The female stereotype

Stereotypes are an integral part of films and this can often be seen to have a negative effect due to their misrepresentations of groups or individuals.

Women are frequently stereotyped on the big screen and we can all identify what these stereotypes are; we have the house wife, the super mum, the femme fatale, the sex kitten, the career-driven business woman, the dumb blonde and the girl next door – on the surface such stereotypes may not seem damaging but, when you consider that we are bombarded with such images in our film consumption on a regular basis, certain problems can arise. These stereotypes put women into very simplistic categories which can in turn perpetuate inequality and even cause the representations to be taken on by some as a reality.

Such stereotypes are accentuated in films such as Legally Blonde where Reese Witherspoon’s character is the typical dumb blonde, in Pulp Fiction and Double Indemnity where Uma Thurman and Barbara Stanwyck both play the roles of stereotypical femme fatales and in The Devil Wears Prada where Meryl Streep falls into the category of the tough career-driven business woman.

We are also all too familiar with the weak and unintelligent female roles presented to us in the horror genre in particular. Women often play the helpless victim, screaming and trying to run away from the killer before falling over or running somewhere where they are obviously going to find themselves trapped and defenseless. It is hardly an inspiring stereotype to be presented with.

Body Image.

Women are also often stereotyped in films as being perfect, thin and beautiful, which can create a huge array of problems as society can accept this image of women as the ‘norm.’ Women will then often want to conform to such an image to feel attractive and if they can’t achieve their goals, their self-esteem and confidence can be damaged by it.

Maria Hooper, a journalism student writing a body image dissertation, said: “women aspire to look like what they see in films but, they don’t realise that it’s a distortion which can be damaging to their self-perception. From my own personal view, men are not always attracted to the image of being thin but, women feel obliged to look sexy for their man and then self-reflect on their own image and may take drastic action.”

The ‘Male gaze.’

This stereotype of perfect, thin and beautiful women on the big screen leads on to the notion of the ‘male gaze’ whereby female protagonists are the object of desire and are on screen just to be looked at by men.

Laura Mulvey is heavily associated with the ‘male gaze’ theory in film. She comments that there are two distinct modes of the ‘male gaze’ (particularly in 1950’s and 60’s cinema); ‘voyeuristic’ and ‘fetishistic’, again reinforcing that female protagonists are on screen purely for the pleasure of male eyes.

This is evident in many of the early Bond films; the female characters are all helpless and need to be protected by Bond (another common female stereotype), their purpose is merely as an object of desire for Bond and also for male audience members.

The camera angles used on women in films is also an indicator of the ‘male gaze.’ The camera shots often show segments of a woman’s body, this will sometimes start at the shoes and legs before trailing up the rest of the body and the camera will often linger on a female protagonist, encouraging a voyeuristic gaze. These techniques objectify women in films and reinforce them as a stereotypical image of desire.

Challenging the stereotype.

In recent years, however, we have seen attempts to challenge these stereotypes and to create a more positive image of women. The concept of women as strong, confident and independent protagonists has begun to emerge in many films. We can look at Uma Thurman’s character of The Bride in the Kill Bill series, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu as Natalie Cook, Dylan Saunders and Alex Munday in Charlie’s Angels and Angelina Jolie as both Lara Croft and Jane Smith in Mr and Mrs Smith, to see prime examples of strong women in films.

All of these characters wield weapons and behave more akin to a male protagonist than a female. They are independent and set out to fend for themselves without the help of a man to protect them.

Despite the fact that the characters mentioned above are moving away from the stereotypical roles of female protagonists, they still retain some stereotypical aspects. All of the characters still simulate the ideal of perfect, thin and beautiful objects of desire and despite them acting out a more male role, they still wear sexy attire and are therefore satisfying the ‘male gaze.’

The objectifying and lingering camera shots are also still frequently found in films, meaning that women are still in their roles to be looked at by male protagonists and audience members.

The future of stereotypes?

So where are stereotypes going to end up? Well women’s roles in films have changed a lot over the decades and attempts have been made to reform female characters, as I have acknowledged but, is there any room for further change?

I think we need to see more strong women in films so it’s not so much of a random occurrence and we need to have less objectifying camera angles, though that is something that is not likely to change unless we get more of a ‘female gaze’ appearing in films.

There needs to be much less emphasis on thin and beautiful women but, that is a stereotype that cannot just be blamed on the film industry and must be tackled on a much wider scale.

Perhaps the ultimate answer is to have more female director’s in the industry as there is an obvious lack of them at the moment. This would likely readdress the balance of male vs. female, not only on-screen but, off-screen as well and would give women an opportunity to defy the stereotypes we have grown so used to seeing.