Sociology Essay: Gender Stereotypes and Women Suppression in Society

This essay delves into the complex interplay of gender stereotypes and the suppression of women, particularly focusing on the cultural context of France and its debates surrounding secularism and women's rights. It examines the controversy over wearing religious symbols like the hijab, niqab, and burkini, and how these issues are intertwined with perceptions of freedom and societal values. The essay analyzes an image of Brigitte Bardot, using it as a case study to illustrate the impact of the male gaze and Western cultural norms on the representation of women. It explores how this image is used to define the ideal of a 'free woman' and how it contrasts with cultural practices in other parts of the world. The analysis highlights themes of cultural colonialism, the objectification of women, and the differing perceptions of femininity and sexuality across cultures, ultimately questioning how these stereotypes impact women from eastern civilizations. The essay references various academic sources to support its arguments and provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic.

Running head: GENDER STEREOTYPE AND WOMEN SUPPRESSION
Gender Stereotype and Women Suppression
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1GENDER STEREOTYPE AND WOMEN SUPPRESSION
France had turned out to be a hot bed of debates, discussions, opinions and counter
opinions over the question of choosing between the values that form the basis of the constitution
of the Republic of France. The first country in the continent of Europe had attracted both
supporters and opposers when the highest judicial body of the country had declared that wearing
of the Islamic headscarf at any public place is a matter of violation of the constitutional principle
of secularism that is fundamental and inextricably linked to all the values of the Republic. Any
citizen or person found donning that at public places could incur a fine and a course on
citizenship. One section of the society opposed the decision citing it as an unjustified
infringement on the liberty of women. While another section of the society had welcome the
decision and considered it as an important move to instill the core values of the country, and save
the women from being suppressed under the garb of religion and traditions (Amthor, 2015).
Marie Le Pen, the presidential candidate representing the far right coalition in France had
commented on the issue of women wearing burkinis instead of bikinis that the beaches of the
country were meant for the likes of actress Brigitte Bardot and film director Robert Vadim, and
not for those who resembled the likes of Belphegor. The duo consisting of the actress and the
Director mentioned herein had shot quite a number of erotic films on the beaches that lied to the
South of France. While Belphegor was a ghost who wore a black garment similar to the Islamic
abaya, and was infamous for haunting the Louvre Museum situated at the heart of the city of
Paris. The image that has been attached underneath is that of Brigitte Bardot, making her
appearance for the first time at the Cannes Film Festival, in the year 1953 (Amthor, 2015). When
the controversy over banning the hijab, niqab, burqa and the burkini in France had occupied the
political centre stage, her image was cited as an argument to support the decision by the Sarkozy
Government. Besides upholding the deep rooted principle of French Secularism, a legacy of the

2GENDER STEREOTYPE AND WOMEN SUPPRESSION
French Revolution, she was also cited as an epitome of a Free Woman in a Free Society which
discourages subjugation of women. The image represents the ideal image of a free woman and
how she ought to behave and appear in a free society. The Western world considers a woman
who exposes herself to the male gaze is the epitome of an empowered woman. The image means
that a free woman is not and should not be afraid to be expose her skin in public and also that the
western civilization is far more superior to that of the civilizations and cultures of the other parts
of the world (Amthor, 2015).
Figure 1: Brigitte Bardot at Cannes ("Redirect Notice", 2018)
In this part of the essay an analysis of the image shall be provided. This particular image
of actress Brigitte Bardot was clicked by the papparazis when she was frolicking around the
beach with her friends (Collins, 2017). It was however not exactly a photo shoot session but one
of the moments when she was enjoying herself at the beach, and had happily posed for the
papparazis present there. This image does influence the meaning in the sense that it shows that

3GENDER STEREOTYPE AND WOMEN SUPPRESSION
people in the western world do not consider nudity of a woman as something obscene, rather it is
a reflection of the fact that in the western world the male gaze empowers women and it does not
seek to suppress women. This goes as far as who clicked the image and the context of the image
(Collins, 2017).
The target audience of the image is definitely her fans and her admirers. It also would not
be very wrong to say that the image was also supposed to play the role of a source of sexual
stimulation for the women, and a model for the women folks to imbibe the idea of being an ideal
attractive woman who is desirable to a man (Collins, 2017). That accounts for the purpose of the
visual representation of the actress. The motivation for the visual work is the interest of the
papparazis to capture every moment of the celebrities and if it is that of a female one, then the
saleability and the sensational factor of the image shall be heightened. That is after all the
professional stringency of the papparazis (Collins, 2017).
The symbolism of the image lies in her skimpy dress, the bikini, which was used by
Madame Le Pen to demonstrate what France ought to be and what code of conduct should the
outsiders observe when they step on to the soil of France. The smile on her face represents her
joy which is somehow related to the fact that a free woman who has the liberty to dress freely,
exposing a lot of skin, is essentially happy and confident (Collins, 2017).
The image represents a cross cultural context in explaining the ideas of gender norms and
sexuality as different in the west and the third world. The western world does not shy away or
have a negative attitude towards exploring or being explicit about sexuality (Carr, 2018). This
makes the western civilizations seem much more open and friendly towards the women folks,
and the supposed stringencies of gendered code of conduct is somewhat nil. While in the cultures
which forbids women to express their beauty, to be vocal about their sexuality are lower forms of

4GENDER STEREOTYPE AND WOMEN SUPPRESSION
culture and must be having no place in the western world. This is what the image seems to
convey in this context (Carr, 2018).
Femininity has been portrayed as an object which seeks completeness in being gazed at,
and masculinity as the portrayer of femininity, the one to decide the ideal woman. The image of
Bardot is but what the men desires women to be, regardless of the fact what women wants to
project themselves (Carr, 2018).
These ideals definitely harms the women belonging to cultures of the eastern
civilizations as the entire construct belittles their significance their claim to womanhood and
freedom. The image represent cultural and ideological colonialism. Thus this image evokes the
image of ridicule for the eastern civilizations and celebration of the victory of masculinity over
femininity despite empowering them (Carr, 2018).

5GENDER STEREOTYPE AND WOMEN SUPPRESSION
References
Amthor, J. (2015). The Male Gaze versus Female Self-Determination in Ekphrastic Poetry.
Carr, A. J. (2018). Viewing Pleasure and Being a Showgirl: How Do I Look?. Routledge.
Collins, L. (2017). Mulvey, patriarchy and gender: expression and disruption in visual art. New
Review of Film and Television Studies, 15(4), 415-420.
Redirect Notice. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?
sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwix6_jp5
bTdAhWLPY8KHYGNArAQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.gettyimages.ca%2Fdetail%2Fnews-photo%2Fcannes-film-festival-1953-
french-actress-brigitte-bardot-news-photo
%2F592973800&psig=AOvVaw1N5N2BIn_9fAqJW_4jYewz&ust=1536818664978248