Jasmine
As every fourteen year old does, I spend a lot (arguably too much) time on the internet and watching
television with no real aim or agenda. It’s the adolescent way to time waste; there’s no real point in
it. But recently, this purposeless procrastination has brought an issue to my attention – and it affects
me and what my future might become.
You see, despite that fact that recent films like the Hunger Games and Divergent have had strong,
empowered, female main characters, there is still sexism within the movie industry, on screen and
off screen. If you haven’t been hiding in a cave for the last few months, you’re bound to have heard
about the Fifty Shades of Grey movie and doubtless you’ve heard the phrase ‘I so want to go see
that’. But would you expect to hear it from the mouth of a seemingly naïve and innocent Year 9? As
a generation, we are being exposed to a society where females are made to feel inadequate and
subservient to men, which subsequently shapes the way we perceive ourselves. This film does not
help to combat the subconscious ideas we’ve been conditioned to believe. It involves the man taking
the ‘dominant’ role and the women the ‘submissive’ – in fact, it actually goes past the boundaries of
an acceptable, consensual relationship to the point at which sadomasochism becomes abuse and
rape. It’s an anathema that our modern world chooses to publish this novel which does not
accurately portray a healthy BDSM relationship but instead one that has a disarray of equality and
balance, controlled by a man who shows all the key signs of an abusive partner and floats between
stages two and three of sexual sadism. Fifty Shades of Grey is no romance so why it is so
romanticized? It shouldn’t be so easy to show advertisements, or in fact films in general, in which
not only women are made to feel like abuse is normality but men also. Do not be the harbourer of a
new generation of rapists and abusers.
Of course, Fifty Shades of Grey is not the singular example of blatant sexism within Hollywood and
film industries. If we look at the high octane ‘superhero’ movies from places such as Marvel, for
example, we start to notice the many flaws surrounding gender inequality. Let’s take the recent
Avengers Assemble movie as our model for this. Our main cast line-up contains only one female
superhero – Black Widow- compared to at least five main male superheroes. We know that Marvel
comics and their media produce are aimed at a foremost male audience but the ratio of men to
women in this movie is probably about 6:1, and the women who do feature are either minor
characters, like girlfriends or defenceless citizens, or are, in fact, framed for the male gaze. Female
characters shouldn’t be hidden in the backgrounds. A girlfriend, in this movie, feels like the
equivalent to a sidekick – if you had to choose one, you’d choose the man. Where is Wonder
Woman’s boyfriend? Is he in the background, only seen once or twice? No. If you follow DC at all you
might have seen Wonder Woman’s on and off relationship with no other than Super Man, a guy with
countless films to his name. Where’s Pepper Potts’ movie? Where’s Jane’s? It’s nowhere to be
found. On the subject of unlikely scenarios, it is fact that you hardly ever or never see the men’s
outfits created in a certain way to emphasize their muscle or build; no flashes of six packs or
gleaming abdomens. Yet it seems that every single female’s outfit emphasises their curves and
cleavages in this film. The amount of clothes that have been zippered down to show off a bit of body
could be perceived as an act of male misogyny. Women are not walking, talking pornography – they
are not there for ‘eye-candy’. As someone who’s meant to be super, their power should not be their
body flaunted in an array of skin tight, skimpy, short outfits nor the power of being a doting lover.
Ladies are just as kick ass as men.
Jasmine
Keeping with the theme of the Avengers, we move onto an issue experienced globally, in any and all
businesses and industries – pay inequity. It is reported that for the Avengers, Scarlett Johansson was
paid an approximate $6 million, whereas Robert Downey Jr. earned $50 million. As girls, we’re
brought up to believe that even if we try our hardest in education, get our degrees or GCSE’s, a man
will always be chosen over us. And if we are picked, then our pay cheque will be significantly lower.
So the immense difference of $44 million comes as no particular surprise. But we have to put our
feet down. If we cannot expect the pay to be equivalent in a multi-million dollar industry then we
can’t anywhere. Women around the world are in poverty because of male superiority in the
workplace and it just doesn’t seem right that this should be occurring in a modern society, what with
all the leaps and bounds we’ve made since the vote in the 1920’s. Hollywood needs to recognise
that just because a person is of a certain gender, they should not be given certain privileges or vice
versa. Women need to be treated as equals within their work atmosphere and professional
lifestyles. And that most certainly includes in their pay.
From what we see of film through the media and the actual product itself, identifying problems is an
easy task and one you can do by merely watching films yourself. It doesn’t take a genius to realise
that Fifty Shades of Grey is less star crossed lovers, more Fifty Shades of Abuse. But it’s the action off
camera that is more worrying because it’s real life. You can ignore the fact that super heroines are
made to show their assets but you cannot deny the fact of difference in pay and character role
placement. In the end, we’re all human beings. We’re exactly the same despite our gender – it
shouldn’t be a matter of what you have or don’t have, it should be a matter of skill and talent. We
need to remove the pressure placed on young woman that we can’t be equal. I’ve spent all of my life
so far feeling inadequate just because I’m a girl. And it’s time to stop that. So where do we start?
Let’s start with our films. Let’s start here.