scholarly journals Balancing Gender and Power: How Disney’s Hercules Fails to Go the Distance

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra Primo

Disney’s Hercules (1997) includes multiple examples of gender tropes throughout the film that provide a hodgepodge of portrayals of traditional conceptions of masculinity and femininity. Hercules’ phenomenal strength and idealized masculine body, coupled with his decision to relinquish power at the end of the film, may have resulted in a character lacking resonance because of a hybridization of stereotypically male and female traits. The film pivots from hypermasculinity to a noncohesive male identity that valorizes the traditionally-feminine trait of selflessness. This incongruous mixture of traits that comprise masculinity and femininity conflicts with stereotypical gender traits that characterize most Disney princes and princesses. As a result of the mixed messages pertaining to gender, Hercules does not appear to have spurred more progressive portrayals of masculinity in subsequent Disney movies, showing the complexity underlying gender stereotypes.

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 182-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke (Lei) Zhu ◽  
Victoria L. Brescoll ◽  
George E. Newman ◽  
Eric Luis Uhlmann

Abstract. The present studies examine how culturally held stereotypes about gender (that women eat more healthfully than men) implicitly influence food preferences. In Study 1, priming masculinity led both male and female participants to prefer unhealthy foods, while priming femininity led both male and female participants to prefer healthy foods. Study 2 extended these effects to gendered food packaging. When the packaging and healthiness of the food were gender schema congruent (i.e., feminine packaging for a healthy food, masculine packaging for an unhealthy food) both male and female participants rated the product as more attractive, said that they would be more likely to purchase it, and even rated it as tasting better compared to when the product was stereotype incongruent. In Study 3, packaging that explicitly appealed to gender stereotypes (“The muffin for real men”) reversed the schema congruity effect, but only among participants who scored high in psychological reactance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luckmore Chimanzi

This article explores the development of heteronormativity and the construction of masculinities at a township primary school in South Africa. In this study, boys and girls chastise homosexuality yet maintain their male-to-male and female-to-female social bonds. Homosocial or male-to-male social bonds have a bearing on the construction of male identity. It is argued that homosocial relationships serve as a means through which certain boys negotiate and exhibit their masculinity in a process of identity formation in which heterosexuality is a key component. Qualitative data from focus groups and diary research with Grade 7 students (male and female) in a primary school are used. Boys engage in a number of games and acquire resources for themselves; hence, as a social unit, they portray themselves as heteronormative. Their solidarity plays a role in maintaining their power in relationships even though privately some of them expressed preference for more flexible constructions of masculinity.


Author(s):  
Valentina Cartei ◽  
Jane Oakhill ◽  
Alan Garnham ◽  
Robin Banerjee ◽  
David Reby

AbstractThe adult voice is a strong bio-social marker for masculinity and femininity. In this study we investigated whether children make gender stereotypical judgments about adults’ occupational competence on the basis of their voice. Forty-eight 8- to 10- year olds were asked to rate the competence of adult voices that varied in vocal masculinity (by artificially manipulating voice pitch) and were randomly paired with 9 occupations (3 stereotypically male, 3 female, 3 gender-neutral). In line with gender stereotypes, children rated men as more competent for the male occupations and women as more competent for the female occupations. Moreover, children rated speakers of both sexes with feminine (high-pitched) voices as more competent for the female occupations. Finally, children rated men (but not women) with masculine (low-pitched) voices as more competent for stereotypically male occupations. Our results thus indicate that stereotypical voice-based judgments of occupational competence previously identified in adults are already present in children, and likely to affect how they consider adults and interact with them in their social environment.


1982 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-46
Author(s):  
Deane H. Shapiro ◽  
Johanna Shapiro ◽  
Roger N. Walsh ◽  
Dan Brown

This study assessed the impact of a 3-mo. meditation retreat on 15 respondents' self-perceived masculinity and femininity. As hypothesized, male and female subjects, who on pretest perceived themselves to be more stereotypically feminine than normative samples, on posttest reported a significant shift to even greater endorsement of feminine adjectives and less endorsement of masculine adjectives.


