Imagine a world of endless wonder, where historical artifacts actually contain powers beyond our control. If something like this were to occur who would you picture protecting said artifacts? Most people would say men because in our society men are deemed the protectors and leaders. In SyFy’s Warehouse 13, there are powerful artifacts but in season one out “of the six principle characters, four of them are women, including the boss” (Atchley, 2014, para. 4). In the show “masculine attributes are given to women and feminine qualities are given to men” (Atchley, 2014, para. 4). Overall the characters are treated as just people. Gender is more often than not thrown aside unless it is something that only that specific gender goes through, such as ovarian cancer. In fact, “all of the women are presented as intelligent, strong and more capable than their male counterparts” and the same goes for Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer (McMillian, 2010, para. 6).” Which is why the females in Warehouse 13 are not only great feminist characters but also highly influenced by Buffy. Because of this, in this paper I will discuss why these female characters in Warehouse 13 are feminist along with the similarities between them and the characters in Buffy followed by a discussion on why Warehouse 13 is important to science fiction programing. This essay draws from Stephanie Genz’s Singled Out (2010), A. Susan Owen’s Vampires, Postmodernity, and Postfeminism (2010) and Sharon Ross’s
As stereotypes or gendered identities are all around us in our life, we may not even realize we are stereotyping someone. Stereotypes can be positive, negative, or neutral. Stereotypes are based on gender, ethnicity, or occupation are common in many societies, especially in this one. One of the many stereotypes or gender identity’s that I grew up believing and the one I am going to focus on is that “all women are caregivers or mothers”. Growing up I was taught as a child to perceive women as someone in the family that regularly looks after a child or a sick, elderly, or disabled person. A caregiver or a mother is someone you can rely on for help, and someone who will be there for you through the good and the bad times in life. Women are professed as mothers probably for the simple fact that in a lot of cases, women are the ones holding these roles. Therefore, I always believed this as a child, I was surrounded by women who were caregivers or mothers. However, this is not always the case, as to why this is indeed a stereotype among women. Surely enough this is one gender identity that I have changed my mind about throughout the years. I once had stereotyped women for being caregivers or mothers but growing up and having this proven wrong to me repeatedly has made me change my mind.
Throughout Wool, The dispossessed and Pattern recognition, we are exposed to many female characters in these novels. Although science fiction has long been defined as a genre dominated by men, it is so surprising to see that women character has played dominate roles in these novels. The impact of women on these novels can be clearly observed, but each book depicts women character so differently that made me curious about knowing further about women’s status and roles play in society and how they change over time.
Turn right, walk in a circle, turn left and keep going until you reach a dead end. The walk was random and I am sure that we all look quite silly to those we pass. I have already walked the campus many times so I don’t see anything out of the ordinary when I look at the buildings or the landscape. I decide to focus more on the people we pass.
In her feminist critique of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Anne Millard Daughtey described Buffy as a show which "obviously promotes female strength and power" (159). Buffy herself is a "symbol of female empowerment" (149); as feminists we can all take comfort in the fact that Buffy "kicks butt and so can we all" (164). Sherryl Vint agrees that Buffy is a "positive role model for young women, one which feminism should celebrate" (para. 3). I find this understanding of Buffy, both the character and the series, to be very problematic, and with this paper I aim to undertake a revised feminist critique of the show, and expose the Buffyverse as the product of a very traditional patriarchal
World War II had just ended and several American women were coming home from good paying military jobs. After the war less than half of these women were able to use the skills they had gained for jobs that were available post-war. Black women working in fields picking cotton or cutting cane in the South moved to Detroit or Los Angeles to build ships and tanks for the war. They were unable to receive veteran’s benefits such as Federal Housing Administration home loans for veterans because they were only available to men. Many of these women had no choice but to take low paying, and very physically demanding jobs in factories, kitchens, and launders. White women were often stigmatized after the war for having jobs. Black women working in fields
During this week we have discussed the differences of how we describe masculine and feminine based on biological and cultural assessments of gender, while also looking at how media depicts these gender roles, and how it influences our understanding of sex and sexuality. Gender roles are drawn upon normative rules and standards that “society” create. When we distinguish between these roles, the Masculine role is more self-oriented or agentic, while the feminine role is communal. Males are understood of having a standard of being strong, aggressive, dominant, and most importantly being the provider. Females are thought of having the standard of being weak, fragile, submissive, nurturing, and subordinate. This gender socialization begins at birth starting when a girl is placed in a pink hat, while a boy is placed in a blue cap.
