The word “feminism” has various different connotations. Some people choose to embrace this word and adopt it into their lifestyles, while others find it too big and complicated to grapple with. The truth is, both the definition and concept of feminism is very simple at its roots. Wikipedia defines feminism as “a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes.” In very basic terms, feminism is the idea that both sexes are equal. So why is it that when I talk to my girl friends or boy friends that they think feminists are all man-hating, hairy, boisterous women who are asking for too much?
First and foremost, gender inequality is all around us—you just have to look for it. For example, Hollywood. Of the top 100 grossing movies in 2019, female directors make up just 11 percent of directors and 19 percent of writers. In 2018, Rachel Morrison became the first women ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Cinematography. According to Women and Hollywood, there are only three women who have ever won an Academy Award for Best Director of out 85 winners (3.5 percent), and only seven female nominees ever. While I believe these statistics are absolutely appalling and definitely an injustice, let’s say someone reading this thinks “I don’t care about film, why does this matter?”
Per those statistics, it would be correct to say that Hollywood directors, writers, and crews are composed of mainly men, meaning the world of cinematography is mainly told through men’s minds and imaginations and perspectives. This is problematic in that a male’s experience inherently consists of patriarchal lines of thinking, specifically the objectification of women. Not only are women not afforded the positions to create cinema, they are not even there to offer redirection in the framing of shots, or the progression/character development of male or female characters.
The male gaze is what is usually used to describe Hollywood’s cinematic framing and editing techniques. The male gaze consists of several different problematic tropes, such as the framing of women on camera. Women are typically filmed in fragments of either their legs, torsos, or slow motion pans up their bodies. However, when men are filmed in slow motion, it is to emphasize power, dominance, and strength. Women typically are in movies in order to advance the plot of the male characters and sometimes are not even named. The Bechdel test is a great first-step in analyzing films through a feminist lens, as it requires that there are at least two females in the movies that speak to each other about something other than a man. It is shocking how many movies fail this test.
The reason this is so important is because Hollywood is our subconscious. Movies and TV shows are consumed as much as the air we breathe; digital media is everywhere all the time. So when what is being produced is sexist in nature, what does this say about our society? The sexualization of women in films becomes worse and worse the more you begin to realize it, and once you do, you can’t unsee it.
Cinema is everywhere. It is what brings families together, it fosters lines of thinking, it causes revolutions and realizations, and brings about social change. It is a way to get into the minds of your audience and have it resonate so deeply. So it is incredibly disappointing and unjust to see such suppressive and harmful stereotypes being perpetrated through these very films onto the screens in our homes, on our phones, onto screens we watch with our friends, families, and children, in movies we celebrate.
The purpose of this article is not to say all of Hollywood is sexist and patriarchal (Barbie just came out and does a fine job of explaining that anyways), but rather to prompt a line of questioning when you are viewing a piece of cinema. Consider what stereotypes are being portrayed and how these are harmful. Notice the way women are filmed and their ultimate role in the movie—are they a pawn? Could the same plotline progress without them? Being a feminist does not have to mean marching and petitioning and protesting and speaking up, rather, feminism can mean awareness. Feminism can mean you understand the world and society around you and the ways in which it is unjust. And until people begin to see the subliminal issues within our society, things may take far longer to achieve than hoped for.