The Smurfette Principle in the Modern Media Feminism Is over

Coined by Katha Pollitt in the distant 1991, the term â€Å"Smurfette Principle† described the phenomenon of female characters existing in media for the sole purpose of being the male counterparts and having no identity other than that: â€Å"The message is clear. Boys are the norm, girls the variation; boys are central, girls peripheral; boys are individuals, girls types.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Smurfette Principle in the Modern Media: Feminism Is over? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Boys define the group, its story and its code of values. Girls exist only in relation to boys† (Pollitt, 1991, April 7, para. 4).Also known as a â€Å"token woman,† the given character originated from the attempts of the entertainment industry to market their product to a particular audience (Thompson Heinberg, 1999). However, despite the fact that the Smurfette principle is still applied towards modern media and especially film industry, considerable changes in the definition of the role of a female character have occurred, with the latter acquiring their own unique features outside of supplying color commentaries for the male characters, which can be traced in a number of present-day media specimens. One of the most obvious changes that have occurred to female characters in media and that seems to have the greatest impact on the destruction of the Smurfette Principle is that most of the female characters created in 2000s–2010s clearly have distinct personalities – in contrast to the ones of the 90s era, when a female character had a personality of a powder compact (Smith, 2008). Another obvious foot forward in promoting a less clichà ©d female character to younger audience is the fact that modern female leads do not need a male companion and often do not have one. The given feature of a â€Å"strong, independent† female character was launched by the c reators of long-forgotten She-Ra franchise (Scheimer 1985–1986), where, though originally created as a counterpart to He-Man, the princess had a distinct personality, and her gender could be considered accidental. Although the number of female protagonists with their unique story arc and personality still seems quite little, the prevalence of female antagonists whose gender could be defined as accidental is stunning. Even the notorious The little mermaid, which Pollitt despised so much for providing an unbearably bland character with the most trivial motivations that a female protagonist can get, provides the audience with a unique and compelling evil female character. Ursula, though admittedly despicable, is much more compelling than Ariel, and her motivations are much more complex; the animators could have easily substituted her with a male character without changing a single line: â€Å"Come in. Come in, my child. We mustn’t lurk in doorways. It’s rude. One might question your upbringing† (Ashman, 1989, 0:39:17–0:39:25). Therefore, it can be assumed that the experience of writing negative female characters can be translated into creating unique female protagonists as well.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It must be admitted that the idea of splitting the characters into male protagonists and their female archetypes is extremely alluring for most of the present-day media companies. In fact, even the most gender neutral TV shows and cartoon series seem to recycle the same concept of a male lead and his shallow female counterpart. In fact, female characters are provided with a leading part quite rarely even nowadays, especially in TV shows and animated series, with several major exceptions which only seem to make the Smurfette Principle even stronger. Indeed, in a retrospective, the media targeted at children rarely features the shows in which a female protagonist plays just as important part as a male one. For instance, in 1990s and 2000s, most TV shows, such as Avatar (DiMartino, 2005–2008), had male leads, whereas all that girls were left with was My little pony (Faust, 2010). The 2010s, however, changed a lot. Such shows as Kim Possible (for teens) and Dora the Explorer (for younger audience) showed that female protagonists could exist and, more importantly, were not supposed to follow the formula of shallow female archetypes. What is even more surprising, these shows were targeted not primarily at boys, but largely at teens and kids, therefore, offering big gender neutral shows with a strong female lead, not to mention the famous and extremely well grossing â€Å"Avatar: The Legend of Korra† (with 4.5 rating, according to the Staff Writer (2013, November 14)). The process of redefining female characters in media, especially in the media designed for children, is taking place at a very slow pace at present, mostly because of the creators’ unwillingness to try something new in terms of female character development. The intentions of the people involved into the media industry are hardly malicious; instead, they seem to be careless towards the way in which media shapes children’s perception of reality. There are a few exceptions in the grand scheme, but for the most part, the Smurfette Principle seems to be affecting the evolution of a female character even nowadays, especially in children TV series and cartoons and mostly for the same reasons that it appears in the adult media. There seems to be a pattern of attitudes towards the media created by women and by men in that the latter are said to create the content for girls and women, while the latter are considered to be able to create content for both.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Smurfette Principle in the Modern Media: Feminism Is over? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The 2010s, however, have changed the cultural landscape of female characters, in children media specifically. It is remarkable that a number of movies that were released in 2010s have a female protagonist that often does not require a male counterpart and seems to be able to exist on her own. Taking Merida from Brave (2012) as an example one will see that she is the compelling female character that does not fit the Smurfette Principle at all; she even stands the Bechdel test, for that matter (Freedman, 2009). She interacts with male characters, yet marrying a prince is not her focus; true, she has suitors, but she prefers not to marry any of them at the end of the movie: â€Å"There are those who say fate is something beyond our command. That destiny is not our own, but I know better. Our fate lives within us, you only have to be brave enough to see it.