While recuperating from my rough day last night, I watched that cheese-ball battle of the sexes flick "The Ugly Truth." It was predictably predictable, and the same schlock they've been dishing out for the past 20 years on the subject of designated gender roles in contemporary society. The successful, career-focused woman wants the man of her dreams, while the man of her nightmares tells her how to win over the handsome, coiffed doctor she's been eyeing. She then has to face the fact that taking the ruffian's advice to land the hott doctor meant that she inadvertently became a caricature of the ultimate woman (in stereotypical man land), and would be forced to ask if that perfect man could love her for just being herself. Don't worry, this point is so glossed over, I'm not ruining any of the mystery!
I also watched that movie "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, while battling my cabin fever with horrible films, a dust buster, and Clorox wipes. (Admittedly, I watched that one to catch a glimpse of Betty White, who stole the whole show. Repeatedly!) This was yet another of the same thematic approach featuring a woman who seemingly has it all that needs just that *one more* thing to be complete... It's been tough watching this kind of fluff, and wondering where I fall on the gender divide.
Sure, I've dated women who were successful, powerful, wealthy, who seemingly had it all... And sure, I've sometimes felt eclipsed by their power, success, and popularity. But it would make me too nervous to sum all of that up in some overly simply sexist paradigm, and throw a movie title on it. So, what is the point?
It got me to thinking: Why do we keep coming back to these kinds of themes? What is it that we are examining here? What is it that still rolls onward, unresolved? That we, as a society, don't know what to do now that women have won their supposed equality to men? (I say "supposed" because there are clearly still many inequalities between the sexes, and the genders.) Or that we are just as clueless now about dating and attraction as we ever were?
I studied screen writing for a time, and acknowledge that there are only seven story lines that act as the substantive foundations in narrative films. That said, it is the flourishes, the nuances and twists to those seven foundations that make films memorable and unique. But only having seven narrative archetypes reveals that these are the prime conditions of the human psyche. (And by "prime" I mean can only be reduced down to itself, as in prime numbers. Not like "highly selective," say when we are referring to a prime piece of meat.)
When we think about how much time has passed since the Feminist movement of the late 1960s-1970s, or since women held down men's jobs during World War II, or the Suffragists' movement before that, or even since women were burned at the stake from rising fear of witch craft and heretics – are we any closer to unraveling the enigma of gender, and how we should interact with one another?
At one point in American history, the Irish were labeled as a sub-race in this country. The Italians, too. There were dozens of cultural slurs to reinforce their lesser-than stature. Several decades have passed, and we wouldn't even fathom that these two ethnicities were once deemed their own races in our fair nation. It has genuinely disappeared from our cultural radar, with no residual traces for later generations to contest.
Is it plausible to one day imagine that there will no longer be such emphasis placed on the great gender divide? Or that equality will truly exist, and the differences between (or amongst if you don't believe in polarity of masculine versus feminine) the genders will be merely superficial, and just for funzies?
With so many social scientists, biologists, neurologists, human genome experts, historians, cultural critics, self-help authors, talk show hosts, and play writes focusing on this stuff – how the hell are we *still* so fucking oblivious, and bashing our heads on the same societal road blocks?
I'm so confused. And clearly, I'm not the only one.
No comments:
Post a Comment