To dilute a little the severity of the topics that we’ve been discussing for a while, I recommend you watch a funny movie streamed on Netflix: I am not an easy man!
Briefly, the main character is known for being a disparate womanizer. After an accident, he wakes up in a world patronized by women. Now he's at their mercy. To adapt and subsist in this weird and totally new world where gender roles are reversed, he'll have to learn the new rules of the game.
This movie is a social satire that points out how the status quo isn’t questioned when it works for men. The script covers all the aspects of what it's like to be a woman, how is she seen by men and what is her vocational role in society. In a comic way, it provides a good context on the disparity as to how women are treated differently than men, picturing especially the issues of harassment and how it is conducted towards women. Another great point highlighted by the authors is how terrifying the world would become for men if women would lose their perceived femininity and everything that comes along this sense of beauty. But no more about the movie, I don’t want to spoil its end which honestly was a surprise for me.
Getting back to the real world we have to admit the social setting and roles assigned to both men and women. There is, therefore, no doubt that at some point both men and women are entitled to the big question: why some behavior is set at the core as a model and any deviations are punished through social intimidation? At a larger scale, these norms and attitude are the reasons why so many conflicts are in place. By having singular metrics to measure each and every one, the society discourages the diversity, kills the individuality, and sets the cornerstone for a “robotic” society where all are alike.
So, while talking about gender mainstreaming we have to consider men’s issues as well, their discrimination, their frustrations and the burden they struggle with. I think that education and knowledge is the key to a peaceful mind and honest behavior. All should start in the family without assigning roles for girls and boys separately but by teaching and showing humbleness, compassion, harmony, and respect. With all this in mind, no one would ever question why somebody is supposed to do a certain job and to act accordingly to certain expectations. All will be focused to serve the main goal: equity and justice for everyone!
Hey Eleonora,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing about this movie and your post overall, I found it super thought-provoking. But wow! This film was ridiculous, but also very relevant to our class discussions.
I found it interesting to witness all the small details making fun of gender roles, especially how women are portrayed in media. For example, there is a part in the movie where the main character, Damien, is watching a film with his parents (probably of the romantic genre), and the male character is laying in bed stroking his arm discussing his insecurities and asking the women he is laying with if she loves him. The scene then pans out to show the male character laying naked on his stomach, while the women remains covered and continues to reassure and comfort him. In so many romantic movies (outside of this film of course), this is how women are portrayed – the woman is the insecure submission who needs comforting while the man provides this reassurance and plays the protector role. Additionally, men can be found on billboards, magazine covers and the like, posing sexy and wearing little to no clothing. In the real world, women are objectified in advertisements almost everywhere – which was mentioned in one of our previous blog posts.
Although this film was comedic and a ridiculous ‘slapstick’ type humor, it highlights many issues that women go through, especially when thinking about gender roles assigned by society, as you mentioned Eleonora. By turning the perspective towards male submission and portraying them as the “weaker sex” it highlights behaviors and small gender impositions that I had not previously reflected on before this movie – or those that are so engrained into my everyday life that I do not normally acknowledge. For example, there is part in the movie when Damien is sitting on a bench and a woman asks him “wow that’s a big sandwich” and looks him up and down. Also, when Damien enters his place of work all of the women (and men) comment on his clothing and proceed to make flirty, sexual comments. Even when he goes to a local bar (owned by a women), he encounters two men complaining how they have not been served yet because the female bartender is chatting up a group of her women friends at the other side of the bar. In the real world, women (myself included) are subject to comments like this at the workplace, outside of workplace and even discrimination when at certain establishments run by men especially places perceived to be a ‘boys club’. Unfortunately, behaviors and attitudes like those highlighted in the film have become so engrained within society that they become almost ‘normal’.
Although I appreciate the unique premise of this film and its ability to draw attention to the gender inequalities that exist between men and women, it does not offer any solutions or ways to change the current situation, and it reinforces the idea of the gender binary – a problem that our most recent readings about violence against women also call attention to.
Overall, I think this film stresses the fact that that both men and women face different forms of discrimination that garner different practical approaches depending on culture and the situation. Patriarchy can not be solved by a role reversal; this would just create a new patriarchy (or should I say matriarchy ) …. This being said… I don’t know what the solution is! But I do agree with you Eleonora, the first step is showing humbleness, compassion, harmony and respect!
