The Image of a Woman

Many movies are based on ideas from real life. They come from what we see everyday, thoughts that flow through our minds, dreams we may have, places we’ve been and people we have met.  So I find myself wondering… for all the archetypal women found in films…. Do real life counter parts exist for these characters? Are they real women? Are they fantasies someone dreamt up one particularly lonely night? Where are the ideas for these characters coming from? What do people see when they experience a woman? And maybe more importantly, how are these versions of women affecting the expectations of real women?

Take for instance the actress Angelina Jolie—known for being a tough, beautiful woman. Constantly taking roles as sexy, adventurous and warrior women, Like in the movie “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”[6], where she plays a hardened rich, sexy, desired archeologist. In the film there are nude scenes that are completely unimportant to the development of the story, there are sexual innuendos when there is almost no romantic or sexual relationship between any characters and she divulges completely into the male fantasy of a tough, hardened chick. She even wears dominatrix like clothing as her “uniform”. This character has been franchised into video games, TV shows, comic strips and even into a film sequel; therefore exposing this female character to different sorts of media viewers. Do men expect that I jump into caves not knowing what awaits me inside? Or to drive a motorcycle backwards while shooting at my enemy’s various henchmen? Because I assure you I will not be doing those activities in the near future.

Another good example of female stereotypes in film can be found in almost every Tyler Perry movie, however let’s focus on one in particular, “For Colored Girls”[4], a film that touches on multiple types of victims including victims of rape, abortion, murder, inability to perceive, deception, abuse, etc.  Does this movie infer that to be a strong woman, a woman must first be a victim? What about a woman who hasn’t experienced those types of abuse or victimization? Are they not seen as a woman in our society’s eyes?

Another popular stereotype is the good-hearted but short-witted and over sexualized “ditz”.  Let us take the example of the movie “The House Bunny”[5]. A story of a charming, unintelligent ex-playmate who winds up in a sorority house filled with misfit nerds. While wearing lingerie and saying outlandishly idiotic things, this character charms her way into the hearts of the audiences through her kindness and understanding; while the vision of her perfectly round and spread out cleavage charms its way into the visual pleasure centers of the male brain.

Do men expect all sexually attractive women to be idiots? And what about Latina women? As most of the previously mentioned characters aren’t Latina, do Latinos expect that Latinas look, act and be like these characters even though they look different and come from different backgrounds?

An article titled, “Women in Film: In Search for True Liberation for Women” states that

“It can be said with no exaggeration that without women there would be no cinema. Sadly, this is so not because the natural concerns of genuine womanhood have been addressed in film, but because from the very beginnings of cinema a woman has been made the centerpiece of attraction, an object of desire.”[2]

The true nature of a woman isn’t expressed in film; women are too complex for one film to tap into all the aspects of a woman, so instead some filmmakers decide to just focus on the beauty of a woman. Therefore there are films filled with women with “beauty beyond compare”.  These are the women with perfect hair, ageless faces and the “ideal bodies”. Now some woman might find it nice to be perceived as beautiful and attractive, myself included, however when these characters or women are transformed from depictions of what women are into standards of how women should be, I start to have a problem. I mean do they forget these women are fake?   They pick the perfect face and body (a.k.a. actress.) These characters have wardrobe stylists, makeup artists, trainers etc. I mean c’mon! These women are paid to look amazing!

I am not paid to look beautiful, I am simply just expected to, every single day of my existence.  Sometimes I just cannot stand up to the guidelines of beauty these women are portraying, I’m not even sure these women can live up to the images they are portraying! What do you expect of me? A poor college student working two minimum wage jobs—do you expect that I am going to be hiring a top fitness expert to make sure my butt and my breasts are perfectly round? Do they expect a makeup artist to come into my home every morning and paint my face with their special powders and stains? Do you expect me to have the energy every morning to wake up, wash my hair, style it and make sure that it looks perfect all day long? Do you expect that I have the perfect wardrobe? No matter how well these women act that they are like my peers and me, these women are probably not facing as many financial struggles as we are. So excuse me, if on my day off I put my hair in a bun and don’t comb it, or if I decide I want to wear my sweats for the ENTIRE weekend, if I don’t spray my designer perfume before I go to take out the trash! Is my beauty tainted? Am I not a “woman? And let’s face it; the machismo Latino men expect a lot of “their” women. They expect us to look good, to be able to cook and clean and take care of the house and to do it all with a smile. But what if some of us Latinas just cannot fit this script, what happens to us? Do we automatically lose our “woman card”? Will we be shunned in our Latino communities; will we be shunned in our homes?