My depiction of women in some of the stories showed them as weak and powerless. The women only existed to please people. The characters in the stories portrayed women as tools to use for their own convenience. The stories portray women as sexualized and used by many people. The women never speak out against any rule or regulation; instead, they nod and agree with whatever someone says. Like puppets, the women in these stories only existed for someone to enjoy physically or for them to help someone else gain status or rewards. Many of the women become abused, mentally or physically in some scenarios. I will give some examples of how women get portrayed poorly.
The worlds first test tube baby , and the worlds first ivf baby.When they were born, Louise Brown and Elizabeth Carr graced the front pages of newspapers and the covers of magazines worldwide, and their parents were flooded with requests to appear on television with everyone from Phil Donahue to Oprah Winfrey.
I have, until this point in this course, complained that, with few exceptions, Science Fiction as a genre never seems to quite reach a critical mass where it can achieve breakaway-velocity and leave its rather conservative orbit of binary gender (and heteronormativity) behind. There seems to have been many times when the genre has tiptoed close to the edge of gender-binarism (for instance, in its sub-genre of feminist utopias), only to scurry away from the assumed precipice and remain firmly ensconced in the supposed safety of Man/Woman-Masculine/Feminine dichotomies. Brian Attbery’s “Decoding Gender” finally takes us over that supped cliff – or at least peers over its precipice – to speak upon Science Fiction’s potential to imagine – even predict/produce – life beyond a gender binary. Given my own research in gender identity development and deployment, I found his work to be both a sometimes-frustrating primer on the social construction of gender and at the same time fascinating deconstructive study of gender and in turn science fiction.
Sports magazines across the world are known for featuring buff, strong and sexy male athletes on their covers, where they’re usually wearing their uniform, looking heroic, muscular and powerful. Women also occasionally grace the sporting magazine covers, wearing scantily clad bikinis, pouting and looking beautiful with immaculate hair and make-up. The women are often models, sometimes pictured with male athletes, but nearly always are depicted in sexually objectifying ways. This brings attention to the body type and attractiveness, rather than the qualities that define them as an athlete. Objectification is used in this context to describe forms of marketing, promotion or attempts to gain media coverage which focuses on attention on the sexual
The article discusses its argument, stating that men are being oppressed in today’s society, similar to how women once were. The article argues it’s three main points: that men are negatively portrayed in the media, restricted of their necessities at schools, and always viewed guilty in the eyes of society and the law. The issue raised is whether or not men are truly being oppressed in today’s world. The article concludes stating that the only difference between the ways men are currently being treated and the ways women were once treated is that men do not fight back.
A stereotype can be defined as “a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.” Stereotypes are preconceived notions about a group of people. Gender roles are “the public image of being a particular gender that a person presents to others.” These roles are also known as the social norms that dictate the types of behaviors that are deemed acceptable, appropriate or desirable for people of the two genders. Both stereotypes and gender roles of women (and of men) have spanned the centuries. When looking at medieval texts as well as a Classical Greek text, readers are shown how women, especially, are viewed by society as well as the role they are given. During these times women were typically stereotyped to be less dominant than men and their gender roles were very narrowly focused on life inside the home but in some literature pieces that wasn 't the case.
Women in today's society are still being held accountable by stereotypes. For example, how women get hired in the work environment, how they drive on the streets and strength. Stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Meaning stereotype of women can be fixed widely.
The main topic of this chapter is stereotypes specifically about masculinity and femininity. A historical perspective called The Cult of True Womanhood, which meant a woman should be devout, unstained, obedient and well behaved. However, men could practically be the opposite of the women and yet be depicted as inferior to men. In addition, another historical view presented is Male Gender Role Identity in which a man could be prosperous by being tough, suppressing emotions, avoiding feminine actions and passions. Furthermore, a psychological test that was performed was the Attitude Interest Analysis Survey in which resulted in masculinity and femininity as complete opposites. For example, men are tough and independent, whereas women are weak and dependent.
Dictionary.com defines “woman” as “an adult female person.” This does justice in simple terms but a woman is much more than simply “an adult female person.” Women are caregivers and nurturers. We are strong, independent, protective, and driven. We are the electricity that keeps the lights on and the washers of the laundry when their children are too lazy to do it (only because we care, not because it is our “duty”). Unfortunately, this is not how women were always seen. We have had to fight hard to get where we are today, and must continue to fight so we can be somewhere new tomorrow. Women were seen as housewives, who cooked cleaned, and cared for the children while their husband was bringing home the bacon. This transferred into the theater as well. Women were expected to always attend with a male escort to one, keep her safe, as theater could easily turn into a riot, and two because attending without a man suggested one was a prostitute. The invention of the matinee performance allotted women the opportunity to attend shows during the day, making it safe from brawls and thieves while also sparing a woman’s reputation.