Women Behind the Camera

Lauren Adams

Isabel del Rosal and her sons

   Statistically, in 2014, 17% of women comprised of directors, editors and other jobs done behind the scenes. For the same top 250 grossing films  in 2014 women only made up 7%directors. It is with this shortage of women in the field that lead to stereotyping and production pieces that come off as sexist and ignorant.  Most noticeably, on television and in the media as a whole, characters of certain ethnicities are displayed to perpetuate a particular stereotype. The black friend who is entirely too loud and sassy, or the asian character who is pinned as the sex symbol, or even the overall submissive female character whom plays a reoccurring role. Regardless of how untrue these stereotypes are, producers and those part of the behind the scene cultivation of such productions can't seem to abandon the storyline.

    The amount of women, not to mention women of color, working behind the scenes in the production process of television, movies and advertisements is  very low.This in itself should be alarming, but not completely suprising. When you think about it, it makes sense. Many shows that lack racial diversity or follow the status quo of gender rules, are proctored, produced and directed by a primarily white male board. By lacking in the amount of women or minorities involved in a board meeting, where ideas are pitched, creates a huge problem, because then that production is succumbed to only rely on the stereotypes since there is no input from the group being objectified.

David Staehle

     For my final project, I created a short documentary where I spoke with three people who are active in the media world.  Lauren Adams who works for USA Today as a Shooter, Isabel del Rosa who is a creator and director for her own comedy sketch group, Smile for the Camera and David Staehle who is a cinematographer and animationist. With each of these people, I asked the same questions, how'd they get their start? Why do we need women and those of minority involved?  And if they had any advice for women of color who want to work in the behind the scenes production. For Lauren and Isabel, I also questioned if they faced any obstacles, while working in this field. In the making of my project, I myself, got to be a director, editor, producer and cinematographer  which I've never done before. That experience alone not only allowed me to create this video, but actually get the experience that women in these fields go through daily. Enjoy!!

   

Lauzen, Ph.D., Martha. "The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women on the Top 250 Films of 2014." 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 30 Mar. 2015. <http://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/files/2014_Celluloid_Ceiling_Report.pdf>.

Final Project @ItsOkayGirls

For the final project, I will create an Instagram account based on women lives. The whole purpose of this account is to make girls feel better about themselves without having to shave, wax, go on a diet or any other change to make others happy.  I created an account @ItsOkayGirls on Instagram, each month will have different topic. For Example, the topic of May will be related to hair removal. It will be a movement that trend to be regram and repost in social media, which telling people it is okay to be who they are. The content will be recommended links to watch or pictures related to the struggle of every women.  Also, from an inspiration of Human in New York, I decided to go on the street to ask guys' and girls' opinions on hair removal, and post them on the instagram. Hopefully their stories and thoughts can inspire the women out there, this will be the whole purpose of the project. 

My point and purpose are not to promote that women still needs men’s approval of doing things or not doing things. I realized women are easier to get involved in the feminist movement than men, so this is just the very first step for getting men involve into the movement. Many women still criticize themselves with the male gaze, so if the male can make the first move then it is worth a try. Also, women tend to judge other women and follow their women role model, so it is also good for women to share the hashtag and pass along with it. In order to make this trend working, I hope the video get reposted by someone influential or popular. Hope the beginning of this Instagram account can raise the awareness to the world and reduce some of the pain for women.

Topic of the Month: Hair Removal.

Women used to concern about how they look in front of others, either to men or another women. We women always try hard to make other satisfied, in order to feel satisfied by others’ approval, for example, hair removal. I start shaving when I was in junior high school, the reason I began to shave is because somehow people think it is better when it is cleaner. The myth we get from media tend to tell us that being clean and sexy is good and fashionable, so we do it no matter what, just to fit in the society’s expectation standard. After years of shaving, I did my first bikini wax when I was 20 years old, after that I start to make an appointment to regulate the waxing session in a deeper way--- Brazilian wax. I did it because I want to look cleaner when wearing a bikini. I did it because I think my boyfriend might like it and love me more, and I did it because I want to feel better than other girls that remain hairy. Overall, I just feel that I have a higher and better sense of lifestyle than others, it is superficial and vanity.

Picture from Statistic Brain

 After years of having these purposes to get the wax, I finally realized it is all not worth it. I did couple research on women waxing. Usually, people who promote the service are the sellers, not the doctors. Lots of salon website have a FAQ page, which inform and educate the consumer to believe that no hair is GOOD, in order to get you into the salon and feel bad about your natural look. However, base on my experiences, waxing is painful, and causes ingrown hair, and your boyfriend do not really care if they love you a person. Hair is there for a reason.

