On Twilight Vs Hunger
Games, Noah Berlatsky does not compare the franchise’s success nor their aspects
but their female lead’s way of being. Both movie franchises happen to have a
female lead protagonist but their way of being differs quite drastically.
Katniss from The Hunger Games, is quite a tomboy while Bella happens to be ‘stereotypically
girly’ as Berlatsky stated. Upon describing both female leads, Berlatsky came
across on pointing out that people will tend to find the tomboy aspect from
Katniss as more attractive and appealing to one. The idea of being an
independent, brave girl who constantly fights and hunts people down for
survivor is more enchanting than a girly girl who really has nothing going for
herself and according to Berlatsky is pretty much useless. It seems that the
idea that the author is trying to convey is that the typical stereotypical male
characteristics seem to be more engaging than those of a female. Only to later
state, “they might understand each other’s desires and each other’s strength,”
which to me, it seems that he is saying that at the end of the day there is no
right or wrong way of being. Everyone has their own preference and it should
not be guilted. On the other hand, The Egg and the Sperm by Emily Martin talks
about how they get the stereotypical gender cultural norm treatment and how it
should stop being a thing. The sperm is often seen as fierce because it
penetrates the egg, while the egg tends to be called weak and wasteful which
ties in with Berlatsky’s part of the argument. “Waking up such metaphors by
becoming aware of their implications, will rob them of their power to
naturalize our social conventions about gender,” Society tends to add gender
roles into almost anything, which for Martin is not a necessity.
I say it rejects it but also reinforces. It reinforces it when it describes Bella. Like Berlatsky stated Bella is a "stereotypical girl." She is caring and will never take a life. The stereotypes for a "woman" is that they are sweet, kind, carrying submissive and dependent on their man. These characteristics characterize Bella. In the article Berlatsky said that " unless Edward or Jacob came to her rescue... Bella would get stomped" [Berlatsky] This is a prime example of Bella being dependent on men aka Edward and Jacob. The Way Berlatsky describes Katniss is the opposite of the normal woman stereotypes. It actually goes more with some of the male stereotypes. A typical male stereotype is strong and Brave this sums up Katniss. Katniss I put into an arena with other people and is forced to fight to the death. she doesn't cry she stays strong and fight and kill everyone who tries to kill her.
ReplyDeleteI believe that both Noah Berlatsky and Emily Martin both reject and re establish gender roles. Noah Berlatsky rejects gender roles because he states that people find tomboyish girls more attractive than girly girls. Although, in his article ‘”Twilight’ vs. ‘Hunger Games’: Why Do So Many Grown Ups Hate Bella?” the author states, “To be masculine, she has to be strong, but to want to be strong is to be bad.” I believe this also re establishes gender roles by saying that if a girl wants to be strong and be a badass, she has to be masculine, and that is frowned upon in today society. Emily Martin in her article, “The Egg and the Sperm” seems to reject gender roles, more than she re establishes them. Throughout this article, Martin talks about how the egg is sometimes just very useless. Martin claims that the female has more to her than just to reproduce, which in some ways rejects normal gender roles. Martin compares the egg to the sperm and basically says how they are both equal and “Waking up such metaphors, by becoming aware of their implications, will rob them of their power to naturalize our social conventions about gender.” This quote really sums up that Martin thinks the egg is over stereotyped and we must stop thinking that one is more important than the other, because we are the same.
ReplyDeleteI think that The Egg and the Sperm article reinforces the gender roles idea while the Twilight vs. Hunger Games article rejects the idea. the egg and sperm article reinforces the gender roles idea because it talks about how from a biological perspective, the scientists seem to think that the males sperm is worth more. this can be seen as a comparison to societys view on how men are "worth more" than women because they are stronger faster etc. on the other hand, the twilight and hunger games reading rejects the gender roles idea because it sees katniss (the tomboyish girl) as more attractive. women are often thought of as supposed to be "girly and not tough" the fact that the critics and feminists thought Katniss was more appealing rejects the societal norm about women. these are both different articles saying different things.
ReplyDeleteFor Katniss it is rejecting gender roles because it shows Katniss as a tomboy that is really good at archery and has characteristics that men want and instead of men not liking her, instead they find her attractive which is different from all the norms society has presented us with. But as for Bella in Twilight, it reinforces gender roles because it shows Bella as weak and has to be taken care of. She is not very tom boy like but she is emotional reinforces that women are weak, which is a common norm that society has perceived from women over the years. So for Katniss in the Hunger Games, they have made a movie of a girl rejecting gender norms but for Bella in Twlight, they reinforced the gender role of women being weak and can not take care of themselves.
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