Why Gender Stereotypes should be dispelled
What was her name? Who was the female character who was sexy, kind, and dedicated to her loved one? Or who was not represented as thin, hyper-sexualized, emotional, submissive, or obedient to men? It is hard think of any female characters who were not portrayed as inferior to male characters. The conventional gender roles still widely prevail in movies, but this limited perception needs to be changed. The gender stereotypes should be dispelled because it limits potential has negative impact on children, can make a profit.
First, the gender stereotypes should be dispelled because it inhibits movies. The character plays a huge role to a considerable extent in movies. However, according to New York Film Academy (NYFA), average ratio of male actors to female actors is 2.25:1 and 30.8 percent of speaking characters are women. It might sound obvious, but gender-specific views are inevitably confined and weaken the movie messages. On the other hand, female character development can result in the novelty that is distinguished from traditional movies. For example, George Miller, Director of <Mad Max: Fury Road>, strengthened female subjectivity to innovate existing action movie plots. To sum up, female characters make movies interesting.
Another reason why the old custom should be broken is that it has bad influence on children. Most of female characters are incompetent and dependent on men. So are about half of violent characters. Gilpatric reported that over 58 percent of violent female characters were portrayed in a submissive role to the male hero in the film, and 42 percent were romantically involved with him. In addition, female characters sexualization happens a lot. Especially, Parents Television Council found that underage female characters are shown participating in a higher percentage of sexual depictions compared to adults (47 percent and 29 percent respectively). APA Task Force reported that body dissatisfaction, eating disorders, low self-esteem, depressive affect, and even physical health problems in high-school-aged girls. Also, girls and boys may internalize wrong gender stereotypes. In short, stereotypes can contribute to children health problems and bias.
Finally, overcoming conventional gender roles will make a profit. Reese Witherspoon, one of the most influential actresses, started her own production company after seeing six of her favorite actresses "fighting over a really crappy role in a movie." It will lead to female audience being far more immersed in movies than now, which would definitely results in improving profitability. According to NYFA, women purchase half of the movie tickets sold in the U.S. Also, CGV Research Center found that women purchase 55 percent of the movie tickets sold in Korea. Filmmakers should notice that and recognize the benefit they will get when they satisfy female audiences' desire. Thus, if gender stereotypes is dispelled, profits will not fall.
In conclusion, female characters have to be developed for several reasons. Basically, movies can be exciting with female characters. In addition, stereotypes can contribute to children health problems and bias. Also, female characters will not cause profit decline. We must recognize the inequality and keep in mind that nothing changes if we stay quiet.
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