QT and Female Leads

Last night I watched the Quentin Tarantino film Jackie Brown for the first time. This is noteworthy because I can now honestly say that I have seen every film written and directed by the great QT. However, it is also relevant to this blog because Quentin Tarantino is not only one of the best directors of our time, but one of the most successful writers of films with female leads.

From Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction, to Jackie Brown in Jackie Brown, to Uma Thurman as The Bride in Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2, Quentin Tarantino’s movies frequently feature women in strong leading roles. Especially in the case of The Bride in Kill Bill, it is clear that Quentin Tarantino is making a statement about gender.

Perhaps most notably, Kill Bill makes a very clear statement against rape. Throughout the film, The Bride can be seen brutally and violently exacting her revenge upon the perpetrators of this crime making it very clear that this behavior will not be tolerated. In this fast-paced action film, it is easy to accept immediate death as the proper punishment for this heinous crime.

Additionally, within the hidden society of assassins in Kill Bill it is clear that women are in charge. As the leader of the Yakuza crime syndicate, O-Ren Ishii surrounds herself with “an all female entourage.” In this way, as a movie, Kill Bill challenges the notion that organized crime requires male leadership and thereby affirms the independence of women. Furthermore,

“When all the fighting starts happening and the blood spills in earnest, it is the women who are formidable foes. They are the ones with personality. The men are expendable clones.”

In this way, it is the women, in Kill Bill, who represent serious threats in the fighting scenes. This is a phenomenon so rare that it is almost unique to this movie. As I discussed in an earlier blog post, even movies which do feature powerful female characters such as the marvel superhero movies, often prioritize male characters over female characters. However, in Kill Bill, this effect is reversed so that women really do hold the power and command the authority.

As significant as these elements of feminism are, it is interesting to note that, “It only takes a minute to get used to it and accept this as the new order of things.” In this way, watching Kill Bill doesn’t feel unrealistic or exaggerated. Contrastingly, it seems very natural. By simply creating the opportunity for women to be powerful and formidable characters, Quentin Tarantino’s ingenious screenplay allows for women to showcase their full potential as both leaders and warriors. While traditional activists for gender equality are not usually arguing for a woman’s right to be a samurai, I believe that Tarantino’s method of showcasing women in this arena is an effective way to challenge traditional gender norms and suggest a new way of thinking.

 

Uma Thurman to Bring ‘Pulp Fiction’ Back to Life Through Auction

http://giphy.com/gifs/kill-bill-o-ren-ishii-l41lRBLX3CoJ3vl8A

Rap Sexism and the Explainers

In recently developing my thesis for an upcoming paper, I was thinking about the causes of gender inequity. After all, these issues surely must have a cause or they couldn’t possibly be so frequent. Ultimately, I realized that they must be influenced by an underlying sense of sexism that exists in our society. While not everyone is sexist, it is hard to deny that our media, and music often perpetuate sexist stereotypes. Therefore, it is hard for people to grow up in this society filled with sexist ideals without becoming at least somewhat biased either consciously or subconsciously.

 

Among all aspects of out popular culture, one which receives frequent criticism is the rap and hip/hop community. Known for its use of sexually explicit lyrics, rap music has been labeled sexist by countless critics. In her article, “DEAR MEN, STOP EXPLAINING RAP MUSIC TO WOMEN,” Madeleine Holden challenges this claim by calling upon the critics to stop criticizing rap music and start thinking from a woman’s perspective.

According to Holden, “Being a female rap fan is generally joyous and good.” Holden considers rap music to be her favorite genre and says that it can be “fun and uplifting regardless of your gender.” However, she does not deny the presence of sexist lyrics in rap music she loves. Rather, Holden says that, “generally the sexism in rap remains at a consistent and manageable level.” In this way, Holden suggests that a woman can put up with and even enjoy music which clearly features sexist elements. For me this was a very striking idea.
Next, Holden goes on to detail the “Dudes who like to explain to women how sexist rap is” or as the likes to call them, the Explainers. According to Holden, these “well meaning,” men take it upon themselves to frequently inform women that rap music is “misogynistic,” without taking into consideration that women can discern for themselves what is and isn’t sexist.

