Sepulveda 1

Sarai Sepulveda

Professor McCann

English 1302.203

04 May 2022

Misogyny on the Big Screen

It is a troublesome revelation when one discovers that deep within their mind lies a pre-

programmed, motherboard of misogyny. A thread of commands that the average person is yet to

be conscious of for the mind has grown accustomed to the subtle sexism that has taken over their

daily life. The term “internalized misogyny” is often used to describe this kind of prejudice as it

provides a distinction from blatant misogyny. One can never truly know what any kind of

misogyny feels like unless they are a woman. For the woman is the one who recognizes it,

experiences it, and suffers through it to continue living a normal life. But the normal life should

not be known for neglected sexism or misogyny, as it would then be stealing the infamous title of

the present world. Anywhere one can find a woman, one is also sure to find another who dislikes

her for reasons that can only be accurately explained by the woman herself. Consequently, there

are widespread declarations of misogyny all around the world because unfortunately, sexism

transcends borders. 

The media and its branches frequently aid these diverse proclamations as they reach

many to educate them on the problem that continues to persist in other countries as well. The

most notorious one of them all? The film industry: the place that, for women, breeds both

success and failure at the cost of abuse. For women in the film industry, they are met with

exigent and degrading standards that today, many have grown tired of. Multiple movements have

been initiated to spread awareness of the situation, but it has begun to feel like superficial
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progress. The mistreatment has taken on different forms throughout countries as they each

attempt to deal with this issue that has been manifesting inside the industry for decades. Through

the multicultural perspectives of India, Germany, Nigeria, South Korea, China, and France, the

different ways in which misogyny has established itself within each country’s respective film

industry can be seen through feminist movements, patriarchal ideologies, and stereotypical roles.

MeToo, IchAuch, मैं भी

The words feminism and misogyny are often seen together, still, they have nearly

opposite meanings that cause turmoil in India’s film industry, but unity in Germany’s film

industry. These two countries have long been familiar with “show business” and how things

often function around this field, including the mixed and stereotypical attitudes towards women.

Stereotypes have been seen to grow violent and sometimes sexually abusive within the film

industry when certain people start to take an inherently wrong idea and turn it into something

much worse. After the MeToo movement’s resurrection a couple of years ago, various countries

began to face the influence of the movement as well. This social movement where women are

given the courage to come forward about their sexual abusers has sparked feminist groups in

India and Germany to rise for their female actresses, directors, producers, writers, and more. In

India, the spark is first seen with a prominent female figure in the industry that decided to take

that first step, “It was when Tanushree Dutta, a former Bollywood actress, spoke out in

September 2018 about the sexual harassment and intimidation she faced from a senior actor

named Nana Patekar in 2008, that the MeToo movement began to catch on in the Indian

mainstream” (Lakkimsetti 305). This was the pinnacle moment of the movement and for the

women of India because those who were suffering in silence suddenly had a great group of
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people to support them through the midst of the fire the film industry was spewing. Lakkimsetti

continues to explain the ironic way the patriarchy gave them a boost in the right direction: 

Along with the acknowledgment that this was the first-time women felt that they could

openly share their experiences of sexual harassment without feeling judged or

misunderstood, activists also had the triumphant feeling that the “conspiracy of

silence”—which had kept women from sharing their experiences of sexual violence even

with others they had close bonds with—was finally broken (306). 

The need to hide from the potential judgments of others no longer existed because the tables

were finally turning as misogyny began to take on the role of women by becoming the oppressed

element of India. This reversal was not all permanent as sexual violence towards women in the

film industry continues to loom over the country. Despite all of this, optimist feminists view it as

a minor victory as the revival of the movement pushed the issue of misogyny onto the political

table, meaning that the problem would finally be up for discussion, and hopefully, resolution. 

While the MeToo movement has only recently ignited the need for female equality in the

film industry for certain people, in other places, feminism has long been in power over the big

screen. Over in Germany, a feminist film movement has been in power since the 1890s and with

the strength of the MeToo movement, the work of great females in the film industry has begun to

gain recognition. Baer states:

Their work has achieved recognition in the context of feminism’s revitalization in

Germany over the past decade--driven not least by the interface of digital media and

protest cultures--and amidst the resurgence of attention to institutionalized sexism and the

marginalization of women in the global film and media industries, evident in the recent

#TimesUp and #MeToo movements (214). 

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In Germany, the need for equal representation of females in the industry has been sought after

since the late 19th century. Up to today, female involvement has become a long-time project

where they only hope to expand the participation of women to everywhere in the film industry.

