females’ popular feminist discourse that to identify as a woman and become a woman, one

In this essay I discuss that "doing gender means creating differences between girls and boys and women and men...." (West & Zimmerman 2002:13) I am concentrating on the female perspective, how societyputs forth expectations of what is 'natural' or biological even though, in some cases, it can be quite demeaning and degrading. I am using some examples from the local media and also a few childhoodexperiences that have helped me to now strongly suspect that the quote from Simone Beauvoir (1972) "One is not born a woman, but rather becomes one" most likely has quite a bit of truth to it.