...David Fincher's, Fight Club (1999) also provides an interesting commentary, exemplifying the apathy of a generation of corporate workers in a capitalist obsessed society. In showing various representations of the way in which work is represented, it is clear that there are many contributing factors involved in work and it's impact on an individual’s life. The Help, details the lives of a group of African-American women working as maids who after meeting journalist and aspiring author Skeeter, decide to expose the true reality of working as a maid in a white household, as well as the secrets of many of their employers. The representation of work throughout the film, not only highlights both the racial and class issues inherent during the workplace at this time, but also how heteronormative and insistent on adhering to the stereotypical gender roles the era was. Judith Butler refers to gender as an ‘act’ (Gender Trouble, 1990), and her view along with other theorists, such as Halberstam, Foucault and Rubin argue that despite gender being perceived as natural and innate, it is actually a social construct; or ‘socially imposed’...
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...Student's Name Instructor's Name Course Date The movie fight club Different peevish acts may accompany specific cultures that may at one point result to both good and bard aspects of the society. In addition, different authors and scholars have made it real to discuss such aspects of life in their productions to enhance a pass of information to the general public. David Fincher in his work on Fight Club film touches on social commentary as well as consumerist culture on feminization and how it influences masculinity as demonstrated hereinafter. Consumer culture provides the source to the grief and fight in the society. This political rebellion facilitates anger and fight among the characters. The values of advertisement are highly critiqued in the film with consideration of aspects such as wealth, power, beauty, and youth. As much as people could do jobs in the society to attain physical sustainability, they are no longer satisfied spiritually. The society continues to buy marketed goods to provide better feeling since they do not feel like there is sensible person to talk to about their grievances. Class isolation is another important aspect as per Fincher’s argument in the film. The character Jack suffers from lack of satisfaction as well as insomnia since he has no friend whom he can share his problems with. He could not get someone to share with openly the sad and dark-natured feelings. In addition, jack could not find reasons why he experience difficulties...
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...was for women and minorities to become police officers. Additionally history also shows how the minorities and women rose up to earn an equal opportunity to represent their communities as police officers. An All White Male Club Police agencies in earlier years lack several elements that most present day police agencies have. In history most police agencies lack both ethnic and gender diversity (Grant, 2008). As the 1960’s and 1970’s pass through, many equal opportunity and equal rights movements occurred, which opened up opportunities for women and minorities. Legislation was passed such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act which helped minorities fight employment discrimination by policing agencies (Grant, 2008). Eventually Affirmative action was born, which made policing agencies overlook ethnic and gender criteria, and hire personal based on their performance and qualifications. Their Changing Role With an equal opportunity of becoming police officers, many women and minorities need to adjust to their new roles. Women in today’s policing agencies currently answer more domestic abuse calls because they have been statistically better at handling those situations then male police officers (Grant, 2008). Policewomen also tend to hold more roles in community relations. Many policing agencies use minority officers to help to recruit more minorities like themselves (Grant, 2008). Women Get A Weak Pass? Despite many peoples beliefs, women police candidates do...
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...Varsity Blues is a movie about men who struggle to prove their manhood in the face of their coach. The conflict is that the coach only cares about winning, not the well-being of the players and the players are unhappy with the situation. Althought the conflict may be relevant to the story; it does little to emphasize the ignorance of their society towards gender conflicts. The attitude of the film is that women’s lives revolve around men. Although the women are well treated, their identity is dependant on another person. The cheerleader, Darcy, confesses to John ‘Mox’ Moxon (The main character) that she only wanted to go out with him and Lance (The previous starter quarterback) because that gave her a guaranteed opportunity to get out of their small town. Belonging to the school hero also helped Darcy feel like she was better than other women were. The way Darcy gets both of the men to go out with her is by giving them the opportunity to prove to themselves that they are men, which is by letting them have sex with her. This reasserts the notion that women respect a real man, and how they show their respect to that man is by having sex with him. Mox’s girlfriend, Jules, is very similar to Darcy in the sense that she shows him how to be a real man. However, Jules’s case is different because with her, masculinity and femininity are not as black and white; Jules’s brand of masculinity involves loyalty, taking charge, being sensitive, appreciating others, and being a winner. Until...
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...The inspiring Disney movie Mulan has both men and women stereotypes that are part of our society. In the beginning of the movie the main character Mulan is being prepped to see the towns matchmaker because she is now old enough to be married into another family. This could be showing little girls once they reach a certain age it is crucial to get married to please and honor your family just like it does in Mulan. The women characters in Mulan are the subordinates compared to the men; expecting one man from each family to fight against the invaders of China regardless of age or disabilities. When Mulans father gets called even though he already fought before and was injured Mulan tries to plead with the courtier. Being told she dishonors her father for speaking out of turn shows the typical stereotype that women should not voice their opinions and speak without permission. She ends up running away and impersonating a male soldier to protect her father; which if discovered she would be killed by the Army. While training for war with General Shang male stereotypes are then shown teaching little boys what a man is. The song “I’ll make a man out of you,” describes what a man must do or be to be a real man. General Shang first asks the question if he was sent daughters and not sons further implying that the women should be...
