Stereotype and Prejudice Influences - Holly Stone

Stereotypes and Prejudice 

What mainly influences our short film is the idea of stereotypes and prejudice which is within our society. Gender stereotypes is the key element. Gender stereotypes are simplistic generalizations about the gender attributes, differences, and roles of individuals and/or groups. Stereotypes can be positive or negative, but they rarely communicate accurate information about others. When people automatically apply gender assumptions to others regardless of evidence to the contrary, they are perpetuating gender stereotyping.

In an overview of Gender stereotyping, the following rules below apply to what the typical stereotype is; 

• Traditionally, the female stereotypic role is to marry and have children. She is also to put her family's welfare before her own; be loving, compassionate, caring, nurturing, and sympathetic.

• The male stereotypic role is to be the financial provider. He is also to be assertive, competitive, independent, courageous, and career‐focused; hold his emotions in check.

This stereotype of only men being allowed a competitive, assertive and career-focused attitude is what effects the way people look at women who try to acquire a similar view and aspiration for their life.

How does this effect our short film? 

Our main character is going to display traits of both stereotypes. These stereotypes are going to be picked upon by her peers and those around her during the film. The two sociological categories our character will fit under include; 

• Androgyny - This means the blending of feminine and masculine attributes in the same individual. In this case, our costume for the character (Misc en scene) and her hobby (football) blends with the fact she is female, and towards the ending of our film - her costume shows that she is also extremely feminine (Misc en scene). 

• Androgyne - Or in our case - the androgynous person, does not neatly fit into a female or male gender role; she can comfortably express the qualities of both genders. This will be seen when our character as she dresses up for a date at the end of the film, but throughout doesn't care about her appearance.