Raven Johnson

Professor Whittaker

FILM-THEA 1070

3/29/2017

Female Representation in American Film

Its widely known that film, being an enormous part of media, has become one of

the most effective influencers over the last century. Films are meant to be a reflection of

the culture they were made in and of the people they are made for. They tell stories that

viewers can relate to and empathize with. Because of this, it would seem natural that the

characters in these stories would be an accurate representation of the viewers who are

connecting with them. That is what we are expected to believe: that the man on screen is

the average man, the woman on screen is the average woman, and that the family on

screen is the average family. We begin to see a problem with this notion though, when we

realize what limited types of people and stories are actually being shown. In most cases,

they dont represent your average person at all.

Roughly half of the population is comprised of females, but in 2016 women made

up just 37% of major characters, and only 29% of protagonists in the top 100 domestic

grossing films (Lauzen, 1), and these numbers are actually historically high. Authors

Hanna Sender and Versha Sharma put 50 of the top grossing films of 2013 to the Bechdel

test, which asks three simple questions :

1) Are there at least two women in the film who have names?

2) Do these women talk to each other?

3) Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?

They concluded that only 17 of the 50 films passed the test, and even that doesnt

guarantee that women were portrayed in a positive light. In 2016, the top three grossing

films, Finding Dory, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Captain America: Civil War

(the-numbers.com) all passed the test, so progress is being made which may be due to the

popularity of third wave feminism, but even the Bechdel test is a pretty low bar for

female representation.

While some of the female protagonists from the last couple of years have had

strong roles with dynamic storylines (Kim Baker in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Disneys

Moana, the all female cast of the Ghostbusters remake, and Katniss from The Hunger

Games, to name a few) this still leaves the majority of leading female roles to fall under

the romance genre.

Romantic dramas and romantic comedies typically all share the same plot of a

woman seeking love. While romantic love is rightfully celebrated in our culture, seeking

the approval and partnership of a man isnt a realistic representation of what women do.

These movies allow women to have leading roles and sometimes make up the majority of

the main characters yet they still tell a story that revolves around men, marriage, and

having children. So even when we do see women in film, they are often being portrayed

as incompetent on their own and in need of companionship or saving from a man. A

study of romantic films done by Kimberly R. Johnson and Bjarn M. Holmes noted about

one movie:

[]a character arrives at work the day after a date and colleagues comment on

her appearing noticeably happier, more carefree, and that she cant stop

smiling. This contrasts from the depictions of single characters that were
 typically shown to be unhappy or frustrated, potentially further influencing the

negative attitudes toward being single[]

This type of movie glorifies the age-old idea of a woman needing a man and a family to

have a fulfilling life, an idea that the patriarchal hegemon relies on.

Romances are also almost exclusively marketed toward and watched by women,

yet films that feature men are equally as likely to be watched by both men and women.

Even though males make up a striking majority of lead roles, women, who make up about

50% of movie goers and ticket buyers (mpaa.org, 13) still paid to watch these films about

men, allowing them to be higher grossing than most female fronted movies. This enforces

the notion that men are capable of having a wide variety of adventurous and self-fulfilling

stories while women are two-dimensional and have a single story. Although women

make up such a large percent of moviegoers, its not surprising that they will still pay to

see the more interesting movie about a man, and because ticket sales arent affected by

lack of representation, there is no real pressure on Hollywood to be more inclusive of

women.

The inequity against women in film doesnt stop at the sheer number of females

on screen; we also see an obvious physical discrimination. When we do see women in

movies, they are almost always portrayed within the same small age window, the

majority being in their 20s and 30s (Lauzen, 3), and with a very thin body type. Clearly

this doesnt represent what most women look like. This repeated image of a young, thin,

and beautiful female is repeatedly used because it is what media considers sexually

desirable, and in mainstream media, a womans value is synonymous with her sex appeal.

The few roles that there are for women are reserved for those that can uphold these nearly
impossible physical standards, usually with the help of plastic surgery which creates an

even more unattainable image for viewers. Their male counterparts, on the other hand,

are not held to such high physical standards and are in fact often portrayed as older than

them, with 52% of male roles being held by men aged 40 and over (Lauzen, 3) and even

into their 50s and 60s men in the industry continue to find work. As Phillip Green puts

it in his book Cracks in the Pedestal: Ideology and Gender in Hollywood:

[]it subjects women in visual culture to the tyranny of age, so that women who

were once major performers (Elizabeth Taylor, Brigitte Bardot, Jane Fonda) tend to

disappear from view at an age when male actors (e.g., Sean Connery and Clint

Eastwood, both of whom are older than those three acresses) are just coming into their

own as heroes and sex symbols. (p. 40)

This tells viewers that a female characters value and ability to be interesting is linked to

her attractiveness, which is linked to her youth and child bearing years.

