Friday 11 March 2016

Critical and Contextual Issues - Chapter 1 Draft and Statistics

I had already written my introduction, so the drafts below are redrafts of that, adding and taking away to make it sound better and include everything I am going to talk about in my essay.

For the first chapter I wanted to look into the history of the social norms and gender equality to give the basis to my essay. I felt I needed to look into the history and what was normal then to explain why women were treated the way they were.


Draft 1 of Chapter 1



How have women’s roles in the animation industry changed over the years?





This essay will aim to discuss the animation industry and how women’s roles have changed over the years. Exploring how the change in times and how society viewed women all those years ago will allow me to see how it affected what roles women were given in the industry.


Looking at and comparing different women working in the industry will also give me a better understanding of this element to my essay, including relevant case studies that will back up my findings. The focus on women who worked in the animation companies and not women who were freelance animators will be vital to the relevance of this essay. An example is Lotte Reiniger who worked for herself and was a big name in the female world. 


This essay will also compare how their roles have evolved between then and now, such as the contrast between back then, where they could only paint and outline cells, to now where it could be argued that they are seen as equals. It will also discuss whether or not the social norms of the time and idealisms had an impact on the roles women could have, as well as discussing the differences in times and whether it has changed significantly or only slightly and why this is. 




Gender Roles


Gender roles are defined by what the public imagine a particular gender (male or female) to be or be perceived as. These roles are given based on our biological sex. “The term “gender roles” refers to society’s concept of how men and women are expected to act and behave”. (Boundless) Roles which need strength and dominance are seen as masculine, while roles which are caring and nurturing are seen as feminine.


History


In the 1940’s the war had broken out (World War II) so many women began having stereotypical female jobs like being a typist, secretary and clerk. These were for the army themselves and became available as it freed up more men to fight in the army. They were allowed to work in different sectors in the army but were not allowed to go to the front lined as it was unacceptable for women to be that close to the war. Women started working in the factories to help build resources that would be used in the war. 


Women’s roles in the 1950’s can be argued that they are both similar and different to the roles women have in a contemporary society.


I started off by defining what gender roles means as this explains the 'stereotypes' people had.


Draft 2 of Chapter 1



How have women’s roles in the animation industry changed over the years?





This essay will aim to discuss the animation industry and how women’s roles have changed over the years. Exploring how the change in times and how society viewed women all those years ago will allow me to see how it affected what roles women were given in the industry.


Looking at and comparing different women working in the industry will also give me a better understanding of this element to my essay, including relevant case studies that will back up my findings. The focus on women who worked in the animation companies and not women who were freelance animators will be vital to the relevance of this essay. An example is Lotte Reiniger who worked for herself and was a big name in the female world. 


This essay will also compare how their roles have evolved between then and now, such as the contrast between back then, where they could only paint and outline cells, to now where it could be argued that they are seen as equals. It will also discuss whether or not the social norms of the time and idealisms had an impact on the roles women could have, as well as discussing the differences in times and whether it has changed significantly or only slightly and why this is. 





Gender Roles


Gender roles are defined by what the public imagine a particular gender (male or female) to be or be perceived as. These roles are given based on our biological sex. “The term “gender roles” refers to society’s concept of how men and women are expected to act and behave”. (Boundless) Roles which need strength and dominance are seen as masculine, while roles which are caring and nurturing are seen as feminine.


History


In the 1940’s the war had broken out (World War II) so many women began having stereotypical female jobs like being a typist, secretary and clerk. These were for the army themselves and became available as it freed up more men to fight in the army. They were allowed to work in different sectors in the army but were not allowed to go to the front lined as it was unacceptable for women to be that close to the war. Women started working in the factories to help build resources that would be used in the war. Women had taken on the typically male roles while the men went to fight. “ The blurring of the gender roles were acceptable because it helped the war effort” (David White) It was allowed when society needed it, so the country could still grow and have a future, but once the war was over this was reversed.


However by the 1950’s the war had ended and the men were returning and wanting their original roles and jobs back and so the women were pushed out of the workplace. Ones who still wanted to keep working were made to have lower-paying ‘female’ jobs which society looked down upon, while the rest went back to being housewives. Women had adapted for the war and then were now being forced by society to return to the past and just go back to their homes.





Women were not seen as the money makers in the family, instead society saw them as the home makers. Stay at home mother’s who looked after the children, cleaned the house, cooked the dinner on time and while doing all of this looked presentable for their husbands, who went out and earned the money. “Women were expected to marry and start a family rather than seek new employment” (David White). The social norms of the time were for women to stay at home and be the submissive type while men were dominant and were in charge of the household. This was encouraged by most of the society. An example of this is through advertisement.





Both pictures have been taken from neatdesigns.net


The above examples of the advertisement that were seen in the era show how ‘happy’ women were doing the cleaning and staying at home to cook. This was instilled with the help of the men who encouraged this. They did not want to be seen as less of a man if their wife worked and earnt more money than the. This was a way to control their dominance.


Now a days this is a completely different story women are seen more as equals and have similar jobs to men although still not payed equally. Women make up 47% of the workforce in the UK  


I continued adding to this section as I wanted to cover all the history, as it plays a big in my essay. I also looked at some advertisements to back up the essay and prove the sexist nature advertisements had towards women.










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