Gender: Images, Stereotypes, Icons Biological sex involves chromosomes, hormones, genitals, etc. Biologically, there is no absolute difference between male and female; each person is on a continuum, with some being more female than others, and some being more male than others. Maleness and femaleness are readily identified in most cases, but sex is always a matter of degree, not of kind.

Sex and Gender Sex and Gender are inseparable; those who are sexual males are normally perceived as gendered men and sexual females are normally perceived as gendered women. Unlike sex, Gender is always a matter of perception. Thus, a male who is perceived as a woman could be said to be sexually male yet gendered as a woman.

Gender Image is a perception of Appearance Gender identity is established by cultural appearance, traits, and idealizations—all matters of perception by self and others Thus, Gender Image is the perception of individuals as either men or women based on appearance Gender Image is a perception of body shape, facial features, hair length, voice, skin as images of “a man” or “a woman”

Gender Stereotype is a matter of perception of traits Stereotypes are “typical traits” perceived as inherent in men and women—they are culturally influenced, and bear little resemblance to real people. Women are stereotyped as “emotional, gentle, nurturing, helpful, kind, and warm.” Men are stereotyped as “independent, active,competitive, persistent, confident, and decisive.” Gender Stereotypes are not seen as ideal, but merely typical. Research shows that the ideal man or woman is not the stereotype, but a more complex idealization of a combination of men’s and women’s traits.

What is an icon? The word originally meant a work of art that made use of a well-known symbol or metaphor to represent religious meaning. The Cross, for example, remains a Christian icon Later, the meaning of the word was broadened to include artworks that represent any deeply felt meaning Some characters in literature are icons; Huck Finn is an icon of American individualism In movies, Forest Gump is an icon of innocence and persistence

Gender Icons are perceived as ideal men, ideal women An icon, unlike an image or a stereotype, is an idealization, a fantasy, a glorification of what a man or woman could be —not what they are as individuals (image) or what they are typically (stereotype). Gender Icons are emotional and intellectual fantasies that allow us to imagine men and women at their best Gender icons become “outdated,” but nevertheless they retain an inherent power that helps establish a cultural definition of gender, even in currently fashionable appearances

Gender Icons are “fantastic” A fantasy is a dream-like construction that is recognized as such. Cinema is fantasy that is technically created. No one believes that Cinematic Gender Icons are real. They exist, after all, “only in the movies.” They are fantasies Art is essential to a rich inner life as well as to a rich cultural environment. Good movies enrich our lives. This enrichment is much more than “entertainment.” Cinema establishes a background of meaning for the culture. Is this controversial? Then where do we learn about our gender, if not from the movies??? Where do we “see ourselves” if not in the mirror of cinema?

Where do Gender Icons come from, Mama? They are conceived within the hearts and minds of people living in a particular time and place, they are delivered by artists and technicians, they are sustained by people who love them A cinematic gender icon, like everything in a movie, must re-present to the movie audience something that is already in their mind and heart. We go to the movies to see ourselves as we would like to be and who we would like to be with—Gender Icons.

Gender Icons: Summary  Gender icons are idealizations, not images of everyday people, not stereotypes of typical people  Gender icons reflect and influence the fantasies of the audience in regard to what it means to be a man or a woman  Sex is always an element of gender, so sex is important to gender icons—but there is much more to a gender icon than being “sexy”  Cinematic gender icons can become “outdated,” or “out of fashion,” but they never lose their “power to define gender.” They are continually “resurrected” within contemporary actors and movies