Representations of Gender in Popular Culture

Jemma and Lauren discuss representations of gender in popular culture.

(Materials written by Dr Emma Jeanes, University of Exeter, with ideas from Lauren Castle).

Representations of Gender in Popular Culture

References and sources can be found here:

Advertisements (examples):

• Aptamil, which gender stereotypes the future roles of girls and boys

• Huggies, that treats men as incompetent fathers.

Attaining the ideal body

• MacCallum, F. & Widdows, H. Altered Images: Understanding the Influence of Unrealistic Images and Beauty Aspirations. Health Care Anaysis.2018;26(3)235-245
• Killing Us Softly: Advertising’s image of women

The Bitch

• Illustrative Films for ‘the bitch’:
  • Gone Girl (Rosamond Pike)
  • To Die For (Nicole Kidman)

British Film Industry ‘bitch’ season:

• The British Film Industry, Playing the Bitch: Why we’re showing a season of fierce females
• BBC article, BFI female film season sparks misogyny row

Body image and work

• Howlett N., Pine K.J., Cahill N. et al. Unbuttoned: The Interaction Between Provocativeness of Female Work Attire and Occupational Status. Sex Roles.2015;7293-4):105-116 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0450-8
• Lee S., Pitsea M., Pillutla M., Thau S. When beauty helps and when it hurts: An organizational context model of attractiveness discrimination in selection decisions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 2015;128:15-28 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2015.02.003
• Samper A, Yang LW, Daniels ME, Beauty, Effort, and Misrepresentation: How Beauty Work Affects Judgments of Moral Character and Consumer Preferences. Journal of Consumer Research. 2018;45(1):126-147. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucx116
• Psychology Today article, Looks Do Matter, Especially for Women, and Also at Work
• Recruiter.com article, In 2018, Professional Women Are Still Judged by Their Appearances

Disney Princess

• The ‘classic’ princess

Evaluation of women’s performance

• Gregory A, Jeanes EL, Tharyan R, Tonks I. Does the stock market gender stereotype corporate boards? Evidence from the market’s reaction to directors’ trades. British Journal of Management.2013;24(2) 174–190. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2011.00795.x
• Article published by the BBC, The reason why women’s voices are deeper today

Female Directors

• Published on Directors UK Ltd, a news article on gender inequality in directorial roles. Cut Out of the Picture: A study of gender inequality among directors within the UK film industry

“Headless women”

• The Headless Women Project is a project which aims to highlight practices which objectify and dehumanise women by decapitating or otherwise fragmenting their image.
• Why do movie posters feature so many ‘headless women’?

Objectification:

• Nussbaum M. “Objectification”. Philosophy & Public Affairs. 1995;24(4): 249–291. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2961930
• Langton R (2009). Sexual Solipsism: Philosophical Essays on Pornography and Objectification. 1st Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press;2009