In the 101 top-grossing family films…from 1990 to 2004, of the over 4,000 characters in these films, 75% overall were male, 83% of characters in crowds were male, 83% of narrators were male, and 72% of speaking were male. When the American Psychological Association commented on this research, they said, ‘This gross under-representation of women or girls in films with family-friendly content reflects a missed opportunity to present a broad spectrum of girls and women in roles that are non-sexualised.’
Natasha Walter, Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism, pages 69-70, 2010. (via bitemebeautiful)
Bringing this back as people have started reblogging this again and EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW THIS.
How stripping off to play Helen of Troy on the London stage changed the way I feel about my body
It’s October. It’s dusk. It’s the second week of rehearsals for The Trojan Women, a modern version of Euripides’ tragedy in which I’m greedily playing three different roles: Cassandra, the…
Tumblr makes me feel terrible about my body image.
Partly because I’m probably following the wrong blogs (you know the ones, girl with long flowy hair down to her breasts, in a killer effortless but totally weather impractical outfit, swaying in a sunset lit meadow of lavender…), but also because so so so many of the images and things on here are regurgitated press and media images of women- models, actors, singers, etc- all of which look pristine, and size 6, and toned, and proportioned, and beautiful/sexy as fuck.
You can tell yourself you don’t believe it, and that it’s just ridiculous objectification of women in play once more, but if you see enough of something, over and over and over again, and realise that you are so, so far from that, then you feel pretty fucking shit about yourself.
What the fuck is up with people watching all these shows about OTHER people’s lives?
The only way is Essex, Made in Chelsea, The Hills, Living on the Edge.
Why do people spend hours in front of the TV watching these usually talentless, mertiless, money and attention sapping, people’s lives?
It’s the same kind of stance that I took with Big Brother- what the fuck have these people done to deserve having hundreds of thousands of people pursue their day to day lives? Does the fact that they’re stupid/rich/catty/spoilt/ugly/beautiful/ignorant appeal to people? Because if they just looked around them, they would see that so are a whole lot of people in the world.
It just baffles me. It’s such a bullshit concept- because it’s neither special, or artistic, or well written or crafted, or anything.
Yet it’s not reality either!
WHY DO PEOPLE LOVE IT SO MUCH?! And why are shows like this being commissioned?
It makes me sad. I miss the days of a good BBC nature documentary, and funny sitcoms, and exciting drama, and good acting, and even better writing, and theatre! What happened to theatre broadcasts on TV?! What ever happened to channel 4’s ‘alternative’ stance on broadcasting? Foriegn cinema?
I literally almost never watch TV any more. This may have something to do with it…
END RANT. I know, I’m a 60 yr old in disguise, and I don’t even care.
So, Mr Brown and his party were painted as blundering idiots for months on end while the mass media slowly but surely formed a thoroughly unspoken yet highly obvious alliegance with the Tories, as Cameron was portrayed as the fresh faced dandy dapper fella that this country needed. Unsurprisingly, the moronic population of the UK as good as voted the Tories in, and now left, right and centre (no political pun intended), the media headlines scream in indignation about the budget cuts, the benefit cuts, and the resurfacing heirarchy of rich and poor. Well, population, here’s your lesson learnt; when the economy comes to a standstill, when the underprivellaged are eventually trampled, and while the mass media rages about it, perhaps you’ll come to recognise the hundred faced nature of the media that you were so easily swayed by. Then again, you probably won’t.
Twenty-Something in London.
Performer, theatre maker, sometimes writer, accidental teacher and purple lover.
Have an MA in Advanced Theatre Practice from Central School of Speech and Drama.
Mostly unemployed.
Will tell amusing stories for money.
