Women's Stories: Movies and the Oscars

Anita Sarkeesian analyzes women in film.

Tags: art/music, gender, media, bechdel test, feminism, film, oscars, patriarchy, privilege, subtitles/CC, 00 to 05 mins
Year: 2011
Length: 5:11
Access: YouTube

Summary: This humorous clip from Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency explores the predominance of male-centered plots among films that have won the Academy Award for Best Picture in the last 60 years. I like to use this clip as an example of what it means to live in a male-dominated society. It works especially well when paired with Allan Johnson's reading "Patriarchy" (here), or one could also use the chapter "How Systems of Privilege Work" from Johnson's book Privilege, Power, and Difference. This clip works well as a launch pad for discussing how Oscar-winning films are also films that reflect our white-centered, able-bodied-centered, and heteronormative society. Note too that Sarkeesian has recently updated her thoughts on this topic with a feminist critique of the Academy Award Best Picture Nominees for 2011. For more information about the ubiquity of male-centered stories and the Academy Awards, check out "Oscar Was a Dude: America's Celebration of Men," which is also published on The Sociological Cinema.

Submitted By: Kendra Barber

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