In this very pro-woman culture that we live in, I think that it has become much easier for women to feel empowered through the media they are both subjected to and voluntarily consume. While, as a society, we still have immense ground to cover, I would say that in the least, we have made progress. It seems as though directors, producers and writers are making more of a conscious effort to not only cast strong, diverse women in main roles, but go back to square one and write in these women as having empowering, lead roles.
In a Ted Talk I recently watched ,the speaker Colin Stokes talked about media, specifically movies. His discussed how as a father to a young daughter, he is glad that she is able to grow up seeing positive female representation on the big screen — old and new. Some of the movies that he referenced were the Wizard of Oz, Brave and Tangled; all of which feature strong, kind and independent women who make a way for themselves and work for the good of those around them. While he realizes that there are plenty of movies that negatively portray women, all in all, he said that the upward trend seems to be a focus on enabling women to be positively impacted by the characters in the movies and shows they watched — even if it is unconsciously. The problem with this; however, is that Stokes feels there may be two sides to the story. He feels that as focus is being directed toward the character development of women, the men in media are getting worse and worse — -or at least, not getting better. Right off the bat, Stokes told a story about his son, who fell in love with Star Wars. About his son’s enthrallment with the series, Stokes said,
I don’t think he understands what’s going on, but he’s sure soaking it in. Is he picking up on the themes of courage, perseverance and loyalty? Is he picking up on the fact that Luke joins an army to overthrow the government?Is he picking up on the fact that boys are the only ones in the universe except for Aunt Beru, and of course, this princess, who’s really cool. But who kind of waits around with a medal and a wink to thank him for saving the universe, which he does by the magic he was born with?
Stokes believed that movies like this, and others that show women in this light, leave imprints on males at a really young age, and he believes that it isn’t specifically the media, but rather the culture that surrounds and promotes the media — that reinforces these shallow beliefs — that is raising up a nation of shallow, selfish males.
Further contributing to this narrative is the constant emphasis on violence to ‘win the reward.’ Often where women evoke courage, warriorship and mental stamina to win battles in movies, men use their buff muscles, smooth charisma or sly deceit to fight the bad guys and get the girl. With nothing but these womanizers to look up to as role models in media, Stokes believes that young boys start developing at a very young age that this persona, this lifestyle is okay and this can end up being reflective on how they treat women in the future.
Rather than settling and letting our children fall prey to the poor examples set by certain Hollywood studs, Stokes says that he’d rather his kids grew up watching less movies ridden with sex, violence, drugs and womanizers and more movies that teach courage, respect, and humanity — more movies like the Wizard of Oz. Stokes said,
I think we have to show our sons a new definition of manhood.
Show and model for them, how a real man is someone who trusts his sisters, and respects them and wants to be on their team; because eventually, sometime in their life… they will be.
Link to Ted Talk can be found here.
