California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has recently appointed actress Geena Davis to a state commission aiming to promote women’s equality.  Sweet!

According to Wikipedia:

In 2004, while watching children’s television programs and videos with her daughter, Davis noticed what she thought was an imbalance in the ratio of male to female characters. From that starting point, Davis went on to sponsor the largest research project ever undertaken on gender in children’s entertainment (resulting in 4 discrete studies, including one on children’s television) at the Annenberg School for Communication of University of Southern California. The study, directed by Dr. Stacy Smith, shows that there are nearly 3 males to every 1 female character in the nearly 400 G, PG, PG-13, and R-Rated movies the undergraduate team of Annenberg students coded.

In 2005, Davis teamed up with the non-profit group Dads and Daughters to launch a venture dedicated to balancing the number of male and female characters in children’s TV and movie programming.

It’s nice to see someone with power, and with a background in the entertainment/film industry no less, acknowledging that this is a problem worthy of attention and taking steps towards change.  Let’s hope that Geena is able to really get the ball rolling and that change starts to happen!

(Check out Alethea Joy’s post on research inspired by Ms. Davis.)

“Children should be allowed to express themselves in whatever way they wish without anybody judging them because it is an important part of their growth… Society always has something to learn when it comes to the way we judge each other, label each other. We have far to go…  I think she [her daughter Shiloh] is fascinating, the choices she is making. And I would never be the kind of parent to force somebody to be something they are not. I think that is just bad parenting.”

- Angelina Jolie

From ET via Jezebel.

When I am working on things (big papers and whatnot) I like to have something on in the background, usually a movie or TV show I’ve seen a million times to provide a little background noise. Lately The Princess Diaries 2 has been on my rotation. It’s simple, it’s cute and fun and light and I find all the weird faux-Europeanness of the whole thing mildly amusing.

The more I watch the movie, however, the more I’ve come to realize it is highly problematic, and the more concerned I am for the young girls this film was (successfully) marketed to.

My biggest issue with the movie: Nicolas Devereaux (the male lead) is really inappropriate.

Consider Exhibit A:

Lord Devereaux oversteps his bounds on a number of occasions and it’s played off as cutesy and romantic, thus telling young girls this behavior is not only okay, but charming. According to the movie it’s okay for guys to grab and kiss you and then knock you into a fountain (I still don’t understand how they end up in there).

It’s also okay for him to follow you up stairs (against your wishes and invading your personal space), meddle in your relationships and insult and demean you.

His horrible, arrogant behavior is in part explained by the fact that he’s working with his uncle to usurp the Genovian throne, making him the future king instead of Mia being made the future queen. But this just makes his behavior worse. Throughout the movie, we’re never sure who’s side he’s on. I guess we can pretend he wouldn’t be a jerk if he didn’t have ulterior motives, but either way his interactions with Mia are in the context of dishonesty and disrespect. In fact the first time we, as the audience, really know where he stands is after all their little meet cutes when he officially declares his refusal to take the throne. He never apologizes to her or explains his internal struggle (as though any of that would validate his behavior). Instead he just says he loves her and she jumps into his arms, never getting a whiff of clarity on whether he planted the paparazzo that caught them canoodling by the lake or feels the slightest remorse for treating her like dirt.

The big problem here is that the movie was targeted to tween girls; the same tween girls that watched That’s So Raven religiously and would tune in to Hannah Montana two years later. I use “was” as if this movie has disappeared and never finds itself being rerun on Disney Channel or sitting on the video shelf (both virtual and real) at various retail establishments. The movie ends with a feminist message about how women shouldn’t have to be married to run a country, particularly when their male counterparts would not be laden with the same requirement, but that message (which seems rather unapplicable to the average person’s life) doesn’t make up for the horrible representation of romantic relationships.

I know it seems a little silly to think so much about a movie that came out 6 years ago, but as a fan of kids television I’ve become really sensitive to the messages being propagated by children’s entertainment. It often seems that with lighthearted little romps like this people focus on the wrong things. In the case of this movie it’s easy for parents to glance at it, see that there’s no violence and the most sexual content is a kiss, and notice it has a heartwarming little message about women having equal rights and has the “safe” Disney logo on it and accept that it’s appropriate for their kids.

It’s so easy to think that way about movies like this, and that makes me sad. I feel like entertainment produced for the next generation should be taken more seriously and given more consideration than whether it will be profitable or not.