Temida ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-54
Author(s):  
Marissabell Skoric

The study deals with the issue of whether the norms of criminal law make a distinction between male and female sex with regard to the perpetrator of the criminal offence as well as with regard to the victim of the criminal offence and also the issue of whether male or female sex have any role in the criminal law. It is with this objective in mind that the author analyzed the provisions of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Croatia and statistical data on total crime in the Republic of Croatia and the relation between male and female perpetrators of criminal offences. The statistical data reveal that men commit a far greater number of offences than women. Apart from this, women and men also differ according to the type of the criminal offence they tend to commit. Women as perpetrators of criminal offences that involve the element of violence are very rare. At the same time, women are very often victims of violent offences perpetrated by men, which leads us to the term of gender-based violence. Although significant steps forward have been made at the normative level in the Republic of Croatia in defining and sanctioning of genderbased violence, gender stereotypes can still be observed in practice when sexual crimes are in question so that we can witness domestic violence on a daily basis. All of this leads to the conclusion that it is necessary to make further efforts in order to remove all obstacles that prevent changes in social relations and ensure equality between women and men, not only de jure but also de facto.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Shilpi Aggarwal ◽  
Prof. Punam Midha

Adolescence is a very complex and crucial phase of life, where teenagers are caught up in their own web of personal strivings, such as the issues of being, belonging and becoming. Such strivings play a pivotal role in determining their quality of life. Further whether these intrinsic motives (i.e. 3Bs being, belonging and becoming) are being influenced by gender stereotypes is a big issue for the psychologists to explore. Thus the current study is an attempt to explore and compare the levels of being, belonging and becoming (comprising of overall QOL) among male and female adolescents. A purposive sample of 98 adolescents aged 16-18 years, both male (n=44) and female (n=54) was drawn from the colleges of Rewari and Gurgaon districts of Haryana. For measuring personal strivings, Quality Of Life Profile for Adolescent Version Questionnaire (Raphael, Rukholm, Brown, Hill-Bailey & Donato, 1996) was used. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to assess the levels of being, belonging and becoming and overall quality of life and gender comparison was done on these variables. Results indicated adequate level of personal strivings leading to overall good quality of life among adolescents (total as well as in both male and female separately). Both males and females have similar levels of quality of life. However, females superseded males in spiritual being and community belonging.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 129-140
Author(s):  
Pragya Paneru

 The Gender gap is one of the most prominent problems in the context of Nepal. Even if Nepal constitution promotes gender equality and equity, there is still a huge gap between male and female. Women lag in literary percentage, nutritional health conditions, ownership, and employment opportunities. One of the obstacles in the path of gender equality is our systemic education materials especially our textbooks which reinforce the stereotypical concept of male and female through textbook representations. Researchers have shown that gender stereotypes have been seen in the textbooks of highly developed countries like America, Australia, and Hongkong. In this context, all the compulsory textbooks of grade four and five prescribed by the Curriculum Development Centre in the context of Nepal were observed. In all the books, stereotypical representations of male and female characters were found. Most of the men and women were presented doing conventional gender roles, and male-centered themes are found in the narratives. This research claims that when conventional attitude regarding gender is transferred to young children, it ultimately reproduces similar gendered personalities and helps to maintain the gender gap. This research uses the concept of ‘technology of power’ by Foucault to interpret gender representations in textbooks. A Ccritical Discourse Analysis has been used to analyze the data from textbooks. The findings suggest that there are biased gender representations suggesting stereotypes and gender binary which could potentially affect the learners both male and female as it fosters false knowledge regarding gender and overburdens the male whereas humiliates the females.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Purbo Kusumastuti ◽  
Aulia Apriana ◽  
Yazid Basthomi

Touching into the gender differences between males and females in expressing the use of exaggeration expressions, this study analyzes the relevant data using the LIWC tool, the HIP method, and the deficit and difference theories. This study found that in relation to the gender stereotypes, both males and females speak differently, yet also demonstrate similarities. Both the male and female subjects express emotions equally in the language production; yet, the negative emotions are dominated by the males, and the positive emotions are dominated by the females. The difference of emotion productions influences the differences in the males’ production of exaggeration expressions, such as empty adjectives, italic expressions, and hyperbole by the female subjects.  


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document