Black Dynamite (2009)
How it hurts women
It is widely accepted that sexualization in mass media sends strong messages about the physical standards to which we hold women in our society, and films are no exception. Female movie characters are shown as meeting a very narrow definition of beauty (young, thin, made-up) practically for the sake of it. Even in instances where it is actually befitting of a character to appear that way because the script calls for it, we still must ask ourselves, why is it necessary to write that character that way? This does little more than posit that even women whose value comes from the content of their character must still be legitimized by beauty. Would Ellen Ripley of the Alien series have been a shallower or less remarkable character if she had been played by an older or less attractive actress than Sigourney Weaver? I have my doubts.
Disclaimer: Sigourney Weaver is an amazing actress and her role as Ripley is considered to be a milestone in challenging gender roles.
The APA's report on sexualization describes several mental, physical, and emotional consequences of the phenomenon. Constant exposure to the largely unreasonable expectations put forth by movies undermines women's confidence in their own appearance. This can lead to depression, eating disorders, and low self-esteem. By the same token, seeing women over-sexualized onscreen instills and reinforces the same unreasonable expectations in men, leading them to hold women to (literally) narrow standards in real life. Adolescents, both male and female, are especially susceptible to these effects. As Woody Allen famously put it, "Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television."
Disclaimer: Sigourney Weaver is an amazing actress and her role as Ripley is considered to be a milestone in challenging gender roles.
The APA's report on sexualization describes several mental, physical, and emotional consequences of the phenomenon. Constant exposure to the largely unreasonable expectations put forth by movies undermines women's confidence in their own appearance. This can lead to depression, eating disorders, and low self-esteem. By the same token, seeing women over-sexualized onscreen instills and reinforces the same unreasonable expectations in men, leading them to hold women to (literally) narrow standards in real life. Adolescents, both male and female, are especially susceptible to these effects. As Woody Allen famously put it, "Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television."