Gender Bender: Reimagining Gender Roles in Film and Media Portrayal

This essay explores the concept of gender stereotypes in media, particularly in film, by employing a 'Gender Bender' analysis. It begins by highlighting how media perpetuates traditional gender roles from a young age, influencing behaviors, career aspirations, and relationships. The essay proposes a hypothetical role reversal in the movie 'Bride Wars,' examining the potential impact on the storyline and character dynamics if male characters adopted typically female behaviors and vice versa. The analysis reveals that swapping genders disrupts the narrative's feasibility, as societal expectations and media portrayals differ significantly for men and women regarding wedding planning and romantic dreams. The essay concludes that while media has historically reinforced gender stereotypes, more recent films are promoting gender equality, suggesting a shift in representation. Desklib offers a platform for students to access this essay and other resources for their studies.

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RUNNING HEAD: GENDER BENDER
Gender Bender
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GENDER BENDER
Gender Bender
From the very inception of our exposure to media, they have us fed stereotypical
gender roles. Television and movies classifies our day-to-day behaviour from career
aspiration, to our personalities as well as our relationships. These media usually describes a
male as a strong character whereas girls are objectified by their body structure. Even in most
of the princess stories, it is the prince job to save the princess rather than princess standing up
for themselves and saving their own world (Bozdech, 2016).
To have a deeper understanding of the concept let us take a hypothesis and swap the
roles in a movie of male with the female and vice-versa. For Example, in the movie Bride
Wars if we switch the roles of female protagonist, Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Liv (Kate
Hudson) with males characters in the movie Bride Wars. The very founding of the movies
involves a dream of the girls falling in love with a prince, getting married at a wonderful
destination and living happily ever after. The plot of the movie revolves around the hustle
between two best friends caused by the clash in their wedding.
Difference caused by gender swapping
Media contributes in reinforcing stereotypes about the roles of men and women in the
society. It describes the roles that male and female play in the society, it also shapes the
hopes and aspiration of person according to the gender (Wnywomensfoundation, 2017). By
switching, gender in the movies the whole story does not make much of a sense. The movie
would have probably ended with in half hour as the men do not go over the top over a
wedding and could do a little alteration in the wedding details (Chira, 2017).
Storyline seems unfeasible
If we swap the roles of males and females with each other in the movie, the whole
plot of the seams impractical. We never see a man making a fuss about the wedding details
such as a venue, dress, cakes etc., neither the media portray a young boys dreaming about his
wedding day. So to imagine that Fletcher (Chris Pratt) and Daniel (Steve Howey) having a
childhood dream of meeting the love of their life and getting married at perfect destination
looks quite unfeasible.

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GENDER BENDER
Gender fitting in their new role
After swapping the gender roles, the characters cannot justify the roles. As the main
point of hustle between the female characters was their obsessive behaviour over a wedding
venue and the situation looks a lot improbable given that Daniel and Fletcher are making a
big deal about the wedding venue. The storyline proceed by Liv and Emma sabotaging each
other’s wedding preparation to have the perfect of their own, which again cannot be justified
by the gender swap.
Viewer absorbs content from the Televisions and Movies about their profession,
attitude and even their relationships, which can often lead false assumptions and conclusions.
According to a research, consuming a lifetime of stereotypical media can be so embedded in
our behaviour that it can influence our career choice, relations and self-worth (Dingfelder,
2004). However, with the growing time, more and more movies are being made promoting
the gender equality such as Hidden Figures, Moana etc.
References
Bozdech, B (2016, December 25). Watch Out! Classic Movies with Old-Fashioned Gender
Roles. Common Sense. Retrieved from
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/watch-out-classic-movies-with-old-
fashioned-gender-roles
Chira, S. (2017, June 20) A New Rating for TV and Movies Tries to Combat Gender
Stereotypes. The New York Times. Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/arts/common-sense-media-ratings-gender.html
Dingfelder, S.F. (2004). Gender bender. American Psychological Association, 35(4), 48.
Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/monitor/apr04/gender.aspx
Wnywomensfoundation, (2017). WATCHING GENDER: How Stereotypes in Movies and
on TV Impact Kids’ Development. wnywomensfoundation.org Retrieved from
https://wnywomensfoundation.org/app/uploads/2017/08/16.-Watching-Gender-How-
Stereotypes-in-Movies-and-on-TV-Impact-Kids-Development.pdf