When we do see strong leading female roles like Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider,

Milla Javovich in Resident Evil, and Scarlett Johanson in Black Widow, they are still

extremely over-sexualized. Although these characters are independent, multidimensional

women, the hyper-sexulizing of them still reinforces the idea that women exist only as

visually pleasing ornaments and that they couldnt possibly be interesting enough to

watch a full movie about if they looked any less erotic. Even in childrens movies, evil

characters tend to share the same traits of a large nose, prominent chin, and are typically

older (Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty) while princesses or any good female

characters are young and have a very doll like look: large eyes, plump cheeks and lips,
and a small nose. This sends a message to girls at a very young age that certain physical

attributes are linked to whether you are good and desirable or bad and unwanted.

Images of success and beauty are often associated with whiteness, so women of

color are even less likely to be properly represented in film. In 2016 white women held

76% of female roles while black women held 14%, Asian women 6%, and Hispanic

women just 3% (Lauzen, 3). Considering Hispanics make up about 17% of the population

(census.gov) and 32% of frequent moviegoers (mpaa, 12), this is a staggering example of

lack of representation between movie characters and their audiences. Within these small

percentages of minority women in film, they are often represented as the help, and in

the case of Hispanic women, are even more likely to be objectified than any other racial

group, with 37.5% being shown partially or fully nude on screen (Smith, 2). This

dehumanizes minority women even more by fetishizing them based on their ethnicity.

It is not surprising that women are so poorly represented when we learn that

women held only 29% of behind the scenes positions (director, editor, producer, etc.) in

2015-2016 (Lauzen, 4). In movies with at least one female director, a woman was the

protagonist 57% of the time (Lauzen 4), so clearly there is a link between who is

represented behind and in front of the camera. Women themselves do not often create the

stories and images that we see about women. Behind the scenes positions are even less

likely to be held by women of color, which explains the racial disparity within female

representation in film. In 2013 there were just seven African-American directors

associated with the top 100 grossing films and zero of them were women. Over a six year

examination of 600 top grossing films there were only two black female directors (Smith,
7). This reveals that our society is not allowing women, especially those of color, to tell

their own stories.

Why does representation in film matter? Social cognitive theory suggests that

when exposed to the medias repeated portrayal of reality [viewers] may come to

develop perceptions that are consistent with these portrayals. (Johnson, Holmes, 353).

Films, being such a large part of mainstream media, have an enormous impact on the way

audiences perceive themselves and the world. Two of the most indisputable and negative

results of this influence are the way women view their own bodies, and the way that men

view womens value in society.

Despite some social progress that has been made, sexist and discriminatory

messages continue to be ingrained into audiences minds through movies. Women in

films are still being portrayed as secondary characters, and this has an evident effect on

they way they are being perceived in the real world. More often than not, women are cast

in non-speaking or non-critical roles and when they do have important parts they are

shown as hyper-sexualized to appeal to men, or as incomplete without a man. Both of

these portrayals revolve around men and do not tell true stories about women. Unrealistic

images of a subjective idea of beauty also affect the expectations society has for women

in body type, skin color, and age. It is the viewers responsibility to think critically about

what they are seeing on screen, and to decipher unrealistic images and ideologies from

reality. The money to make large films comes from viewers pockets, which gives them

the power to demand fair representation in film. Once there is more diversity on screen

and behind the scenes, Americas films might better represent its people, especially its

women.
 Works Cited

Census.gov. Hispanic Heritage Month 2015. September 14, 2015

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2015/cb15-ff18.html

Green, Phillip. Cracks in the Pedestal: Ideology and Gender in Hollywood. Univ of

Massachusetts Press, 2998. Print.

Johnson, Kimberly R., and Bjarn M. Holmes. Condtradictory Messages: A Content

Analysis of Holyywood-Produced Romantic Comedy Feature Films. Vol 57, No. 3.

(2009);352-73. Routlage Taylor and Francis Group.

Lauzen, Martha, Dr. Its a Mans (Celluloid) World. Boxed in. Center for the Study of

Women in Film and Television. San Diego State University, 2016. Web. 20 Mar 2017.

Mpaa.org, Theatrical Market Statistics 2013. Motion Picture Association of America, inc.

2013. Web. 19 Mar 2017.

http://www.mpaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-

Statistics-2013_032514-v2.pdf

The Numbers - Where Data and Movies Meet. Annual Movie Chart - 2016

http://www.the-numbers.com/market/2016/top-grossing-movies
Sharma, V., & Sender, H. (2014, Jan 2). Hollywood Movies with Strong Female Roles

Make More Money. Web.

Smith, Stacy L. Dr., Choueiti, Marc, Pieper, Kathryn, Dr. Race/Ethnicity in 600 Popular

Films: Examining On Screen Portrayals and Behind the Camera Diversity. Media,

Diversity & Social Change Initiative Annenberg School for Communication &

Journalism University of Southern California.