Gender Concept Lives Through The Hollywood Scene.
Without the language development of gender conceptions, where would Hollywood be? Such concepts highly depend upon the labels created within the masculine language allowing a relationship to build around gender roles and gendered names. As Genevieve Vaughan writes about the concept of the word “man” and it’s dominate effect on social structures, we can see the connotations of such effect today. Such as the grand award show Hollywood presents to the world: The Oscars.
“For-Giving: A Feminist Criticism of Exchange, Chapter 5. ‘The Concept of Man’”
Vaughan displays an idea of categories within the gendered system. As men are connected to the meaning of human behavior, women are only there to nurture, suggesting their connection to human behavior does not meet the requirements of being the model for human perfection.
Recent attitudes towards The Oscars have questioned the male dominate nominees. As some people try to look on the brighter side of things (such as the percentage of women that actually made it to the “race”) disappointments are increasing.
According to the article “Why Best Director Isn’t The Only Battleground For Women In Film” by Rachel Simon, the category for best director’s list captured an all male lead while women did not make it on the list.
Twitter posts quickly filled up with back lashes to Hollywood’s misunderstanding of what a woman is capable of doing.
Is the power of screen writing one such that only a man can do?
Let’s take a second and go back to Vaughan’s idea of categories..
She connects an idea of “one to many” to support her analysis of gendered social aspects. The “one to many” theory was created by the Russian psychologist: Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky. Vaughan than implies the social constructs of developing a language around the masculine domain. Thus allowing for perceptions of female gender roles to be less than male gender roles. The concept of “one to many” supports notions of groups, rankings and the idea of someone always being on top.
There are two parts in social order that divide male and female. These words provide a sense of identity.
Exchange and Giving.
Vaughan describes the “one” ideal to be an example of male behavior and within a male’s behavior comes certain characteristics that portray what common beliefs fit into being the “one” position on top.
The exchange that signals manhood develops into notions of selfishness, rudeness, greediness, self-centered attitude, entitlement and expectations. As Vaughan suggests women are “giving” the word connects to motherhood. Within the field of nurturing, the mother is giving. The word signals womanhood into the notions of sharing, passing, respecting, creating community and sacrifice.
So then, are woman giving away such awards in such that men are put upon a pedestal to reach the top? Unconscious reasoning to enable “The Oscars” to allow men control the amount of awards he gets versus the conscious knowledge of a male dominant language that creates gender discrimination, even in the fields of acknowledging one another within the social acceptance of award giving.
Here’s the point.
Since men are considered to be non-givers, the potential to lose is misplaced.
Hollywood provides support for the social constructs of gender roles. It provides a sense of the “one” that fits exactly to the notions of male performance, implying that masculine characteristics will always rule over those of female roles. There is no other better example than “The Oscars”
Notice the figure of the award itself is the image and depiction of a man.
The award symbolizes the perfect human. Standing in the perfect body, covered in Gold.
Gender Roles have developed the idea of this “perfect” image.
The masculine language in which we speak and dwell among has created the division between male and female, allowing gender roles to provide a sense of right and wrong. Thus creating categories for men and women to act upon.
By allowing the “one” to control the many, a model of what will rule has been created. When male gender roles equal to what this model portrays, then social needs of becoming top divides us. The use of language that connectes the word “one” and the word “male” offers the quest to perfection.
More To Look Into:
“It’s not a matter of ability, it’s not for lack of paying dues and trying, it’s much simpler: It’s gender discrimination, whether conscious or not”