“they’re almost never discerning identifiers of what constitutes misogyny in the first place, boiling down all of hip hop to “music about strippers and pussy popping” and failing to realise that music about strippers and pussy popping isn’t inherently sexist. A hallmark of Explainers is their tendency to confuse and conflate sexual explicitness and misogyny; they display a queasiness at the idea of songs about celebrating strippers and eating ass. Songs that traffic in sexually explicit content are not axiomatically sexist, and are sometimes quite the opposite; it’s hard to tell that to Explainers, though, who assume that female listeners must be making a terrible mistake to be stanning for music that they find personally distasteful.”

In this way, Holden argues that women do not need to be told what is and isn’t sexist. Furthermore, women do not need to avoid all elements of pop culture which are sexist, because “all of pop culture is frequently sexist,” and doing so would mean avoiding all of pop culture. While Explainers may think they are doing women a service, Holden says that when you act as an Explainer, “you perpetuate a form of sexism so malevolent and insidious that it makes rap’s treatment of women seem relatively benign.”

http://georgiapoliticalreview.com/sexism-and-rap-arts-delicate-dance/

http://gifsoup.com/view/4047321/birthday-song-video.html

 

 

Sabbatical for Gender Equality

In recent news, Emma Watson actress of Hermione from the immensely popular Harry Potter series announced that she would be taking a year long sabbatical from acting in order to focus on gender equality. Unlike the typical break from work, Watson will be very busy during her time off. In an interview with feminist writer Bell Hooks, Watson said she will be reading a book a week on her own and one book a month as a part of her book club. However, that’s not all she will be doing. Watson went on to say, “I want to do a lot of listening. I want to listen to as many different women in the world as I can.” As a person of fame and fortune, Watson could certainly make a difference by merely speaking out against gender issues. However, I believe that her commitment to listen rather than speak expresses an even deeper care and interest in the subject.

As I discussed in an earlier essay this year, one of the biggest problems in solving gender issues is getting people to care about gender issues. In my survey analysis, I found that male students at Santa Clara University became less interested in attending a guest lecture when they were informed that the lecture would be about gender studies. Therefore, in solving gender issues, one of the most important things we can do is find a way to talk about them without turning people away and making them disinterested in what we are saying.

Furthermore, we might begin to do this by listening rather than speaking. Often times it is hard not to speak out and share your ideas. However, in situations such as these, listening to others and hearing what they have to say is a far more effective and efficient method. For example, why not simply ask male students honestly how they feel about gender issues. I can imagine that many male students might openly deny the premise that they were opposed to gender issues. However, asking them to speak about gender issues and listening to what they have to say may provide some helpful insights into their unique perspective on this issue.

As one individual male student, I can make a few conjectures as to why other male students might be disinterested in gender issues. Firstly, it seems like the only people speaking out against these issues are females. I am sure that this isn’t true, and a few minutes of research could prove that claim wrong, but the perpetuating stereotype is that females are the only ones speaking out against gender issues and this might suggest to male students that females are the only ones interested in gender issues.

Whatever the reason might be, it is true that issues of gender inequality receive less interest than they should. While this might be a result of them being considered less important than other issues including racial inequality and economic disparity, I believe that determining the male perspective on these issues would be an effective means of increasing interest in these issues.

http://quotesberry.com/post/98025654067/emma-watson-gender-equality-quote

http://abigailriggs.com/blog/heforshecampaign/

Psst…..Active Listening–It’s Not Just For Problems!

Research Recap

While writing a previous blog post, I discovered an article about “hidden curriculum” in classrooms and found that the idea was very interesting to me. Essentially, the “hidden curriculum” refers to all of the interactions that take place in a classroom. This becomes interesting when talking about gender issues because there is a lot of evidence to suggest that gender biases are frequently perpetuated by educators through the hidden curriculum in their classrooms. To investigate this claim further, I have developed the following research question:

What role does hidden curriculum play in formulating and influencing gender bias in education?