There were two things that had me pumped up about The Wild Things: 1. Jim Henson muppets, and 2. Karen O.  I was never very attached to the story as a kid, and was pretty sure that it was going to be a hyped-up-indie-fest as a film.  However, this was also during that period that I kept going to movies expecting little and being blown away (Away We Go, Jennifer’s Body, Paper Heart, and Whip It!), so maybe that explains the mild obsession that overtook me after seeing The Wild Things last fall.  The film, the soundtrack, and the book all made their mark on me, and all have a little feminist spin in my opinion.  Let’s break it down:

The Film

Sadly this trailer doesn’t incorporate the Karen O led music that really contributes to the feel of the film, nor does it capture what, to me, was the most meaningful theme: Max’s relationship with his mother.  What? you say?  His mother?  Please, this is a story about a naughty and wild little boy. On the surface, yes, but Max’s relationship with his mom is what gave the film depth.

Max is being raised by a single mother who has a new boyfriend, which can be hard on any kid.  It’s hard even into adulthood to understand split parents, and when a newcomer steps in things become even more difficult.  Max was already a pain-in-the-butt kid, and between a fight with his older sister and the apparent intrusion of a new man into his home, he loses it.  He runs away and winds up living among the Wild Things as their king.  And each Wild Thing offers us an insight into Max’s relationship with his mom.  Carol represents the possessiveness Max feels towards her; Alexander represents how ignored he feels; Judith represents his difficult and disagreeable side; Ira represents the doting and needy part of him; and the Bull represents the stoic role our society asks us to show when we’re really experiencing pain.  K.W. on the other hand, represents Max’s mom.

K.W. is warm, loving, kind, and is more complex than the other Wild Things can understand.  She has a different level of maturity, she needs relationships outside of the group.  Carol in particular is resentful of this and alternates between loving K.W. and not knowing how to express it and loathing her in a violent and possessive way.  This is a clear reflection of how Max has treated his mother on the night he ran away.  When Carol turns on Max for letting him down as a king, it is K.W. that protects him, hiding him in her mouth.  For a moment after it is safe, K.W. wants to keep Max, but she understands that as much as she loves him, she must let him go.  Whether Max has the capacity to understand this as deeply as I see it or not, this is the turning point where he realizes he needs his mother and must return to her, hopefully with a new respect for her as a person, not just a mom.

After the jump, an analysis of the soundtrack (including an interview with Karen O.) and the book

A number of hopeful stories in the news this week:

Human Rights Campaign Announces Comprehensive Campaign to End Failed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Law
From HRC:

“The Commander in Chief sent a clear message tonight that in a time of war, what matters is that our men and women get the job done – not whether they’re gay or straight,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “Our ‘Voices of Honor’ campaign will bring about much needed action to end this law that the vast majority of Americans oppose.”

Research Shows Two Gay Parents Are Better Than A Single Straight One
From io9, Full scientific article available via Journal of Marriage And Family.

Anti-gay marriage activists have argued vigorously that children need a mother and father. Now a new research study shows that kids do need two parents — but that gender doesn’t matter… finding that it’s ideal if a child is raised by two parents who are “responsible, committed, stable,” but that the gender doesn’t cause radical differences.

Florida allows third gay adoption
From UPI.com via Jezebel.

A Florida judge allowed a lesbian to adopt a child while an appeals court decides whether the state’s ban on gay adoptions is unconstitutional, records show.

Huge LGBT Family Law Victory in PA
From Feminist Law Professors via Jezebel.

For some time now, the Pennsylvania courts have been relatively good at handling legal issues involving lesbian and gay families. For example, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has interpreted state adoption law to permit second-parent adoptions, and it has applied the in loco parentis doctrine to allow a former same-sex partner with no legal connection (e.g., through birth or adoption) to a child of the relationship to nonetheless obtain custody or visitation.

This is all great news, and shows that even though a lot of battles haven’t gone so well, some are still being won.  The war to extend equal rights to all U.S. citizens rages on.

Keep fighting the good fight, everyone.

I’ll be honest – I didn’t expect to like Monsters vs. Aliens.  It looked like a stupid, plotless, action based animation film filled with obnoxious characters voiced by even more irritating actors.  But I was pleasantly surprised at how wrong I was!