There have been multiple successful female artists in Germany’s film industry that demonstrate

what happens when the sexes are treated equally, such as Maren Ade and her film Toni Erdmann

(2016) (215). Her success has not only gained her fame but has directed attention towards the

existing restrictions women face in the film industry for solely being female. Other German

artists make the decision to not only tackle misogyny but also take down the film corporations

that promote it throughout the country. Baer even goes as far as to say that “we are living in a

post-feminist age” where the relationship between women and cinema is for the purpose of

furthering the awareness in a German context (216). The outpour of feminism in India, on the

other hand, caused some controversy as it “soon became a point of division and contention”,

implying the idea that maybe misogyny was winning the fight (Lakkimsetti 305). Towards the

“end” of each country’s experience with misogyny, a clear difference could be seen in the

influence the movements brought forward. India and Germany have taken on distinct views on

the issue of misogyny within the film industry, yet they still both aim to utilize the most out of

feminist movements and resurgences to end the prejudice against women.

Patriarchal Power Shifts

Women are often painted as the most angelic of symbols because the concept of purity

and innocence is what the woman is most related to with male domination and expression of

patriarchal ideologies within the South Korean and French film industries coming in as awfully

close seconds. If one were to travel back in time when misogyny was at its peak, one would land

right in South Korea in the 1980s, or anywhere one was two seconds ago. South Korea’s film
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industry during this time had a close-minded view of the roles women should play in films and if

they were to play a role, it would be a titillating one that would simultaneously represent the

country’s self-pride. Lee writes that this specific genre often had a “tight linkage between erotic

visuals and South Korean ethnocentric nationalism aligned with masculinism” (102). Women

were not only being objectified for the male’s entertainment, but for the twisted conceit these

same people had for their country. The pride originated from the women being seen as symbols

of colonization or domination, so if a South Korean man was in control of a woman, then he was

in control of the country. Unfortunately, many people were blind to the patriarchal hold the film

industry had on South Korean women as this issue continued to persist beyond the 1980s. Not

taking note of an issue can sometimes be an innocent mistake because it did not simply catch

one’s attention, but when it focuses on an issue such as misogyny, not realizing it, is a sure sign

that sexism is in control of one’s thoughts. 

“Ignorance is bliss,” some would say, but ignorance that goes without recognition for a

long period of time acquires an intentional look that hardly benefits the marginalized. This

problem is one that plagued André Bazin, film critic for the newspaper Le Parisien libéré

through the years of 1944 to 1958 in France. He was one of the many who never realized the

harsh undertones of his misogynistic critiques by ignoring the messages that misogynistic films

were sending to the people of France. To illustrate, “He pinpoints the lack of credibility of the

character played by Gérard Philipe in Une si jolie petite plage, an orphan in state care exploited

in the past by innkeeper Jeanne Marken and then destroyed by a femme fatale, but without seeing

the film’s misogynist subtext” (Sellier 129). Bazin publicly making critiques of misogynistic

films without even calling out the misogynistic themes is one of the ways France’s film industry

continued to grow its internal sexism. This inexplicit approach that was taken in the French film
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industry was not one that South Korea preferred to practice as it often resorted to the bold

plastering of women playing objectifying roles. South Korea and France both made their

misogynistic film industries the reason behind the bias towards women that underlies the

countries today.

Stereotyping to Typecasting

When one combines the notion of marginalized practice and the heavy sprinkling of

stereotypical ideals directly targeted towards women, one would be witnessing the Chinese and

Nigerian film industries at work. Stereotypes have long been around for any group of people who

share a prominent characteristic, such as being female. Today, the stereotypes still linger for

women, and it often ends up restricting them from pursuing other types of careers. In Nigerian

films, women are often portrayed as the “typical” female who only takes care of the kids,

prepares food for her husband, and only ever leaves her house for domestic duties. This depiction

of women is one that strongly misleads the true value of females in the country of Nigeria and

within the film industry as well. Onyenankeya et al. state, “...the depiction of gender roles has

failed to go beyond the domain of traditional roles and images of women deeply rooted in the

‘dominant social value of patriarchy”’ (74-75). The root goes so deep, that this is a problem that

many are realizing still plagues the grounds of the Nigerian film industry. The portrayal of

women in films never reaches any hints of independence for they are always hanging on to the

man, the stereotypical figure who always saves the day for the woman. Even when the woman is

playing a leading role, a flaw will follow to ensure that there is no winning for females in the

film industry. “Interestingly, when females are cast as independent or feminist, they are

portrayed as self-centered and materialistic, while ‘men are typically shown as heroes who

rescue the community from the clutches of these liberated women”,’ Onyenankeya et al. write,
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presenting yet another way in which the woman cannot play a normal role without appearing as a

villain (77). The source of misogyny in the Nigerian film industry can be traced back to these

biased roles women are assigned and if the effort were there, it could undo itself the way China’s

sexist film industry did.

