Gender and Bias in Visual Culture

Fig 1. Captain Hook as a woman

Fig 2. Mrs Smee 

When researching I was drawn to films and how all lead roles are dominated by men. Disney’s Peter Pan although enjoyed by all contains only a handful of female lead characters. So I experimented by drawing Captain Hook and Mr Smee as women. (Fig 1, Fig 2) I’ve maintained similar appearances and characteristics to show that their personalities haven’t changed. The fact that so little has changed, yet the characters still appear to be the same indicates how unnecessary it is that an effective lead role has to be male. In fact it would create a far more interesting dynamic if Hook and Smee were women.

The poor representation of women in the movie industry is highlighted by the Bechdel test. TV Tropes[1] explains the test:

The Bechdel Test, Bechdel-Wallace Test, or the Mo Movie Measure, is a litmus test for female presence in fictional media. In order to pass, the film or show must meet the following criteria:

1. It includes at least two women,
2. who have at least one conversation,
3. about something other than a man or men.1

Three simple requirements, but often films fail the test. However just because a film passes the test doesn’t mean it contains feminist values and just because a film fails the test doesn’t mean it doesn’t have feminist values. As TV Tropes puts it; “(The) problem is that it becomes a pattern when so many movies fail the test, … very few show male characters whose lives seem to revolve around women, that says uncomfortable things about the way Hollywood handles gender.”1

This poor representation of women isn’t just restricted to the film industry but also in the history of art. Ask anyone to name an artist and they can come up with a couple of names; Van Gogh, Picasso, Dali, da Vinci, Michelangelo etc. But ask them to name a female artist and they’ll struggle to do so. In fact on google the suggested list of artists I counted till 32 before they named a female artist, Georgia O'Keeffe. (Fig 3)

Fig 3. Google search

Although it was very appropriate for it to be O'Keeffe, her work celebrates femininity. Her Paintings of flowers often resemble the female form (Fig 4, Fig 5, Fig 6), some even consider them as erotic art. Her explorations of femininity in her work can be summarised in her own words “I feel there is something unexplored about women that only a woman can explore.”[2] I almost feel that’s she bombarding the art world with femininity, as if she feels that it has been dictated for too long what femininity should look like in art. By using flowers to resemble the female form, it’s almost as if she saying this is what it means to be a woman and that’s all there is it to it, the rest is up to the individual.

Fig 4. Red Canna. 1924. Georgia O'Keeffe.

Fig 5. Flower of Life II. 1925. Georgia O'Keeffe.

Fig 6. Oriental Poppies. 1928. Georgia O'Keeffe.

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[1] http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/TheBechdelTest

[2] www.georgiaokeeffe.net

Bibliography

Georgiaokeeffe.net. 'Georgia O'keeffe Paintings, Biography, And Quotes.'. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.

Tvtropes.org. 'The Bechdel Test / Useful Notes - TV Tropes'. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Mar.