Why do comic book movies like The
Avengers reinforce traditional gender stereotypes and what impact does this
have on audiences?
Introduction (200 words)
Lay out the argument: comic book movies reinforce gender
stereotypes and influences audiences.
Mention primary text (secoundary and historical text)
Ø (Feminism at the Movies. Edited by
Hilary Radner and Rebecca Stringer. Published 2011.)P36. "Lad
Flicks": Discursive Reconstruction of Masculinity in Popular Film. P268.
From Victim to Vigilante: Gender, Violence and Revenge in the Brave
One (2007) and Hard Candy (2005). P44-6. The
Queer Limits of Lad Flick in Masculinity.--"... The presence of an
attractive women to 'reassure' viewers of the protagonists
sexuality".-pg45
“The lack women in the spotlight is becoming
impossible to overlook”
“The battle for equality between men and women in
superhero films is a fight plenty will volunteer for, but the narrow field of
roles (and powers) afforded to women isn’t just about equality – it’s about
boring storytelling.”
“Women are constantly being
misrepresented in these films, shown for purposes of objectification, support
of the male characters, and mostly as love interests that drive the male
characters.”
Section 1- Historical text -- Captain America
(1990)/Fantastic Four (1994) (250 words)
Ø What things were like in the 90’s and
prior to that time period and 2 paragraphs separate for both texts.
Watch and analyse the two movies and identify a scene from
each that presents gender stereotypes, then apply theories.
Theories/ Key Words
Ø Gender stereotypes Dominate Representation
“Persuasions returns to work at a New
York City strip club….Persuasions returns to Genentech for observation but
later appears again as an exotic dancer.
Section 2- Primary text: Avengers (600 words)
Ø Academic and institutional research
that link to primary text
Quotes:
“In Iron Man 2, Black Widow was more
of an object. She spent most of the movie bending over various objects in
revealing clothing.”
“The Avengers was a bit of a boys’
club but given the treatment of Scarlett Johansson, it qualifies as a feminist
movie.”
“Black Widow was a very useful
character. She recruited Bruce Banner without the use of seduction techniques,
she discovered Loki’s plan and she deactivated the Tesseract. As a bonus, Black
Widow doesn’t even have the most revealing costume, an honour bestowed upon
Hawkeye.”
“The Avengers, we are privy to a perfect representation of women in
films. Five men standing, preparing to protect the city of New York from being
wiped off the map, and there is one woman with them. She is dressed in a suit
that perfectly forms to her curves, as to appear appealing, and she armed with
the smallest weapon. This is how women are portrayed in cinema.”
“Tempering telepathy and telekinesis
with warmth and compassion, Jean secretly hungers for a passionate partner,”
for X-Men’s Jean Grey, and “a classic beauty in every sense of the word,” for
Storm, also of the X-Men (www.marvel.com).
“DC Comics does not appear to be much
different for they describe Cat woman “in a tight leather cat suit…the Princess
of Plunder…[whose] heart would always belong to Batman,” and exalting Wonder
Woman as being “as beautiful as Aphrodite” (www.dccomics.com).
Section 3- Secondary text: The Dark Knight Rises (250 words)
Ø Does this further support your argument
Ø Anymore quotes and research?
Quotes:
“The issue got even worse in Thor: The Dark
World – a film that would (for a nice change of pace) find Jane
infected by the film’s Macguffin, thereby requiring her to play a more active
role in the plot.”
“The
Dark Knight trilogy
had Bruce Wayne embarrassed and rejected by the women of Gotham for a change.”
Ø MM44-Dark Knight, Dark Ideas
“…Batman as a symbol of
vigilantism, justice, vengeance and even fascism.”
“…fights criminals by putting on a mask, attacking them in the dark and
dishing out his own vigilante justice, uninhibited by the laws, restrictions
and corruption that the local police deal with.”
“Bruce Wayne became the terrorist and Batman became both torturer and
operator of a mass surveillance system; it was exactly the point that in
fighting the villain, he became the villain
Section 4- Wider context and Feminism (600 words)
Ø Web research :everyday sexism,
Twitter
Ø One week of why/ NYC street walking
Quotes:
Ø MM34 - Engendering Change: What’s
Happened to Representations of Women?
“Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch
themselves being looked at.” Berger 1972
“In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking
has been split between active/male and passive/female.” Mulvey 1985: 306
“…it’s too simplistic to assume that this
era had no strong female characters in the media. For example: Emma Peel
featured in The Avengers from 1965 to 1967 and brought a radical and powerful
combination of female sexuality, intelligence and lethal combat skills to the
small screen.” (Jones 2002)
Section 5- Are things changing? (300 words)
Ø The other side of the argument
Ø New Marvel movies – Female leads Up
to the minute research
Quotes:
“Sif had quickly emerged
as the only real ‘warrior woman’ seen in a superhero film to that point –
despite being more of an ‘Asgardian’ than a bona fide superhero.”
“A warrior goddess (who
managed to exude sex appeal without showing skin)”
“One of the most
promising super powered women in Marvel’s stable was reduced to one of the most
stereotypical soap opera tropes imaginable.”
“Wonder Woman was long-hailed as
the greatest example of the need for young women to see super powered role
models on the big screen”
“Hawkeye ended up as more of the
disappointing female character; his costume being more revealing, having less
screen time and getting captured by the enemy.”
Go back to the main argument and have you changed perspective
any hope for change?
“Watching TV shows with Iron Man or
the Hulk might make little boys more prone to gender-stereotyped play and make
both boys and girls more likely to play with pretend weapons, new research
finds.”
“For the women superheroes, they are
built to promote their sexuality. Nearly all of the women have hourglass
figures that could rarely be accomplished in real life, like Barbie, with a
small waist and large bust and hips. The breasts especially are very
pronounced. These women are seen as beautiful in the American culture, and
other women try to emulate the body styles. Unfortunately, some pursue this in
the unhealthy manner of eating disorders while trying to achieve the pronounced
waist and others resort to plastic surgery to increase their bust size. The
heroines also have long hair, not too long, but falling to somewhere in the
middle of their back, and worn loosely with perhaps a headband to hold it back
off of the heroine’s face.”
“Skin tight jumpsuits seem to be the
standard attire for the superhero male, with muscles showing clearly through
the material.”
“There are typically briefs or a belt
of some kind drawing attention to the narrow hips, or some sort of shoulder
covering designed in a triangular fashion that once again draws attention to
the waist and hips.”