Here is an example of the post I made.

https://instagram.com/itsokaygirls/

Below is a video from Buzzfeed of  Men Get Bikini Waxes For The First Time.

Link to the Instagram Account

https://instagram.com/itsokaygirls

Related Research:

Sport, Jamie. "Social Media Can Be a Powerful Tool – If You Know How to Use It." TheGuardian. N.p., 28 Feb. 2012. Web. 11 May 2015.

"Shaving Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS. N.p., 18 Aug. 2012. Web. 11 May 2015.

Susan. "Reasons Why Women Shouldn't Wax!" The Eye. N.p., 10 Aug. 2014. Web. 11 May 2015.

Schocker, Laura. "Bikini Waxing Dangers: 5 Health Risks To Consider." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 Mar. 2013. Web. 11 May 2015.

"Beware the Killer Bikini Wax." Womenshealthmag.com. N.p., 9 May 2009. Web. 11 May 2015.

M, Kylie. "9 Brave Guys Tell What They REALLY Think Of Your Brazilian Wax."What Guys Really Think Of Women With A Brazilian Wax. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2015.

SOLLEE, KRISTEN. "Bustle." Bustle. N.p., 16 Jan. 2015. Web. 11 May 2015.

FINAL PROJECT: She Paints

My final project consists of a zine made as a tribute to female street graffiti artists.  Some photos are published and known like the photos of Lady Pink.  I was surprised at how difficult it was to find female graffiti artists.  However most of the photos were taken by me or my close friends.  The zine is meant as window into a lot of art that has no face to it.  Graffiti is anonymous yet still narcissistic

Lady Pink 

and it is important that women are a part of it as well as men.  I also wanted to dispel any myths about graffiti and how it is something that mostly men do.  My plan for my zine is to accumulate more female street artists as well as photos of their work.

Final Project- Body Hair Movement

Youtuber who joined the "No Shame No Shade" Movement

For my final project, I decided to create a blog that is dedicated to self acceptance and promote body hair positivity. This is an expansion from my group project where I discussed the taboo subject of underarm hair and how the media spins it so that we should feel shame over something so natural. One of the things people hate talking about is body hair, whether it's on their arms, legs, face or stomach, it's one of those cringe-worthy topics that people often dismiss. People think that because you don't talk about something, it fails to exist.

Queen Miley rocking her pink pits and pubes

That's why I decided to create my blog, Babes With Body Hair. The reason I've decided to go with a blog is because it gives me a voice to express how I feel about this new body hair movement and to promote self love. As a young girl, I suffered from poor body image partially because of having a little more hair on my body than most girls. I felt like an outsider and ultimately, not worthy of being called beautiful because I couldn't accept myself the way I was.
With this blog, I want to create a community where women of all ages can feel comfortable to keep this conversation alive and create a more positive stigma to body hair on women in the media and in real life. In order to integrate myself into this low populated community, I have created the hashtag #babeswithbodyhair or #BBH when I reblog or share content related to this topic. I even plan to publish one of five parts of an essay I am writing about my journey with accepting this natural "flaw" and hopefully, that can open doors for other girls to share their stories (positive or negative) with having body hair. The site itself is still under construction and has so much left to fulfill but I hope that as I continue to work on creating content and a positive environment, that more people will catch on and spread love to women whether they choose to remove their body hair or not.

FINAL PROJECT: "My Emerald City"

Growing up with my younger sister, Megan. There was nothing I wanted to do more than to protect her from the world. I never wanted her to face any injustice, to feel scrutinized, to feel embarrassed. 15 years later, still feel this way. I began to wonder, "Why do I feel this harsh need to protect her? Protect her from what?"

Virtually everything I have learned about feminism has stemmed from after high school graduation. Even at the age of seventeen, I still had bra-burning, man-hating connotations with "feminism", let alone understand the basics of the male gaze, or an oppositional gaze. I grew up in a small town where the status quo was harshly implemented. The mainstream media was everything, movies and TV, but hardly anyone questioned what was going on behind the screen, the women involved, the messages it was giving us. Fortunately for Megan, who still lives in my dreary hometown, she's still being semi-raised by two fierce feminist older sisters who want to teach her everything we have (painfully) learned. But what about the girls, like me, who never had that in high school? Who went along thinking thinness equals beauty, trying to fake a pleasure in football to be the "cool girl", that the rare glimpse of an actually "cool girl" on TV was a treat, rather than expecting it.

