Challenge Society’s Limiting Gender Narratives Research
Reflecting on the four gender-related videos, write a well-organized and well-supported essay in which you help challenge society’s limiting gender narratives.
****This essay must include no less than SIX citations from the assigned background material. Citations are to be a combination of direct quotations and paraphrased quotations with or without the author's name. No other sources are to be used for this assignment.****
background material:
4 Ladies get the 'cover model' makeover of their dreams ... And then hate the results. (n.d.). Upworthy. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from http://www(dot)upworthy(dot)com/4-ladies-get-the-cover-model-makeover-of-their-dreams-and-then-hate-the-results-11113?c=reccon1
Miss representation. (n.d.). Miss Representation. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from http://film(dot)missrepresentation(dot)org/
The mask you live in. (n.d.). The Representation Project. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from http://therepresentationproject(dot)org/films/the-mask-you-live-in/
Watch these 4 girls destroy the female stereotype like the monsters they are. (n.d.). Upworthy. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from http://www(dot)upworthy(dot)com/watch-these-4-girls-destroy-the-female-stereotype-like-the-monsters-they-are-rw1-9b
Challenge Society’s Limiting Gender Narratives
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Challenge Society’s Limiting Gender Narratives
The past 100 years have been exceptionally essential in changing society’s perceptions with regard to gender. The Women suffrage movement in 1920 granting women in the US the right to vote. The two world wars changed the perception that women's role was limited to homemaking. In the absence of men, who were in the European, and Asian theaters of the war, women stepped up and took up positions in factories and industry in support of the US war effort. The result, was that the US emerged as a global world superpower. However, in recent decades, the progress has been watered down significantly. There was an expectation that gender parity ought to have been within reach by now with women in positions of power in government and industry. The paper, therefore, examines the limiting perceptions of gender according to society. The paper will endeavor to examine both sides of the divide. Noting how society limits women through prescribed gender roles and equally examine society's limitations placed on men. The paper will discuss these issues with specific reference to the four gender-related videos.
Video 1 - Cover model makeover
The video takes four women through a makeover designed to change them from ordinary women to model status. The women, prior to the makeover admit to having insecurities with regard to their physical looks. The makeover, however, delivers results that stun the four women. They are unsatisfied with the results noting that the images delivered are seemingly at odds with their perception of self CITATION Mel14 \l 1033 (Gikey, 2014).
The makeover allows the four women to appreciate exactly what occurs for models to appear as they do in magazines and movies. This shows the unrealistic perceptions of beauty that the media places on women with regard to their image. The women in the magazines are seemingly flawless. Their faces are inexplicably smooth; bodies are seemingly perfect. However, the makeover process allows us to note that this is not real but the product of a computer application. The video is exceptional especially in bringing to light society's limitations on gender. Society chooses to celebrate beauty as the foremost achievement for women. Yet, these women are also capable of intellectual achievement. It is, therefore, essential that women and society, in general, appreciates the impact of their perceptions of beauty places on women. It is also important for society as a whole to recalibrate notions of beauty. Where the standards of beauty are at odds with human achievement, these should be discarded. The standards of beauty as currently constituted are inhumane at best and unachievable. However, even in recalibrating these standards, it is essential to remove the limitations on women, that they can be more than their physical appearance CITATION Mel14 \l 1033 (Gikey, 2014).
Video 2 – Misrepresentation
The film examines the idea that the value of women lies in their youth and beauty. The film juxtaposes this notion against societal expectation for boys. They are expected to be aggressive and to seek power and dominance. These attributes are celebrated in men and not women. The result is that women are not encouraged to move up in the corporate sector and government ladders. Women are underrepresented in the high echelons of power in industry and government. This has a direct impact in the manner that we make decisions as...