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...Yamei Chen 1/16/2012 The Joy Luck Club, I’ve watched that movie many times, when I was a lot younger and also recently, because of my age, what I’ve experienced in life, each time I viewed the movie, my mind set are different as well, yet everything I watch this movie it brings tears into my eyes. When I was younger viewing the movie, which was very close to reality to what actually happen to women in China in the time, I think now when I view the movie, I’ve missed the whole point of the movie, it was really describing the relationship between mother and daughter in different time zone and culture background. “As cultural institutions, mass media often reflect some aspects of the society in which they operate. The critically acclaimed film The Joy Luck Club (1993) reflects diaspora experiences of Chinese immigrant women and depicts intergenerational tensions between Chinese mothers and their American-born Chinese daughters. It also reflects the struggles, dilemmas, and conflicts in the search for identity and self-development among Chinese and Chinese American women.” (Yea-Wen, C. (2007). The storyline is centered upon Jing-Mei Woo also referred as June, who struggles to deal with the recent death of her mother Suyuan Woo, throughout the movie. The movie takes place at a reception held on June’s behalf before her trip to China to meet her twin half-sisters who were abandoned by their mother many years ago. June struggles with her mother’s past which she never fully understood...
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...Introduction Mass culture would have most readers and viewers believing that the Post-modern American male is a simple creature. Common stereotypes margin male satisfaction in a minimal setting – a Lazyboy armchair in a lounge with a flat screen TV playing ‘the game’ along with primal banter regarding women. More often than not, this is washed down with a beer. With this array of comfort and leisure we are inclined to believe that male lifestyle has reached its peak on the timeline of satisfaction. This was until David Fincher took Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club and made it into a big budget Hollywood blockbuster. With the male demographic being the hardest to pinpoint in the literature sense, David Fincher’s adaptation helpfully put Palahniuk’s thoughts into the cinematic forefront. This increased the popularity of Palahniuk’s other works and placed him in the cannon of Post-modern American fiction. It is the issues of modern masculinity that grasps critics’ attention more so than any other Palahniuk themes. It is very apparent that masculinity has changed as a natural progression of modernisation. This dissertation will analyse masculinity as it is depicted in Palahniuk’s writings and explore Palahniuk’s intentions and beliefs. I will interpret the responses of select critics in order to gain some understanding of what Palahniuk deems to be the ideal model of masculinity in the modern world, beneath his post-modern twists, transgressive characterization and...
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...In “Invisible Black Women Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement: The Triple Constraints of Gender, Race, and Class,” by Bernice McNair Barnett, Barnett explores the intersectionality of race, gender, and class and its effects on African American women and their unique experience in the Civil Rights Movement. During the Civil Rights Movements, women were allowed to participate, and they even played essential roles that helped to further the movement. From helping to organize the famous Bus Boycott, raising money, and initiating protests, black women in the Civil Rights Movement had a significant hand in creating one of the social movements. However, because of their gender, African American women weren’t allowed to receive any recognition for...
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...The resurgence of a performance art that came to fruition in the mid to late 1800's until the early 1970's has gained great popularity in the last decade. The pomp and circumstance, the bawdy humor, the struts of classic showgirls, the gowns or resplendent glamour, and of course the tease of strip have made burlesque a must see all over the world yet again. Why did burlesque pop up again after its seemingly ultimate demise? With human bodies on display in every facet of advertising thrown at us daily, instant comedic gratification at our fingertips with the advent of the internet and smart phones, and interactive entertainment whenever we want, how did burlesque capture the hearts and minds of so many women and men in a world run by mass media? The answers are complicated yet quite simple. Connection. Live shows offer a mini vacation, a break if you will, from our everyday lives in a way that still makes us feel connected. Burlesque offers this connection through the spectacle of glamour and raunchy statements. It connects to the primal human desires all the while using the platform to comment on social, political, and cultural sexual paradigms. It seems in today's society that everyone has an opinion and everyone's opinion is right. Democracy and our first amendment have allowed everyone to speak up and speak out. Though, not many have enough clout to really do much about it. Perhaps this is why the modern burlesquer is making waves. Burlesque dancers take what...