In another article titled “Analysis of Harmful Representations of Women in the Media: Negative Images in Television, Video Games, Movies, and Magazines” states that:

“Television is one of the most present and widely viewed mediums in this country and have a large effect on the way women see themselves and how others view them. Television, with its many shows about men and women, is responsible for some harmful representations of women because, among other reasons, it supports many gender stereotypes. These stereotypes are harmful for women because they confine women to several gender-specific roles that are not always true. “[1]

The same is true for films. Many women feel the need to fit certain “womanly roles” one of these roles being the motherly role.  Many girls grow up with the dreams oh having a family complete with the perfect husband and the perfect children.  This is especially true in Latino culture, where women are married young and have offspring soon after. The basis of the family is extremely important, but so I looking good. A younger woman might feel the need to take on the role of the beautiful, desirous, young woman. It is easy for society to take advantage of the vulnerability of women trying to figure out what a “real woman” is.  This becomes the perfect platform for marketing schemes—schemes that will tell women how they should look. How far does this marketed woman idea go? Did you know about the economics of women? Take for example this excerpt from an article about media portrayals of women and how this affects body image.

 “On the one hand, women who are insecure about their bodies are more likely to buy beauty products, new clothes, and diet aids. It is estimated that the diet industry alone is worth anywhere between 40 to 100 billion.”[3]

Frankly some of these ideas of a woman, as portrayed by media and film, do not fit into the goals and desires I hold for myself.  However if I follow what I want, I risk being isolated from my society, and if I follow what “they” say, I risk being unhappy within myself. What’s a woman to do? Where’s my script? What character should I play?

Literature:

“Analysis of Harmful Representations of Women in the Media: Negative Images in Television, Video Games, Movies, and Magazines.” Welcome to ArticleMyriad.com! Web. 18 Oct. 2011. <http://www.articlemyriad.com/9.htm&gt;. [1]

“Women in Film: In Search Of True Liberation For Women.” The Truth About Cinema. Web. 18 Oct. 2011. <http://www.cinemaseekers.com/womanhood/women_in_film.html&gt;. [2]

Yamamiya, Y., T. Cash, S. Melnyk, H. Posavac, and S. Posavac. “Women’s Exposure to Thin-and-beautiful Media Images: Body Image Effects of Media-ideal Internalization and Impact-reduction Interventions.” Body Image 2.1 (2005): 74-80. Print. [3]

Films:

For Colored Girls. Dir. Tyler Perry. Perf. Whoopi Goldberg,Janet Jackson, Kerry Washington. Lionsgate Films, 2010. DVD. [4]

The House Bunny. Dir. Fred Wolf. Prod. Adam Sandler. Anna Faris, Colin Hanks, and Emma Stone. Columbia Pictures, 2008. DVD. [5]

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Dir. Simon West. 2001. DVD. [6]

My name is Cristina Diaz. I am a junior at San Francisco State University, relishing my twentieth year of life in this beautiful exciting city. I am originally from San Jose so I’ve been born and bred here in the Bay Area and quite proud of it. I guess what influences my writing is reading things that interest me. I obviously don’t enjoy reading all the boring and redundant articles assigned in class that are filled with terminology I don’t know or care to investigate about. I’d rather read something with humor, with a stance, and with a clear and concise idea or method. No bells or whistles, just straight to the point and real. So I write as if I was writing for my own enjoyment.  Issues I concern myself with are obviously women struggles in this male and money dominated society I live in, the struggles of students of all ages and backgrounds and the opportunities that are awarded to some but not others, issues of the Latino (including the minority idea, immigration, etc).  The issue I find myself most passionate about is the right to education for all no matter what social or economic background that student finds his or herself in. If we don’t learn we don’t progress, and if we aren’t encouraged to grow, we won’t learn.