First of all, the drama trailer was fun and very interesting. I will definitely find a way to watch the drama outside of Netflix (since I do not have an account right now). The drama was explicit about how gender roles are attached to each gender because I felt weird how actress behave on screen. There are some attitudes that I was not aware that are related to gender until I came across with this drama. For instance, women do not whistle when they see attractive men on the street. If women do it like character in drama, it would be awkward. Unlike men, girls are expected to put a lot of effort on taking care of outside, such as shaving/waxing legs or putting makeup. Lorber (1991) points out, “gender, like culture, is a human production that depends on everyone constantly “doing gender.” (p.129). Therefore, gender associated behaviors are learned from early childhood from female model, including mother, sister, and grandmothers as well as friends. Same in boys, they learned how to behave like “man” from male figures surrounding themselves. When I worked at a daycare center with three to four years old children, most of boys had short hair and wore “boy’s color” clothing, such as blue or green while girls wore pink based colors and played with dolls. Those parents must have given cars to boys and princess toys to girls. I personally never came across with boys wearing a princess dress. The gender norm is repeated every day that we do not even doubt when we do it. It could be a challenging because it requires mindful act on a daily base, but when I will have a child in the future, I will keep this in my mind.
ReplyDeleteDear Eleonora,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post. I agree with you in the sense that this type of movies portray male privilege in many parts of the world and the difficulties faced by many women because of their sex. It definitely shows gender-flipped clichés. I think it is important to highlight that the movie shows what happens in many situations when some women start to take part in activities that are usually exercised by men. It shows the reluctance of many chauvinist men to accept that women can do far more than just having children, doing chores at home and working in low skilled jobs or in the informal sector. Furthermore, the movie sheds light on how when typical gender roles start to experiment changes, some men still do not take women seriously or decide to just ignore and “turn a blind eye to female demands for equal rights” (Nelson, 2018). Additionally, the film demonstrates how, regardless of the development of many gender theories and the many efforts to modify the relationships between men and women throughout the years, “gender expectations still influence assumptions about how men and women should act” (Nelson, 2018). Overall, I believe the movie shows how breaking down stereotypes is very difficult due to cultural normalizations of gender roles.
The following is a short video that shows how gender roles are highly embedded in many of our cultures. Many times we tend to give little girls toys that do not help them develop spatial awareness and physical confidence just because they are girls. And the problem is that we do not even notice this type of behaviors in our daily lives.
Girl toys vs boy toys: The experiment - BBC Stories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWu44AqF0iI
Best,
Andrea Padilla
References
Nelson, S. (2018). ‘I Am Not an Easy Man’ is a gender-bending critique. Michigan Daily. Retrieved from https://www.michigandaily.com/section/arts/i-am-not-easy-man-film-review
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ReplyDeleteWow, girls, you nailed it. You are so right in your comments. Thanks!
DeleteHello Eleonora,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this clip, it was very interesting to watch, and thanks for the review as well.
My take on this is what I always say about socialization at home being the biggest influence on gender roles. As much as we all talk about how society shapes us, and I do agree that social norms and practices do play a role in how children are brought up, but in the end what happens in the home is totally up to the families raising children. I grew up in a place where gender roles are very much significant and people in the family like uncles and aunts have specific important roles in births, weddings, and funerals. These roles usually subordinate or strip voice from women from making independent choices that benefit them and their families. However, there are people who quietly challenge these expectations the smallest way possible they can, which is the way they bring up their children. Instead of imposing household work on girls and financial responsibility on boys, they teach everyone all these roles. I've seen a meme where someone posted that cooking should not be considered 'wife material' instead it should be seen as a basic life skill. The expectation of home-making imposed on women and girls has in many cases succumbed them to violence. Looking at the recent class readings from a study conducted in Haiti, many have confessed that Gender Based Violence had risen due to the position of women in society. In the end, I gender roles expectations are ways to control women and the spaces the occupy which are constantly reinforced even by mere reality TV shows such as "Wife Swap". This show reinforces gender roles where wives are swapped to live in each other's homes for two weeks. The first week they live the way their host family does every day, then the following week they change things up in terms of parenting and how to run the household. It's usually things like doing laundry, cooking for the family and eating together, and how to treat your partner. Most of the time the wife that stresses women's role in the home is the one that's seen as the "better" wife and her life is displayed as perfect with her family while the other is somewhat shamed and helped to do better.
In the end, gender roles manifest power of one gender and reproduce inequalities.