The idea of progress: how the condition of women has evolved and what about nowadays in cinema?

The idea of progress

INTRODUCTION

        Today I'm going to talk about the « Idea of progress ». It can be definded as an improvement, a development or a change, a technical, scientific or a social advance which contributes to making the world a better place. I'm going to talk about social progress through the place women, especially in the film industry.

        We can wonder how the condition of women has evolved and what about nowadays in cinema.

        So as to analyse this idea we will first study how the image of women changed through two extracts from two James Bond movies. Secondly, we will focus on gender inequality.

(45 sec)

DEVELOPEMENT

First, let’s have a look at the first extract from JB entitled “Goldfinger” released in 1964. It shows a woman called Dink. She has luscious curves, she is brainless and submissive. She is massaging  JB who is shirtless, muscular, hairy. Dink is the archetype of the brainless blond girl and JB is the archetype of the man, he is domineering and male chauvinistic. We can ask ourselves if this movie is sexist. In my opinion cinema is the reflect of the society. So the society of the 60's was a patriarchal and sexist society. At that time men were the breadwinners and women were staying at home, doing the house chores and cooking. They didn't have the same rights as men. They couldn't vote or work. They were subjected to their father or to their husband.

(1min)

        In the second extract from “Diamonds are forever” released in 1971 we can see two women fighting against JB, Bambi and Thumper. They are athletic and muscular. They are dominating him, he is beaten by the weaker sex. There is an evolution from the first extract, there is an inversion of the roles, JB becomes a plaything, he is beaten and dominated by two women even if at the end he wins. We can see a progress, indeed the women are much smarter and self assured than Dink. They are in the foreground fighting a man, they seem independent. Moreover one of the two girls is black, this is also a progress. However even nowadays there are few main female characters and female characters are often considered as plaything.

(1min)

        The press article from the Huffigton post is entitled “The film industry's problem of gender inequality is worse than you think” written in 2016. It says that women are unrepresented in the film industry. For instance, there is only one woman who wins a price as a film maker. But there isn't gender gap in the film schools. So what is this gap due to? After college appears barriers due to the film studio directed by white male. This barrier for women and minorities is called “celluloid ceiling”. Women must find a way to get around but this barrier never goes away. Moreover for equal work women earn less than men. The gender pay cap is around 20%. Female characters are seldom in leadership position but they are overrepresented in female dominated occupation.

CONCLUSION

        To conclude the place of women has changed overtime. There is a social progress of the women rights. The film industry is the reflect of the society, it shows its evolution. In the 60's, women were in the service of man, they were dominated. However they fought to reduce the inequality. Nowadays they no longer depends on man. However they are still victim of gender gap in the film industry where women are unrepresented due to the celluloid ceiling and they are unequal paid. This is common to the world of work. Even if some countries require equal pay for equal work gender equality will be reached in a hundred year.

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