People in society today are constantly debunking stereotypes, particularly those that are gender-specific. Stereotypes are defined as a commonly held, yet unchanging, overly simplistic, and fixed, image or notion of a specific category of person or thing. People have categorized races, genders, clothing, hairstyles, ages, and many other characteristics under specific headings based on what the general public perceives those categories to be. This is stereotyping, and the majority of commercial filmmakers employ this repulsive method of classifying people in their works. They have made an amusement out of the classifying process.
Society is covered in stereotypes. Based on how they seem, how they dress, and how old they are, people are subjected to a variety of stereotypes. All of these stereotypes are depicted in film in various ways, but gender stereotypes stand out as having a significant impact on the medium. All of these characteristics, whether they apply to a woman looking for a guy to complete her life or a man who believes that in order to be handsome, he must have a six-pack and be emotionless, are founded on what society considers to be “right”. The repeated employment of these traits in male and female characters in popular films is one of the reasons societies believes that this is how all women and men behave.
Many female characters in films play the victim, are exploited, rely on men to save them, talk about men as if they were necessary, search for their soul mate, appear hesitant, lack confidence, and be insecure, and take care of the kids. Male characters, on the other hand, tend to be leaders, worry about their jobs, exploit women, are strong and powerful, play both the hero and the villain, and have a reputation for being sleazy.
Gender stereotypes, in my opinion, go against all a woman stands for. I also think that women are stereotyped more and in harsher ways than males, but these preconceptions do not lead to gender equality. It separates the genders by persuading an audience that this is how actual life functions through the spectacle and entertainment of a film. People then push themselves to act like the stereotypes in the movies as a result. Having said that, society would be inspired to do the same if there were more films featuring characters who challenged these preconceptions.
Particularly when I was younger, films had a big influence on my thoughts and behaviour. The experience of seeing a movie should uplift and inspire the viewer. A society can be influenced by films. Gender stereotypes would ultimately disappear if films used their influence to promote uplifting and elevating traits in society.
