User:Alexjacullo/Portrayal of women scientists in film

There exists a traditionally dominant stereotype that depicts men as more intelligent than women and this outdated belief is mirrored in gendered portrayals in film.

According to Eva Flicker, in science fiction films, men are overwhelmingly portrayed as scientists, making up 82% of all film scientists.[11] Majority of films that include female scientists and engineers as primary characters are placed into the action, adventure and comedy genre.[12]

The male gaze is a big factor to consider when looking at female scientists and how they are portrayed in films.

The male gaze is a significant aspect of traditional feminist film analysis and thus is an important factor to consider in relation to female scientists and how they are portrayed in films.

Examples of Women Scientists in Film

Arrival (2016)

The 2016 film Arrival revolves around the character of Dr. Louise Banks, played by Amy Adams, who facilitates the very first instance of human communicative contact with an alien population. The film makes an obvious effort at employing a feminist theme primarily by way of the backstory that shapes Dr. Louise Banks and frames her as an accomplished professional woman and mother.

Black Panther (2018)

The critically-acclaimed film Black Panther features Princess Shuri, a young, Black female character who excels in the STEM field as an intelligent, creative technology whiz and inventor. Portrayed by Letitia Wright, Princess Shuri is the younger sister of the king of Wakanda and the mastermind behind harnessing the power of fictional vibranium, specifically in the creation of the Black Panther suit. Notably, the depiction of Princess Shuri as an accomplished young Black woman in STEM speaks to a critical intersectional identity that is often excluded from film and other media representation.

Impact of Film Portrayals of Women
Studies have shown that female scientists are either underrepresented or misrepresented as film characters. As Eva Flicker writes, film has a way of taking social realities and expressing women in media formats. The media formats then are able to influence the audience by creating a mirror of metaphors, myths, opinions and a social memory resulting in stereotypes. The ways that women scientists are portrayed in films have contributed to viewers holding certain stereotypes of scientists.

The existence of gender-STEM stereotyping is not a new phenomenon and has been shown to be prevalent amongst people in a broad range of ages and life stages, from early childhood to college. It has been shown that increasing exposure to representations that break these stereotypes of men as the default in STEM can successfully begin to undermine these correlations and help to prevent perpetuation of these narratives. This is an example that can be explained by the social role theory of social psychology and there is also a distinct role of culture that contributes.

A 2007 meta-analysis by Jocelyn Steinke of Western Michigan University and colleagues looked at gender stereotyping by children who have been exposed to images of scientists through films, television shows, and books. One study reported on consisted of elementary school students taking the Draw-a-Scientist-Test, or DAST. The results showed that out of the over 4,000 children who participated in the DAST, only 28 girls drew female scientists. Another study of 1,137 Korean students between the ages of eleven and fifteen found that 74 percent of them drew male scientists, while only 16 percent had depicted female scientists. Through the influence of mass media outlets, statistics from the National Science Foundation 2000 indicate that women make up only 19.4 percent of the STEM industry including science and mathematics. As a result of this, most children in the major developmental years are subjected to accepting traditional stereotypes of women being passive, emotional, physically weak and dependent, shown through films. The study includes the result that gender stereotypes can be the product of the environment a person possess and can influence how a person views themselves and others around them.

As social media platforms are being used more and more each day by adolescences, the reinforcement of cultural norms is at an all-time high. Even before young women reach adolescence, social media platforms transform their images of women into the different stereotypes of dependent, emotional and less capable beings