Feminism and Popular Media

This paper analyzes the issue of feminism by highlighting the portrayal of gender roles and expectations of black women in popular media sources. The chosen sources for discussion are the TV shows 'The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl', 'Dear White People', and the movie 'The Help'. The paper explores the challenges faced by black women in terms of racism, sexism, and patriarchy, and raises questions about their role in society and the impact of gender stereotypes. The analysis concludes that feminism takes different forms depending on the condition of women and their status, and that gender roles are deeply rooted in socialization and culture.

Running head: FEMINISM AND POPULAR MEDIA
Feminism and popular media
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1FEMINISM AND POPULAR MEDIA
Introduction
The idea of feminism portrays the equality of sexes, based on the ideology that all women
and girls share an equal opportunity in life in comparison to the male counterpart. It is beneficial
for both men and women since it believed women should have a fair share of opportunities in
life. This paper aims to analyze the issue of the feminism by highlighting one of the key concepts
that have been the dominant theme of all the three accessible culture media sources. Three
sources have been chosen for the discussion namely, three favorite shows, "the misadventure
Awkward Black girl”, “Dear White people”, “ The Help” (IMDb, 2019). The key concepts
chosen for the analysis is the gender role and expectations of the black women within the context
of the white people. This paper will be highlighting the issue that being black and women at the
same time are more challenging than simply being women.
Discussion
According to Miller in Double Jeopardy, it has been discussed that along with the
struggle to fight acute sexism, and there is a higher degree of racism which black women face on
a regular basis (Beal 2008). This is further complicated with the economic and social
exploitation of the black women which is not even considered the pertinent question to the white
people. However, the challenges are much deeper in some of the contexts. This aspect of the con
concept that deals with racism and sexism are related to the baggage of expectations that are
required to be fulfilled by these women. The media resource: “Dear white people”, it is
portraying the idea of black college students within the context of one of the reputed colleges of
America (IMDb, 2019). This dwell into the nuances of the race-related aspects of these black

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women. This can be related to the idea presented by the author that the struggle for the black
women in particular and the women, in general, is diverse and complex in nature since they have
the struggle that is engaging in all aspects. It can be mentioned in relation to the readings that
there is a number of misconceptions and troubles that are attached to the black women in
general. Even for the girls of this community are subject to the large scale discrimination,
mistreatment and the alienation due to their birth to a particular race (Collins et al. 2017). While
in case of the " The Help", the black women have been portrayed in a way that their role in the
society is always seen to be inferior and jobs and opportunities left to these people are inferior in
comparison to the white women within the context of U. S (IMDb, 2019). This media resource
analyses the condition of the black women in America where along with racism and sexism there
are also subjected to acute patriarchy. The women are expected to fulfill certain roles in society.
According to Beale, this subjugation of men and women are to be traced back to the issue of
capitalism (Beal 2008). The portrayal of women as subordinate to men in society deals with the
nuances of the daily life of other black women. The portrayal of the character of Skeeter is one
that is voicing her opinion against the society’s norms irrespective of belonging to the educated
elite classes. There are certain gender roles associated with her character where she has decided
not to conform to the societies norm. This is also important to note that the women of this elite
class are expected to carry the social responsibility of rearing a child and getting married at the
early age while the men in the society belonging to the same class can aspire to become lawyer,
doctor or any other professional field. This dichotomy is visible in almost every developing
society where the inferior status of women are not being questioned, and it is based on the belief
that layering of society is accepted and normal. This brings us the question of the status of
women and their gendered role in society where the role of the man is always shown as the busy

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outside while the female counterpart is busy taking care of the home (Prügl 2015). This media
resource raises questions about the role of these black women in taking care of the home and the
children of white parents. Hence it can be argued that women are
The last media resource taken for discussion here is the “the misadventure of Awkward
Black girl”, subjected to varied role and numbers of expectations is a general manifestation of
the same (IMDb, 2019). This media resource highlights the issue of misadventures that the black
girl faces. This TV shows the dilemma that the girl who has a history of being part of an African
family and nourished in a liberal environment is going through. According to Beale, it has been
argued that black women not only face a problem of outside politics and racism; it is equally
inside their bedroom (Beal 2008). Their struggle is a part of the larger effort that the community
of people is facing. According to the Sykes, it can be said that black women have lower self-
esteem due to the long history of subjugation and sexism awarded to them (Sykes 1988). This
has been made worse with the long practices of slavery that these women have faced. Hence it
can be said that the challenges faced by these women are in several forms and several ways, it is
more likely that their resistance would be higher than any other white women, all of the media
resources try to analyze one single aspect of this black struggle that is the gender role that is
expected of these women (Jayawardena 2016). This is to be concluded here that women in
general and black women, in particular, are socialized in this way to believe this gender role and
natural. It is not only related to the gender role of these women, but there is also the number of
health-related risks attached to these women which are the result of their long history.
This is to be considered that gender role is the process of expectations of certain activities
and behavior for the sake of being into one gender. This is also to be noted that this sense of
gender role of women is not only harmful to the women; rather it is to men in general

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(Jayawardena 2016). The idea has been presented in varied ways by the scholars, and the media
resources have questioned these ways of portraying women. Hence it can be concluded that the
feminists all over the world have raised challenged about this gender stereotyped presentation of
women (Jayawardena 2016). This has been part of the popular media that has highlighted the
issue of women and their subjugation in different forms.
Conclusion
However what is important here to note that feminism has taken different forms
throughout the world depending on the condition of women and their status which has been
subjugating and oppressive towards women of all age. Therefore it can be concluded that women
and their gender roles are more complex than it appears since it is deep-rooted in the process of
their socialization and part of the culture they belong.

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References
Beal, F.M., 2008. Double jeopardy: To be Black and female. Meridians: feminism, race,
transnationalism, 8(2), pp.166-176.
Collins, P.H., 2017. What's in a name? Womanism, Black feminism, and beyond. Cadernos
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IMDb. (2019). Dear White People (TV Series 2017– ) - IMDb. [online] Available at:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5707802/ [Accessed 18 Apr. 2019].
IMDb. (2019). The Help (2011) - IMDb. [online] Available at:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454029/ [Accessed 18 Apr. 2019].
IMDb. (2019). The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl (TV Series 2011– ) - IMDb. [online]
Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2123765/ [Accessed 18 Apr. 2019].
Jayawardena, K., 2016. Feminism and nationalism in the Third World. Verso Books.
Prügl, E., 2015. Neoliberalising feminism. New Political Economy, 20(4), pp.614-631.
Sykes, B., 1988. Love Poems: And Other Revolutionary Actions. International Specialized Book
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