Fighting Sith Lords and Gender Stereotypes
Social differences have existed in culture for as long as human history began. These differences can help define people, but at times may also create negative stereotypes. Racial minorities, the LGBTQ community, certain religious people, women, and those of different socioeconomic classes are often given stereotypes that depict them in negative ways. In this paper, women are the focus. While films often times give stereotypical traits to woman, Star Wars: The Force Awakens challenged these misrepresentations. The main character of the film was Rey, who was depicted as a strong, capable and brave woman. She is one of the few developed female characters in the Star Wars series, excluding the extended …show more content…
Collins in an article about the representations of female supers in popular culture, “women are often sexualized—typically by showing them in scanty or provocative clothing” (Collins), which the Star Wars series had previously done in Return of the Jedi. In the film, Princess Leia wore a slave bikini at one point, as seen in Figure 1. Rey’s costume contrasts this, as it is not sexual, as seen in Figure 2. It is practical clothing for someone who lived on a desert planet. Obviously, clothing does not only sexualize woman. It is perhaps just as misogynistic to view clothing in this manner as it is for people, both men and women, to sexualize women. Clothing may reflect something beyond materialism, such as feminism. Megan Garber looked at clothing in this manner in her article “Star Wars: The Feminism Awakens.”
Star Wars heroines will always, on some level, reflect the feminism of their times (though, granted, the sample set here is pretty much three). Leia, clad alternately in a flowing muumuu and a metal bikini, reflected the social upheavals of the women’s movement. She fought and she fawned. Padme, clad in thick robes and a mid-riff bearing white shirt, did pretty much the same thing. She embodied an era that wasn’t quite sure whether feminism and femininity could peacefully co-exist.
Social differences have existed in culture for as long as human history began. These differences can help define people, but at times may also create negative stereotypes. Racial minorities, the LGBTQ community, certain religious people, women, and those of different socioeconomic classes are often given stereotypes that depict them in negative ways. In this paper, women are the focus. While films often times give stereotypical traits to woman, Star Wars: The Force Awakens challenged these misrepresentations. The main character of the film was Rey, who was depicted as a strong, capable and brave woman. She is one of the few developed female characters in the Star Wars series, excluding the extended …show more content…
Collins in an article about the representations of female supers in popular culture, “women are often sexualized—typically by showing them in scanty or provocative clothing” (Collins), which the Star Wars series had previously done in Return of the Jedi. In the film, Princess Leia wore a slave bikini at one point, as seen in Figure 1. Rey’s costume contrasts this, as it is not sexual, as seen in Figure 2. It is practical clothing for someone who lived on a desert planet. Obviously, clothing does not only sexualize woman. It is perhaps just as misogynistic to view clothing in this manner as it is for people, both men and women, to sexualize women. Clothing may reflect something beyond materialism, such as feminism. Megan Garber looked at clothing in this manner in her article “Star Wars: The Feminism Awakens.”
Star Wars heroines will always, on some level, reflect the feminism of their times (though, granted, the sample set here is pretty much three). Leia, clad alternately in a flowing muumuu and a metal bikini, reflected the social upheavals of the women’s movement. She fought and she fawned. Padme, clad in thick robes and a mid-riff bearing white shirt, did pretty much the same thing. She embodied an era that wasn’t quite sure whether feminism and femininity could peacefully co-exist.