Flipping the Script - The Interviews

Famous actor Jim Carey sports
 one piece suit on the beach

My final project, Flipping the Script came to me during the lecture on advertising. When the group was presenting on how some ads were discovered online of men posing as the women in magazines the idea hit me, well at least in part. I am an active Tumblr reader, if thats even a thing, and I came across a blog post (that I cannot find unfortunately) that demonstrated how the women in Hollywood are treated in terms of the Red Carpet and the questions they get asked. All the questions that the actresses/celebrities who are women, involve their sexuality, their personal life or their vanity, which fueled my idea as well. The final inspiration or should I say first, since we watched the movie before the lecture, came from the movie Misrepresentation. Within the movie *find name of woman* says that women especially in politics are never asked questions that require much thought and all the headlines or media focuses solely on a woman's beauty rather than if she could save the world, for example. My initial idea was to do a reverse cat calling skit, where the women would cat call the men, but when I sat down to think about it, I was afraid of the actual consequences. I was a bit nervous with the reaction of some of the men, especially since some could be come violent and it was something I wanted to avoid. With the inspiration from the three topics above I came up with the idea of interviewing several men and women but instead of asking the women questions on their vanity, I decided to question the men on their vanity and gave the women more thought provoking questions. I recorded their reactions, but not everyone reacted exactly how I thought they would. In fact, the whole scenario brought out a different side to two of the men and as for the women, some were rather surprised on the questioning. The project revealed more than just nonchalant attitudes, but rather that men care too much about their vanity and all the more proves further that men are affected by patriarchy a well, which we have recently discussed.

How the Media failed women in 2013 video

Vodka ad which displays
a man being pregnant instead
of the woman

Some of the questions that were asked to the men included, What products do you use on a daily basis? What did you eat today? etc, some that weren't featured in the video at all. Some questions that the women were asked but not included in the video were, What is your major and why? What are your hobbies or things you do for fun? etc. The women mostly had trouble answering questions that provoked more than a simple answer, which is what the media tends to avoid. Any type of questioning that may evoke that women are indeed just as smart as men and have the capability of answering intellectual questions are avoided in every sense of the word. Even if a woman were to say she had the cure to cancer, the media would focus on whether or not her skirt was too short or if her hair was done. Within my project, as you will view, the women had much hesitation when answering the questions, most had a hard time answering them as well. Two of the women were confused and weren't sure if what I was asking was real. This was definitely something they were not used to. As for the men, though this  particular conversation wasn't captured on film, but rather conversations I had afterwards, they were slightly "weirded" out. They weren't comfortable with the questioning they were receiving, two which expressed such when interviewing. One had asked me what questions the women were asked and when I explained, he said "Damn, I wish I had gotten those questions instead." Which I am sure women both in the media and in real life ask everyday. Why can't women be asked questions that deal with their thought processes rather than our bodies, why can't they listen to what I have to offer that has nothing to do with my looks. 

Men posing as women would in ads.

This was just the beginning of exploring other types of role reversals. I have been thinking constantly of ways I can further explore the idea of flipping the script. I will eventually want to proceed on making the catcalling video, in due time. My next idea will feature when children realize they are forced into a certain role in life. I work with kids from grades K-5th and asking them questions like "throw like a girl" "sit like a boy" will demonstrate how they will react to certain things and at what age they become to realize what "role" they fit in best with. I have posted the video on Vimeo and YouTube and have shared it with all my Facebook friends. I hope to spread awareness that women are more than their looks and their sexuality, that women have a lot more to offer than what people let on. Hopefully by spreading awareness on this situation, that may seem small to some, people will begin getting down to the nitty gritty on how women are treated on and off media outlets.


Resources/Works Cited - 
1. Kilbourne, Jean. "Beauty and the Beast of Advertising." Media & Values 1989: 121-25. Print.
2. Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used against Women. New York: W. Morrow, 1991. 59. Print.
3.  Steinem, Gloria. Sex, Lies and Advertising. 1990. Print.
4. Bahadur, Nina. "The Flip Side: Video Shows What Happens When Men And Women Switch Roles." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 21 May 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/30/flip-side-video_n_2220370.html>.
5. Welsh, Caitlin. "Is Gender-Flipping the Most Important MEME Ever?" Http://www.junkee.com. N.p., 18 July 2013. Web. <http://junkee.com/flip-it-and-reverse-it-how-to-fight-the-gender-wars/15081>.
6. Lewis, Mike P. "Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Hollywood's Gender Role Reversal." Loome RSS. N.p., 26 Aug. 2006. Web. <http://loo.me/2006/08/mr-mrs-smith-and-hollywoods-gender-role-reversal/>.
7. Grinberg, Emanuella. "Flipping Gender Roles, from 'Ghostbusters' to 'Scarface''" CNN. Cable News Network, 21 Oct. 2014. Web.<http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/21/showbiz/hollywood-gender-cast-ghostbusters/>.
8. Reporter, DailyMail. "'Let Me Buy You Boys a Drink': Hilarious Role Reversal Video Shows What Happens When Women Try Typical Male Chat up Lines." Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers, 18 Dec. 2012. Web. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2246390/Hilarious-role-reversal-video-shows-happens-women-try-typical-male-chat-lines.html>.
9. Hess, Amanda. "Gender Role Reversal in Music Videos Can Only Be Achieved By Objectifying Women." Slate. N.p., 28 July 2014. Web. <http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/07/28/maddie_tae_girl_in_a_country_song_video_gender_reversal_in_music_videos.html>.
10. How the Media Failed Women in 2013. Dir. The Representation Project. How the Media Fail Women in 2013. YouTube, 3 Dec. 2013. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NswJ4kO9uHc>.