Mainstream media almost always enforces the idea of women and
minorities as objects. Women are portrayed as sex objects or objects for men –
whether it be showing women in a sexually approachable context or as the one
who serves the man; belonging to the man, as property. Minorities are shown as
objects of ridicule, for the white man to oppress, use as servants or as
entertainment. We see this through all of mainstream media where women are
submissive and minorities are only there for humor. In the 1900's it was black
face and red lips that expressed the black minority. Today, this same minority
is expressed as a fried chicken munching, cheap ass. There are of course other
minorities portrayed to be "hilariously" stupid, like the
"illegal Mexicans" and of course the outright sexist "terrorist Arab with four wives". And women, well they have been as submissive as
always, only needed for their beautification and obsession over a
"hello" from a man.
This can be easily found in our readings as well. Berger says, “To be born a woman has been to be born, within an allotted and
confined space, into the keeping of men” (Berger 46) and Bell Hooks says, “even when representations of
black women were present in film, our bodies and being were there to serve - to
enhance and maintain white womanhood as object of the phallocentric gaze” (Hooks
119). In regards to minorities, particularly the African American representation
in the media, Hooks remarks, “I could always get pleasure from movies as long as I did
not look too deep” (Hooks 121).
Now is this objectification relevant in other parts of the
world? It may surprise the western hemisphere to note that even countries that
have a semi-patriarchal societies, do not expose women or minorities as
objects. If we focus solely on the role of women in Bangladesh, we do not see
sex objects anywhere. Perhaps in the underground porn industry they are
objectified, but in regular news media they are not; majority of the news anchors are women. In actuality, the two
leaders of the country - opposing party leaders similar to our Republican,
Democaratic split, are women. Sure, if you actually keep up with the politics
and the state of Bangladesh right now, these two women are the most corrupt and
have completely turned the place into a disaster - but for this discourse we see
that they are given power. They are not simply Queens and nor are they just
faces of politics, they are the Prime Ministers and they have the most
concentrated power there is. So let's just establish that though we as Americans may assume
that we are the most progressive in many aspects, we are still socially slacking to even third world countries.
Movies that show minorities in a decent light or at least women
as more than sex objects are a bit hard to find but I remember watching a movie
that had both. On my plane ride home from Bangladesh a few years ago, I was
watching Bend It Like Bekham. I remember it being fairly popular during that
time - perhaps it really was, or perhaps it was only popular in my group of Southeast
Asian friends, regardless, I loved it. It's a movie about an Indian girl that
loves to play soccer (football). It showed stereotypical Indian men and women -
but in reality these stereotypes do certainly exist to some extent. However,
the movie shifted when it came to the teens. It showed very normal, hormonal,
rebellious teens. I remember one scene in particular at a sort of family reunion where a couple is having sex against the wall in the bathroom. This was
outrageous to the Indian community and I think the American community also just
assumed Indians only have sex to procreate, and only after marriage - so I
found it spectacular. Because to me - it was reality. This is how teenagers
actually are!
This film had so many elements to it. It had the mother-daughter
complex, the cultural barriers, and even homosexuality. The movie won
"Best Comedy Film" in the British Comedy Awards along with many other
awards and was nominated in 2003 Golden Globe for Best Film –
Musical or Comedy. Perhaps the most splendid factor of this movie is that
it's director was a women: Gurinder Chadha.
So why didn't the movie get as popular as Slumdog Millionare
did? Was it because it wasn't about a boy? Or was it because the director was a
white male?
vs.
Another form of alternative media is of course blogging. There's tons of feminist blogs out there but my personal favorite is BADASS Muslimahs. It has mostly fashion pictures but it shows REAL muslim girls. Not the glamorized sexy arabian belly dancers, nor the oppressed, burqa wearing, voiceless women. It shows muslim teens strolling the streets with their fairly normal clothes.
Works Cited
Bell Hooks - Oppositional Gaze
John Berger - Ways of Seeing
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