What wasn’t clear to me in the trailers I saw for the film, but is pretty clear in this one, is that the film really centers around Susan. Wait, what? An action-based animated children’s film with a female lead? Inconceivable!  Of course, she is the only female character, but she’s big and important, which is nice.  Despite her enormity, Susan doubts her ability to use her powers to defeat the attack of a giant robot on San Francisco, but when she sees the people in danger on the Golden Gate Bridge she goes into battle anyway, saving the city.  Her newfound confidence helps her see that her near-husband is actually a shallow, selfish, arrogant a-hole and she becomes (dun-dun-DUN) a confident and powerful single woman.  Whoa.

Even after Susan’s size returns to normal, her confidence and strength remain and she saves the world as an average woman.  An accident enlarges her again, and after her former fiance tries to rekindle their relationship (now that she’s a famous hero, of course) Susan brushes him off to continue fighting evil with her new-found mutant friends.  What a message for boys and girls – girls can be interesting, powerful, and admirable and romance isn’t the most important aspect of their lives.

Diablo Cody has done it again, folks.  The United States of Tara is complex, smart, progressive, and entertaining, and well worth your time.  The show is about a suburban family coping with the typical stresses of work, school, and relationships with a twist: Mom’s got four personalities.

Tara’s persona’s aren’t the most accurate representation of mental illness, although they do manage to use accurate terms: Dissociative Identity Disorder rather than Multiple Personality Disorder – something that Tara regularly has to correct others on.  Instead, her persona’s illustrate the various stereotyped roles women navigate – T, the wild, rebellious, and promiscuous teenager; Alice, the overly-sweet but passive-aggressive 50′s housewife; Buck, the grungy, rough and tough masculine side; and Tara herself who is trying to live a “normal” modern life with her husband and two children while coping with a buried childhood trauma that led to the development of these personas.  As Tara gets closer to that lost memory a fourth alter arises: Gimme, the animalistic child.

But the show isn’t just about Tara.  It’s about family.  Read the rest of this entry »

“I think that when you’re in the public eye, you automatically become a role model, because people are reading about you and looking at pictures of stuff you’ve done. But, you know, no one’s perfect, everyone makes mistakes. I have made mistakes and I will make mistakes. I’m only human.”

- Dakota Fanning

From Daily Express via Jezebel.

In case Kellog’s message about doctors and nurses wasn’t clear, check out these toys:

Remember, boys use blue medical equipment and are called “doctors,” while girls use pink medical equipment and are called “nurses.”  Other combinations of equipment and/or titles are not allowed.

Check out the full post at Sociological Images.

I recently watched Disney/Pixar’s Up for the first time, and yes, it made me cry, and yes, I did like it.  But that’s not to say it didn’t have its flaws.  For one thing, there is a serious imbalance of m:f characters.  The two moderately important female characters are either a) tragically killed off in the first half hour of the film, or b) named Kevin and shockingly revealed to have babies, automatically making her most important role “mother.”  Furthermore, I was fairly certain that the idea of a movie about an old wrinkly grumpy woman and a chubby little girl would never have been so much as produced, let alone popular.

However, I forgot about a little personal favorite of mine: Hoodwinked.

Hoodwinked is a retelling of the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and retellings of fairy tales always score high marks with me (or at least have the opportunity to).  There is a goody-bandit in town stealing everyone’s goodies and goody recipes in order to open up a giant goody corporation and take over the world.  The protagonist, of course, is our dear Red (voiced by Anne Hathaway) and her Granny (Glenn Close) is also a lead.  So I was wrong about there never being a movie about a little girl and and old woman, although Red is an attractive young woman rather than a chubby little boy, and Granny is a wild extreme sports champion, not a crotchety old dude.

I love Hoodwinked, highly recommend it, and encourage anyone out there with daughters and nieces to share the film with a generation of girls that could use a little more legitimate “girl power.”  However, critics didn’t agree with me.  Hoodwinked received a rating of 48% (rotten) from Rotten Tomatoes, had “mixed or average reviews,” and grossed $110 mil in the box office.  On the other hand, Up received a rating of 98% (fresh) from Rotten Tomatoes, had “positive reviews,” and grossed $702.8 mil worldwide.  Hoodwinked isn’t a “girly” story, but the main character as female automatically divides its target market in half.

Have you seen these films?  How do you think they compared?  And why do films starring women and girls never stand a chance?