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Spark: Gender in Media

Posted by xJane on April 16th, 2008 at 6:41 am · 5 Comments

USC just sponsored a study of gender in movies, animation, and television, coming up with some pretty stark results: essentially, although the number of female characters has increased, most are still locked into gendered activities and are not often main characters. This can be seen quite clearly in Horton Hears a Who: there are many female characters (over one hundred!) but three of the four major characters are male. One man’s response after having seen it with his daughters is funny, insightful, and depressing. [hat tip]

Spark is a new category for sharing links. No intense commentary, just a link & a brief reason you might want to click on it. Something to Spark your Mind to Flame, if you will.

Tags: Feminism · Gender · Links · Media and Design · Movie Reviews · Politics · Spark

5 responses so far ↓

  • 1 xJane // Apr 16, 2008 at 4:49 pm

    Quick, name a few recent popular movies where the two top-billed stars are female.

    Can’t? Here’s why.

  • 2 Elaine // Apr 17, 2008 at 6:45 am

    Two come to mind: “The Banger Sisters” (2002), with IMDB claiming that Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon are the top billed stars. The other is less recent: “Thelma and Louise”, with Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis (1991). Neither one are, as that link claims, mother/daughter bonding movies or horror movies. Of course, I’d have to watch the actual films again to see if the two women are actually top billed. Another one, from longer ago, that I’d bet have two women top-billed (and a woman director, Ida Lupino, as well) is “The Trouble With Angels”.

    So, yeah, there aren’t all that many.

  • 3 Rich // Apr 17, 2008 at 10:13 pm

    A few others come to mind:

    Stepmom (Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon) 1998

    Princess Diaries (Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway) 2001

    The Devil Wears Prada (Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway) 2006

    Monster (Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci) 2003

    Steel Magnolias (top 6 are female) 1989

    How to Make and American Quilt (top 8 are female) 1995

    Girl, Interrupted (top 5 are female) 1999

  • 4 Elaine // Apr 18, 2008 at 6:43 am

    Another:

    Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (Sandra Bullock and Ellen Burstyn) 2002

    I thought of Steel Magnolias after I made my previous post, and I should have thought of The Princess Diaries, since I’ve seen it upwards of ten times.

  • 5 xJane // Apr 18, 2008 at 9:15 am

    I would submit that, of the ones mentioned that I’ve heard of (an American Quilt? sounds right up my alley!), most are “mother/daughter bonding movies or horror movies”. I would even hold that for Steel Magnolias, as much as I think it’s a female empowerment flick as well.

    I recently saw the Brave One which I’m not certain qualifies as “horror”, although it might, and it’s totally awesome. Especially since she came out right after it :) Go Jodie!

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