Studying popular culture through the feminist lens has changed the way I see the everyday messages we absorb without even realizing it. Before this, I mostly thought of feminism as simply advocating for women’s rights or equal opportunities. Although this is true, I believe that there is a lot more to it. Now I understand it more as a way of questioning the expectations and roles society quietly assigns to both women and men.
Popular culture teaches us what “norms” are, whether we know it or not. It can teach us what success looks like, what families should look like, and even how we are “supposed” to act. Over and over, we see the same patterns, and this is where we get our idea of what the “norms” are. Women are expected to balance everything perfectly, from career and motherhood to appearance. If they focus too much on work, they’re judged. If they stay home, their work is often overlooked. It can feel like there’s no version of what is right.
Men can be boxed in, too. They’re expected to be providers first and are sometimes discouraged from taking on caregiving roles. A stay-at-home dad is often treated like a joke, while working moms are criticised for not being home enough. These double standards don’t just hurt women; they can limit everyone.
I’d like to show an example of this in a film as simple as The Incredibles. In the first Incredibles, Robert (Mr. Incredible) goes out on a crazy mission to fight robots and Syndrome. While he’s out doing his work, Helen (Mrs. Incredible) is left at home to do everything else. What Helen does in the first movie is often forgotten about because it does not seem as influential as fighting Syndrome and evil robots. Think about it, is your favorite part of The Incredibles when Helen is vacuuming the house, doing the laundry, or taking out the trash? These are all scenes in the movie, but they get overlooked by many people because they are often deemed as “natural” or “how it should be”.
We can see a completely different side of this lens in the sequel to this movie, The Incredibles 2. This movie still has the same main characters, Robert, Helen, Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack. They still have superpowers, and they still end up in a big mess fighting a villain that has been terrorizing the whole city. So how could it be so different from the first? Well, in this movie, they send Helen out on a mission to find and defeat the bad guy. This lens can be seen as soon as they propose the idea of her going out. She tells herself that she can’t do it because she knows she can’t leave Robert home to do the work alone. She ends up going, and chaos erupts. While Helen is very successful in her battles and finding clues, Robert struggles with the everyday challenges. It shows him losing Jack Jack, ruining Violet’s first date, and yelling after trying to help Dash with his homework.
In The Incredibles 2, most people’s favorite scenes come from Robert staying home. In the first movie, everyone loved to see Mr. Incredible out fighting crime and beating robots, forgetting about Helen at home doing everything else. However, in this movie, everyone laughs at Robert’s attempt to stay home and loves him for failing at trying to do the things that Helen did. Multiple scenes of the movie show Robert calling for help, saying, “I don’t know how you do this”, and Helen questioning if she needs to come home.
I believe that both preferred and oppositional readings are present here. In the first movie, we see the “taken for granted” status quo as Helen’s impressive juggling act with the chores, kids, and dinner goes unnoticed. Even after a long, hard day at the office, Helen does her best to be emotionally available to Robert. Due to the dominant ideologies present, Helen's actions fit the mold. The oppositional reading really shows in the sequel. Roles are flipped, yet she is still overlooked.
A lot of questions have crossed my mind while studying the feminist perspective, and how it has shaped us as consumers. Why can’t we celebrate each other’s success and support people when they fall short? Why can’t women have a thriving career while their husbands stay home without it being seen as strange? And why can’t a woman who chooses to stay home be respected just as much as someone who is climbing the corporate ladder?
Looking at pop culture through a feminist lens has helped me realize that equality isn’t about everyone living the same life. It is about everyone having the freedom to choose without being judged by society. Success shouldn’t have one definition, and family roles shouldn’t be influenced by dominant ideologies.
I agree with this perspective, partly because it is a relevant part of my life. Before my mom changed jobs, we all relied on her for a lot of things, partly because her prior job gave her time off frequently. However, after advancing her career, it’s clear that everything she had done was taken for granted.
ReplyDeleteI believe it’s difficult for us to celebrate each other’s successes, regardless of gender, because it’s difficult for us as a society to drift away from our preferred reading. What we see as normal prevents us from moving forward. Relating this to my post, I analyzed the movie, Coco, and for a lot of the movie, Imelda’s successes are celebrated. Eventually, though, it morphes back to our preferred reading that women can only feel successful when they’re in a romantic relationship. Not only must we ask why can’t women have a successful career while their husbands stay at home, but we must ask, whether they have a career or not, why are women successful only if they have a husband?