In researching this question, I generally found two types of sources. Firstly, I found sources which detailed the observable results of gender inequity.

This sort of source typically gives specific examples of ways in which males and females are treated unequally in the classroom. For example, in her article, “How Teachers’ Hidden Biases Are Hurting Our Girls,” Soraya Chemaly details the ways in which females are being discouraged from participating in STEM subjects. According to Chemaly’s research, females are graded more harshly than males on math and science tests. In this way, although females are outperforming males on average academically, it appears that they face a grading bias which might discourage them from entering into a STEM subject.

And secondly I found sources which detailed the non observable causes of gender inequity.

Unlike the sources I discussed above, these sources typically discussed very discreet and subtle elements of gender inequity that would be less likely to be noticed in the classroom. What makes hidden curriculum so interesting is that you may not notice it, yet it has important implications and consequences for both male and female students. For example, according to Marshall and Reinhartz in their article, “Gender Issues in the Classroom,” female students are “asked lower level questions, and are provided less constructive feedback and encouragement than boys,” in the classroom. While both of these inequities are clearly issues for female students, they are not so obvious that the student or even the teacher might catch on. Furthermore, in an even more subtle instance of gender inequity, Marshal and Reinhartz declare that a teacher’s eyesight is more frequently directed towards male students than female students following a question, subconsciously indicating that they expect a male student to answer as opposed to a female student.

In this way, through my research I became more aware of the ways in which females are being discriminated against both noticeably and more discreetly by unfair practices in education. However, it is important to note that some sources emphasized the struggles of male students as well. For example, in her article, “The Rise of Women,” Allie Grasgreen acknowledges that male students have worse social skills than female students on average and are less likely to be punished for misbehavior thereby discouraging them from following the rules and succeeding academically.

 

While all of these issues are important, many of them are hard to address due to their subtle nature. In truth, I believe that these issues will continue to exist until sexism itself is eliminated from out society, media, and mind.

Gender Inequality in the “Super” Universe

Last night, I attended the opening night showing of Marvel Studio’s latest production, Deadpool. For those of you who don’t know, Deadpool is a joke among superheroes, a metafictional charade who is meant to seem ridiculous even within the outlandish world of Marvel. As an essentially immortal character, Deadpool is Marvel’s flip side of the “Superman coin,” who ironically contradicts most elements of “superhero” status.

Superman is not only an honorable citizen, but a member of the working class. Furthermore, Superman stands up for the values of liberty, justice, and equality that promote a just society and ultimately define him as a hero. Contrastingly, before becoming “super,” Deadpool was essentially a murderer. Deadpool is self-centered, selfish, and what occurred to me last night: possibly misogynistic?

Last night I discovered that I truly can not escape the “research mentality” that I have adopted when I found myself considering gender issues when I should have been enjoying a movie.

 

As some background knowledge, you should know that Deadpool the movie is being marketed as a love story. In this way, Marvel is hoping to increase ticket sales by cramming theaters full of couples. After seeing the film, I can confirm that it contains elements of romance. However, I found that these moments were frequently overshadowed by sexist remarks and occurrences. For example, at one point in the film, after some graphic violence, Deadpool remarks something like, “At this point your girlfriend is probably wondering how you convinced her to come to this movie.” In this way, it seemed that Deadpool was belittling the women in the audience, by joking about the fact that the movie’s content was more stereotypically masculine than feminine. Furthermore, Deadpool’s love interest and the film’s main female character seemed to be an archetype of a stereotypically helpless woman. Throughout the film, she was portrayed primarily as a sex object, who was unjustifiably loyal to Deadpool.

While I am certainly playing devil’s advocate by picking apart and criticizing a movie which ultimately was a comedy and therefore should not be taken too seriously, I do believe that the super hero universe in general is biased. Consider for a moment the female protagonists of the Marvel and DC Universe. In their revealing outfits, Catwoman and Wonderwoman stand apart from their male counterparts so obviously that they each have the word “woman in their name.” Furthermore, female leads like Black Widow and Harley Quinn are known more often for their appearances than their powers or abilities. In fact, of these four female characters that I was able to think of, only Wonderwoman truly has any “super powers.”

I believe that it is important to challenge popular media so as to continually promote a more just and equal world. However, before grabbing any pitchforks or torches, I would like to point out a few limitations to this argument. Firstly, although there are certainly many female fans of superheroes, the market for this material is primarily male. Therefore, it only makes sense that these movies should be targeted primarily towards a male audience. Additionally, while I pointed out that female super heroes often wear revealing clothing, this is not necessarily untrue of male characters. And lastly, superhero movies present their own gender issues to males. For example, they promote unrealistic expectations for strength.

Spotlight on Positivity

Recently I watched the movie “Spotlight.” Nominated for six academy awards, including best picture, this film produced by a Santa Clara graduate features the inspiring story of the Boston Globe journalists who uncovered evidence of massive corruption in the Catholic Church.  Throughout the film I was inspired by the veracity and journalistic integrity of the members of the “Spotlight” team. Thanks to the hard work and ingenuity of these journalists, the issue of sexual abuse and pedophilia by priests in the Catholic Church is finally receiving the attention it deserves. Therefore, when I saw an online article on gender issues published by the Boston Globe, I was interested to read more. (As a side note, I will point out that I find it interesting that my perception of the credibility of the Boston Globe, as a news source, was positively impacted by a film although I had not read any of their articles.)

In Shannon Mokoro’s “Gender equity on college campuses,” Mokoro acknowledges that “a lot of positive movement has occurred for women in higher education.” However, this does not mean that women are not being discriminated against on college campuses today. Mokoro admits that more “still needs to be done,” and mentions some of the ways in which women are being treated unequally. In many ways, Mokoro’s article is alike many other articles that I have read on this topic. However, what I found interesting about her article was her emphasis on the societal benefits of gender equality.

In my limited experience, I have found that most articles on gender studies are much more heavily focused on specific areas of inequality than on the positive advantages of gender equality. Perhaps, this is because authors assume that these advantages are obvious, and listing them would be repetitive, or perhaps this is because authors simply do not feel the need to justify equality. Whatever the reason, I found that Mokoro’s emphasis of these benefits strengthened her argument by reminding me of arguments that I already agreed with and supported.

Listing the positive benefits of “gender equity on college campuses,” Mokoro says:

“Women’s voices on college campuses are an important part of this nation’s culture and vitality. More women in the STEM fields helps the nation be more competitive internationally; equitable appointments and pay for female faculty allows for greater collegiality and productivity; support for working mothers helps to decrease absences and increase morale; and greater safety for women on campus promotes empowerment and creates an environment of mutual respect.”

While none of these arguments is especially controversial, I believe that listing all of them together is an effective means of emphasizing their collective importance. To use this method in my own writing, I will have to try to be more consciously aware of assumptions that I am making. Then, I will have to evaluate if any of these assumptions are worth expanding upon in my writing.

Gender Inequality in Sports

Recently, I have been learning more about issues of gender inequality. Therefore, I decided to do some research on gender inequality in sports. After reading two articles on the subject, I have noticed some interesting similarities and differences that I believe are worth noting.

Firstly, while both articles address the subject of gender inequality in sports, they each serve a different purpose, and the motivating force behind each article is made clear by its title. The first article, published in the Atlantic and written by Terrance F. Ross is entitled, “What Gender Inequality Looks Like in Collegiate Sports.” By addressing what gender inequality “looks like”, this title reveals a present assumption that gender inequality does in fact exist in collegiate sports. Furthermore, the title suggests that the article will elaborate on specific aspects of the inequality. Contrastingly, the second article, published by CNN and written by Kelly Wallace is entitled, “When Will Women’s Sports Get the Same Attention as Men?” In this way, the second article presents a much narrower focus on the lack of attention given to women’s sports.