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...Gender Identity among African Americans Teresa Rucker SOC/338 10/29/13 Dr. A. McDaniel When defining Gender Identity it is said to be a person’s inner sense of being male or female and this sense usually developed during early childhood as a result of parental rearing practices and societal influences and strengthened during puberty by hormonal changes (Dictionary.com). This journey will examine the gender identity among African Americans and highlight the importance of African American women to the women movement. An African American woman will be chosen and a discussion will be done on her importance to the women movement era. Then the journey will end with a discussion on the differences and similarities between African American female and male identity and how has female identity change in the last thirty years. In examining the gender identity among African Americans it is said to be that men exhibit masculine traits and women express feminine traits. Even though African American men and women experience devastating times during slavery their identity roles were different. Black males were the first slaves to be brought to the colonies because they were viewed as being valuable and do to their strength they could perform various duties like building and plowing. Black women were purchased to be field workers. Mainly they worked the fields and this was seen as domestic work for women slaves. In slavery the black women identity was also seen as an economic advantage...
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...Megan Woodrow December 10, 2012 Human Symbolic Activity Final Paper Gender and Communication: Disney Princesses Evolve Over Time Women have been around since the beginning of time, and have been stereotyped towards having “weaker natures and bodies” and “silly and emotional desires”. The women in the classic Walt Disney films are no exception to this criticism. But there is a saving grace. As women in real life have changed over time, our counterparts in fantasy film animation have also changed. The classic Walt Disney Princesses have therefore evolved through, and with, the media. After thinking back on what made Disney such a huge hit and major part of all of our lives, one answer came to mind: The Disney Princesses. Walt Disney and the Disney Company started out with young and beautiful Snow White, and then eventually moving onto the long line of famous Disney heroines such as Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, Mulan, and many more to recent date. There have been so many princesses (and other strong heroines) added to the Disney list, but has anyone ever thought of how these princesses have changed over time, or how they have evolved due to how women in real life are represented in the media today? Before I go into any more on the Princesses themselves, I first need to explain what events and stereotypes have made the basis for the Disney Princesses of the past, and even the for the women of the past, due to how the media and others have portrayed...
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...Gender and Family Axia College University of Phoenix Juvenile delinquency is of great concern in the United States. In 2007 over 2 million arrests were juveniles. There are two types of juvenile delinquency. The first type of offense is a behavior that would be a criminal violation for an adult. The other offense is called a “status” offense. Status offenses are delinquent actions that do not apply to adults, like running away and truancy. This paper will discuss the impact of gender and family on delinquency and the treatment by gender in the juvenile justice system. Juvenile delinquent behavior is believed to be under-represented due to the limited methods of collecting juvenile crime data. Juvenile arrests accounted for 16 percent of all violent crime arrests (i.e. murder, rape, assault) and 26 percent of all property crime arrests (i.e. burglary, theft, arson) (Puzzanchera, 2009). Other crimes for which juveniles are arrested include simple assault, vandalism, gambling, disorderly conduct, weapons possession, illicit drug/liquor violation (including DUI) and prostitution. It is important to note that a number of misdemeanor crimes go unreported while serious crimes involving injury and/or large economic loss are reported more often. A 1998 U.S. longitudinal study tracking over 6,400 boys for over 20 years found that children who grew up without their biological father in the home were roughly three times more likely to commit a crime that led to incarceration...
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...The Progressive era was a revolution because it changed the most important aspects in our society and they still mantain nowadays. It was dominated by middle class women, who had the initiative in fight for their rights such as the right to vote. The "General Federation of Womens Clubs" and the "National Association of Colored women" were created. It also shaped the modern American presidency and it created a State House Reform and one of the first progressive president Theodore Roosevelt heleped to regulate the economy. In the progressive era women began to develop themselves in society, the gender roles were changing. Women were working and becoming proffesionals. However, the most significant step at that time was womens suffrage. In...
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...The literature from this semester from the 1920’s-1950s are examples of American Southern Literature that illustrate the struggle of the Old South. A time in American history of great change, national identity from WWI and WWII and the acceptance of minorities. During this time conflicts took place regarding race and society. These Issues of race, class and gender roles are due to inability to accept and embrace the new social order. In many of these texts read this semester involved issues of race and the way people in the south responded to it. In Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man, the issue of race affects the story’s unnamed main character. The main character was invisible to the white higher class white men. The narrator’s skills were...
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...One of the main gender problems today is the resistance against women’s unpopular fight for equality, which encompasses the need to oppose the steady chipping away of women’s reproductive rights. In the article, “6 Battles Feminists Everywhere Are Still Fighting for Women's Rights,” Marcie Bianco states, “Because of the complexity of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade verdict, which federally gives women the right to seek an abortion within their respective state's law about when human life begins, reproductive rights have been continuously chipped away at the state level in recent history,” which supports the idea that women’s reproductive rights are being taken away forcefully and without any thought to effects on women (1). This action that...
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