Cover of my zine

I looked at a few readings to help guide my understanding of how I wanted to construct my zine and my interviews with family and friends. I turned to bell hooks when I interviewed my grandmother about patriarchy in the 30s and 40s. I turned to Naomi Wolf to guide me as I discussed body image and conventional beauty with my tough friend Rachel. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie inspired me so much with her "The danger of a single story" I used it to help me understand why media visibility is so important, especially with women and people of color.

The title "My Emerald City" refers to my sister: finding her was like finding my brain, my courage, my heart, and my home. By my mother giving me a new little person to look for, I learned to look out for so many other girls. It gave me the reassurance that no matter what I do, I want to make my sister a role model. And, it should be noted, that there is no other role model more powerful for a little girl than a powerful big girl. 

My goal for this zine is for ever single teen girl in the world to have a copy. And while that is far fetched, it lives in the hands of my sister and her friends, and you can hold it here. There's also a place for you to reach out to me and contribute on making my second issue. So click it!


Resource List:

The Danger of the Single Story. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. TED.com, n.d. July 2009. Web. 

hooks, bell. "Understanding Patriarchy." The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. New York: Washington Square, 2004. Print.

Wolf, Naomi. "Culture". The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. New York: W. Morrow, 1991. Print. 

Dismantling Patriarchy

Dismantling Patriarchy from Fredy Aviles on Vimeo.

We have learned in this class of the issues that women go through. Issues in which most women might not have any say on that topic because men are the ones to make the decisions for them. Men who were not born with patriarchy but men that were shown how gender roles played out in society. Men that were shown that being angry and tough were emotions that were made up men. Other emotions such as soft and sweet were only meant for women. For men to act different for what he was shown as a child was wrong and unacceptable. To consider that man as not ‘manly enough’ and even as a man who is not straight. For that reason most men have prevent themselves from coming out of those patriarchal boundaries.

How Some Men might not want to be seen as

Men have to understand that what they were shown as kids and what society and the media define, as ‘a real man’ is wrong. Silence and Fear is what men show when they do not want to be judge by other men or even by women. It is time to show men that it is alright to break through those patriarchal boundaries. Its alright to speak out in front of other men without being judge because other men might be thinking the same way but are just too afraid to show it. If men dismantle these boundaries, we only help women on doing the same. Together we are one and together we are EQUAL.

How Some Men Really Are

Hooks, Bell. The Will to Change: Masculinity, and Love.  Washington Square Press. New York. 2004
The Departed-Cranberry Juice
Modern Family-Not a Real Man?
I Love You, Man (Trailer)

My final project--female representation in animation

           My final project topic will be focusing on the Animated movies(Starting from the old times-Disney ones to later on examples like Brave,frozen and the Studio Ghibli animated movies from Japan). I was orginially going to organize each clip based on the timelines and to see how did those change throughout the times but then after talking to the professor, I switched to the themes like Weakness and Strength, how those female characters used to be vulnerable and don’t have the power to decide their lives but later on this starts to change and more and more female characters with strong personalities and abilities are starting to appear on the screen. So for the past ones I will be using Disney movies(Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The little Mermaid,Mulan) and show some of clips that represent main characters’ weakness and how some of the movies always have women as evil characters. 

          After talking about their vulnerabilites, I will switch the idea to the positive sides, for example, instead of showing Disney female characters, I will also be showing “The legend of Korra”, the famous “Brave” and “Frozen”, I will also pick some Japanese animated works like the Studio Ghibli movies(Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke), those female characters have strong personalities and decide their life paths and also Saber from the anime called “Fate/Zero”, she is powerful and instead of hiding at men’s back, she protects other people from danger and has the ability to defeat the enemy. Since Disney movies can be seen everywhere and everybody knows them, I think it will be better to incorporate animations from another country so that it has more variety of contents and it will be better to show the audience that this change does not only occurs in US but in other countries as well. As for my project format, I was going to put the voiceover and do the feminism review that kind of video(can be seen from feministfrequency.com) but then I figured it might be boring for audience to watch since this kind of review videos can be seen everyday and it’s not eye-catching. So I ended up with doing a “trailer-like” video as inspired by some youtubers and animation trailers because I think at least that will sounds interesting and will make audience want to see more, and trailers are easy to understand so it doesn’t required a lot of transcripts which I think people prefer to watch the video rahter than seeing a lot of subtitles. The whole video will be down to almost 5 mins which is pretty long for a “trailer” but it has a lot of contents so I hope people will enjoy my video!

Project link!!!!!: