The Effect on Children

Televisions and films have a vital role in society because people learned and watched televisions since they were a child. They were influenced by what they have seen since they were a child. Fairy tales movies are one of the examples that also depicted gender disparity and influence children. Most of princesses and female protagonists in the fairy tales stories were depicted as a feminine job. For example, before Cinderella met the prince, she has to do all the house chores like cleaning, sewing, and cooking, while there is no evidence show that male characters in fairy tales have to do chores like women do, which is still reflected today.

In addition, when princesses were mature, they have to choose a suitable prince to be their husband so that he can come to the throne. Princesses cannot become the head of their country in movies while they are very well educated, and it is still presented in today’s world.

For instance, there have never had a women President in the United States even though women nowadays are well educated and have more chances to work in the field which were mostly dominated by men. In addition, the ratio of the princes is portrayed as masculine work seemed to be higher than the princess as a masculine work. “The mean for masculine characteristics for the princes was 51.63 and for the princesses, 33.01” (England, 560). Fairy tales stories are one of the most influential factors that impacted children. As they depicted women have to stay at home to do chore works and take care of their children, while men have to work outside, that will become a stereotype and an obstacle for children when they are growing up.

The “messages” that people receive from these fairy tales movies are ingrained in their mind, especially when it comes to thinking about career choice. Girls will think that the best they can do, they do not need to study hard and do masculine jobs, they just need to stay at home doing feminine works, then men will be the breadwinners for the family. Over time, it makes the stereotype of women occupations more serious and the gender disparity in the workplace will be more challenges. The more children’s films depicted gender disparity in the workplace, the more obstacles for girls to pursue their higher positions in the labor market.

On the other hand, women are sometimes hired as the main characters of the films. In addition, women are portrayed as the “strong” female lead in films. The “Black Widow” in the Avengers film is one of its examples that illustrated female as a protagonist character and show the different aspect of women’s jobs besides the stereotype occupations that women are usually portrayed. Black Widow is a member of a six superheroes team and their mission is to save the world out of the crime. “Black Widow” character creates a new perspective in women’s role that makes other women believe that they can do any job. There is no limitation for women to do any jobs that they want. Even though the Black Widow character in the Avengers film depicted women as a “strong” and “powerful” women, the gender disparity also appears in it.

Firstly, of the six superheroes in the film, there is just one female, the Black Widow. The appearance of a powerful protagonist female in Avengers is the improvement of the film industry, however, there still have more male characters than female characters which need to solve in the future. Secondly, Black Widow in Avengers is always dressed in sexy clothes. She is in a skintight and sexy suit in most of Avengers’s season which people can never see any male heroes wearing that. The sexualization of women has still affected the strong female lead characters in other films such as Catwoman and Storm in X-Men. Although their mission is fighting with the crime to save the world, their physical look must be shown in beautiful, attractive and young so they can draw more audience’s attention. In general, there are some movies that women are portrayed as a powerful character, however, gender inequality in the workplace is still presented in that kind of movie.

In conclusion, gender inequality depicted in films has a negatively affected human’s actions and thoughts. Women are underrepresented in movies that hindered women in pursuing their career. The film industry should treat women equally whether they have a good physical look or not, and whether if they are female directors or male directors, it shouldn’t a factor that impacts women’s job opportunities. To improve gender disparity in the labor market, in reality, films shouldn’t depict women in traditional roles, they should be portrayed in a powerful and leading position.

Moreover, women also need to be given the same opportunities as men in the film industry. The limitation of this research is that I haven’t had time to conduct my own data, I used scholars’ paper to support my arguments. It may be very well if I conduct other’s opinions about gender disparity in the workplace and the solution to solve it. In addition, further research can focus on the feminist movement, how women handle and solve this problem. It can also talk about why are media stereotypes still having a negative influence on workplace gender disparities. People can understand more about the role of stereotypes in daily life and how is it affect people through that further research.

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