As Kelly Wallace points out in her article, one of the largest issues facing women’s sports is the lack of support from fans of women’s athletics. As a matter of logistics, men’s sports receive greater resources and media attention than women’s sports because they are more profitable than women’s sports, and they are more profitable than women’s sports because there are more fans of men’s sports than of women’s sports. Therefore, Wallace proposes the simple solution of encouraging more attendance at women’s sporting events. However, potential fans are reluctant to attend due to the current stigma and lack of popular interest regarding women’s sporting events. In this way, improving the popularity of women’s sports is somewhat of a paradox since women’s sports are prevented from becoming more popular by their own lack of popularity. This phenomenon relates to the association between credibility and experience, and was the topic of my last blog post.

Furthermore, given the differences in content between these two articles, I came to realize that these articles ultimately perform  different functions. To grossly oversimplify, the first article summarizes some ways in which men’s and women’s collegiate sports are unequal. In this way, the article simply enters into the conversation of gender inequality by summarizing information without presenting an argument or a solution. However, the second article not only summarizes some of these instances of inequality, but also proposes a means by which to correct these injustices. Given that my next written project will not argue an opinion or suggest a solution, I found that it was helpful for me to focus on the ways in which the structure of these articles differ from one another. In particular, I noticed that the first article compared and contrasted the sources that it cited. I believe that this will be a useful method to utilize in the next essay that I write since it allows the writer to highlight areas of contention without revealing their own argument.

 

Hail Caesar

As a fan of the Coen Brothers, I have been excitedly awaiting the release of “Hail Caesar,” for the past few months. I have waited patiently, yet this Thursday night, I will finally be watching the movie when it is released into theaters. I really can’t wait to see what the Coen Brothers have come up with this time, and I anticipate it being one of my favorite movies of the year. However, when thinking about my own excitement, I recently asked myself “Why am I so excited? Why are the Coen Brothers such credible filmmakers?”

Truly, my interest in “Hail Caesar,” is almost entirely dependent on name recognition. Since, I have not allowed myself to watch any of the recent “teaser trailers,” I know little about the movie besides what great minds were involved in its creation. Producing movies like “Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country For Old Men, and True Grit,” it seems that anything the Coen Brothers touch turns to gold. In this way, their credibility is built upon the foundation of their previous successes.

There are many industries in which “practice makes perfect,” and a person can suffer a few failures before becoming a success. However, filmmaking is not likely to fit this description. Similar to a writer, a filmmaker is likely to be judged by the quality of his previous work as well as the quality of his current work. For example, you might be interested by the somewhat politically relevant movie “13 Hours: the Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” until you see that it was directed by Michael Bay, the notoriously overkill director of the Transformers series. In this way, a filmmaker’s past can either serve to glorify or haunt them throughout the rest of their career.

Likewise, in writing, and in life in general, people are likely to remember your past successes and failures. A truth that can be either gratifying or horrifying to confront. When I first considered this idea, I found myself thinking “How am I supposed to become good at something with failing a few times first?” However, I have come to realize that this is not necessarily the case. Although professionals are expected to perform at a certain level, I am in no way a professional. Rather, I am a student who is being given the opportunity to try, fail, and succeed at my own will for the next four years.

If you are looking to become more motivated, consider this: these are the few years in your life in which you are expected to fail occasionally. How else, after all, would you hope to learn something new and challenging? When you graduate and become employed, experience will become your new teacher. However, experience is self motivated and the point at which your “personal experience” begins is almost entirely dependent on the amount of work you put in right now. When you have a job, failure wont be taken lightly. Depending on your position, failure could mean losing your job, and losing your job could actually prevent you from being hired at a new one. So enjoy these years while you can, and make sure to make a few mistakes along the way.