March 20, 2025
By Sena Fidan
Editor
This article is part of a six-part in-depth reporting project about women’s issues.
The entertainment industry is filled with female stereotypes, such as the “cool girl,” “damsel in distress” and “manic pixie dream girl.” From skin-tight costumes to “bimbo” attitudes, female objectification is prevalent in popular films and TV shows.
In Hollywood, female roles are often secondary to male leads. These roles are commonly stereotypical and only present traditional roles of women, such as romantic partners, mothers and wives.
English teacher Dr. DiMaggio said while male roles focus on the characters’ personalities, women’s roles often emphasize appearance and physical attractiveness.
“It programs [viewers] to think that’s what beauty is from a very young age.”
“There’s a difference [between] women’s representation in [entertainment and] other aspects of life, but yet what we see on the screen isn’t always following with that,” DiMaggio said. “Women are taught that our value comes in how sexy we are to men.”
DiMaggio said depictions of women’s appearances have become so common that it has become a trope.
“We see the wicked stepmother [in Walt Disney Studios’ “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”] upset because someone stole their beauty,” DiMaggio said. “They don’t have beauty anymore, so now they want to ruin everybody’s life. Those are things you don’t even think about because we’re brought up with [them].”
Sophomore Christina Mizeksi said that when she thinks of oversexualized female characters, Pixar’s animated superhero franchise “The Incredibles” comes to mind.
“They’re all wearing really tight clothing, and their figures are really accentuated for no reason,” Mizeksi said.
She said it is important to acknowledge the damage objectification of women is doing to young audiences.
“It programs [viewers] to think that’s what beauty is from a very young age,” Mizeksi said. “If that’s not what you look like, then you’ll consider yourself ugly.”
Sophomore Melissa Ozturk said these tropes may be justifiable when gender stereotypes are prominent in the plot.
“If the movie’s a romantic movie, [it’s okay], but if it’s a horror movie, then there’s no need for that,” Ozturk said.
She said social media allows viewers to criticize directors and creators for their problematic portrayals of women but does not feel that is a solution to the problem.
“There’s always going to be women talking about it online,” Ozturk said. “But at the end of the day, [stereotyping is] going to occur no matter what.”