† (Docter, Lasseter Stanton, 2012). The given movie is not the o nly example of female protagonists evolving into self-sufficient characters with their own unique story arcs. Although the process of changing the viewers’ idea of women in media, especially if these viewers are children, is not easy, it still has the potential, which more recent examples of portraying women in media show. Another obvious change to female characters in media, especially in media for children, is that the female protagonists are no longer needed to be portrayed as the lead character’s love interest or a â€Å"sidekick† – quite on the contrary, they get their own unique stories and develop authentic character traits that inform, but not define them (Michael et al., 2012). Synthesis The present-day media, especially media designed for children, still seems to suffer from the abuse of token female characters. However, the basic tendencies in the media industry are clearly geared towards redefining female characters. The recent media products in general and media products for children in particular are the exact manifestation of such tendencies, as the analysis of shows and movies above displays (Taylor, 2003). The creators of female characters in media have a number of complex and often contradictory tasks. On the one hand, they must create a female character, who is going to be authentic and will not be considered a bland attempt at recycling the character traits of the male protagonist. On the other hand, it is necessary to create the female character whose key features are not going to inform her gender and be attributed to both men and women; in other words, it is necessary to step away from stereotypical portrayal of women in media (Aina Cameron, 2011).Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Conclusion Assuming that female characters cannot evolve in the present-day media would be quite a stretch – as the recent movies and TV series for younger audience show, it is possible to write an interesting and compelling female protagonist. However, the introduction of such characters into popular media presupposes fighting a number of stereotypes. As it turns out, it is possible not to fall for the trope of a female archetype in movies and come up with a unique personality for a female protagonist. Therefore, it is only a matter of time and effort before a range of new and inspiring female characters appear in mass media in general and children media in particular. Reference List Aina, O. E. Cameron, P. A. (2011). Why does gender matter? Counteracting stereotypes with young children. Dimensions of Early Childhood, 39(3), 11–20. Ashman, H. (Executive Producer). (1989). The little mermaid [DVD]. Burbank, CA: Walt Disney Pictures. DiMartino, M. D. (2005–2008) . Avatar: The last airbender. Studio City, LA: Nicelodeon Animation Studio. Docter, P., Lasseter, J. Stanton, A. (2012). Brave [DVD]. Emeryville, CA: Pixar. Faust, L. (Executive Producer). (2010). My little pony. Vancouver: Studio B Productions. Freedman, A. (2009). Drawing on Modernism in Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home. Journal of Modern Literature, 32(4), 125-140. Michael, E., Bakar, A. R. A.,Ibrahim, I. M., Veerappan, G., Noor, N. M., Heng, L. E†¦. Yann, N. K. (2012). A comparative study of gender roles in animated films. Global Journal of Human Social Science, 12(5), 73–78. Pollitt, K. (1991, April 7). Hers; the Smurfette principle. The New York Times. Web. Scheimer, L. (Executive Producer). (1985–1986). She-Ra: Princess of power. East Pittsburg, PA: Group W Productions. Smith, S. L. (2008). Gender stereotypes: An analysis of popular films and TV. Web. Staff Writer (2013, November 14). Legend of Korra director creates contest for book 2 episode 11: Ratings rising after timeslot change. KPopStarz. Web. Taylor, F. (2003). Content analysis and gender stereotypes in children’s books. Teaching Sociology, 31(3), 300–311. Thompson, K. J. Heinberg, L. J. (1999). The media’s influence on body image disturbance and eating disorders: We’ve reviled them, now can we rehabilitate them? Journal of Social Issues, 55(2), 339–353. 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Sample Essay About Career Goals - Makes Your Resume Writing Service Worth Your Employers Time

Sample Essay About Career Goals - Makes Your Resume Writing Service Worth Your Employer's TimeWith the number of employment opportunities in the world increasing at an alarming rate, so is the need for sample essays about career goals. Employers expect your work to reflect your character and contribute to the success of your job. In order to convey these values, you have to make a presentation of your personal qualifications to employers. A good presentation has to be filled with the right combinations of traits, qualities and skills that employers look for in a professional.To help you with this, I have listed some tips on writing a resume/writing service for your employer. First, think about the job that you would like to get. There are different goals for each type of career. Some may be to have a permanent position, others to start a new business, while still others want to find an opportunity that would lead to a teaching position or a change in career. Based on the goal, decide on the job objectives you would like to have.Next, think about the career goals that you would like to achieve. They are things such as attending college, pursuing a PhD, working in a non-profit organization, or starting a business. For each type of goal, you will have to write a different sample essay for each type of career.Each sample will differ based on the goals that you have for your career. For example, if you want to attend college, you can have a career essay that explains why you would like to do so. Based on what you have to say, it will be a good idea to include things such as your motivations, your plans, how you envision yourself participating in college life, and other important elements.Your essay should be as honest as possible because you will need to convince your employer that you are a good candidate for the job. You also need to understand why the job is not the right one for you. Tell them what went wrong in your previous job so that they can easily get back on track. You must also be prepared to discuss your weaknesses so that you do not leave your employer with even more questions.The next step after selecting a sample is to analyze the various essays that are similar to yours. Many people will write a resume/writing service on their own without hiring a professional writer. You will want to make sure that the material is as close to your job objective as possible.Finally, you will want to know which samples you will use when you submit your resume/writing service. Look through your samples carefully so that you will know which ones will not only convey your best qualities, but also add to your chances of being hired. It is important to think about this because it will tell you how you should present yourself when applying for the job. Writing a resume/writing service that is worthy of your employer will only come once you have submitted a few samples that are well written and professional.