While in Nigeria this ideal is based on gender, in China, it focuses on more materialistic

elements. “During this same period, however, feminist research in Chinese studies evidenced the

opposite trend, centering on a universal notion of gender at the expense of class, nation,

economic system, and geopolitical regional differences,” Wang states to explain the different

factors that have taken over the views of women in the Chinese film industry (591). Slowly,

these individualistic factors pulled Chinese females in the film industry out of the rut their

participation in cinema had fallen in. Women’s cinema soon became a method of integrating the

characteristics of feminism into the film industry, and out to the public (Wang 593). This need

and understanding for equality are the means of reaching a fair workplace; a concept that the

Nigerian film industry is still trying to grasp today. There is evidence of a deep analysis taking

place during the casting of certain characters, rather than a shallowly fueled decision-making

process that is driven by the basic and external traits of women. Wang describes the considerate

thought process of director Wang Ping, who decided to recast one of her actresses to another

who better demonstrated the essence Ping wanted to capture (615). Like the majority of casting

is often conducted, Ping focused on genuine talent and not the shape of the actress’s body.

Behind the scenes and on-screen, the Chinese film industry exhibits a symbiotic relationship in

which the influence of feminism results in an intrinsic flow of equality. The Nigerian and

Chinese film industries fall far away from each other on the spectrum of misogyny, but still, both

land on it for hints of sexism are yet to be permanently removed.

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Conclusion

To conclude, the ways in which misogyny interacts with the film industries of different

countries can be seen through the multicultural perspectives of the Indian, German, Nigerian,

South Korean, Chinese, and French film industries through the means of feminist advocacy,

patriarchal principles, and conventional beliefs. Each country represents the different manners in

which sexism has manifested itself throughout its film industry, and how it often burdens the

women of its respective nation. In India and Germany, the MeToo movement faces the struggle

of handling both a reprisal of feminism and misogyny. South Korea and France both fight the

institutional sexism within their film industries which is the reason behind its patriarchal

foundations. The Chinese and Nigerian film industries distinguish each other as they represent

the Chinese past of feminism to the Nigerian present of misogyny. Film is meant to be for the

entertainment of all, but when its cost is to ruin the lives of a whole gender, then it has defeated

its true purpose. The issue of misogyny is not reserved for the film industry and can sadly be

observed throughout multiple fields of work where women are met with harm rather than love. In

all, one can easily take notice of the power sexism has towards equality, confirming the notion

that the current age is one of misogyny on the big screen.

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Works Cited

Baer, Hester. “Feminist Film and Media.” The German Quarterly, vol. 91, no. 2, [American

Association of Teachers of German, Wiley], 2018, pp. 213–16,

http://www.jstor.org/stable/44974037.

Lakkimsetti, Chaitanya. “Stripping Away at Respectability: #MeToo India and the Politics of

Dignity.” Feminist Formations, vol. 33, no. 3, 2021, pp. 303–317.,

https://doi.org/10.1353/ff.2021.0052.

Lee, Yun-Jong. “Woman in Ethnocultural Peril: South Korean Nationalist Erotic Films of the

1980s.” Journal of Korean Studies, vol. 21, no. 1, 2016, pp. 101–135.,

https://doi.org/10.1353/jks.2016.0005.

Onyenankeya, Kevin Uwaecheghi, et al. “Sexism and Gender Profiling: Two Decades of

Stereotypical Portrayal of Women in Nollywood Films.” Journal of International

Women's Studies, vol. 20, no. 2, Jan. 2019, pp. 73–90. ProQuest,

https://tamiu.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/

sexism-gender-profiling-two-decades-stereotypical/docview/2186187587/se-2. Accessed

7 Mar. 2022. 

Sellier, Geneviève. “André Bazin, Film Critic for Le Parisien Libéré (1944–1958): An

Enlightened Defender of French Cinema.” Paragraph, vol. 36, no. 1, 2013, pp. 118–132.,

https://doi.org/10.3366/para.2013.0081.

Wang, Lingzhen. “Wang Ping and Women’s Cinema in Socialist China: Institutional Practice,

Feminist Cultures, and Embedded Authorship.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and

Society, vol. 40, no. 3, 2015, pp. 589–622., https://doi.org/10.1086/679522.