I started to write an article about Star Wars the Force Awakens and the positive portrayal of women I witnessed in the film. I started to write about a woman, Rey, who was allowed to just be herself. She didn’t have to act like a man or be the object of one. She was allowed to “run on her own”. I started to write about seeing women working along side men and even leading men. I started to. Sadly, I am not anymore because sexism has reared its ugly head once again and I can’t ignore it.
I’m sure you are aware that actors from the old Star Wars film reprised their characters’ roles. Watching the film felt like attending a class reunion where you really wanted to see people again! I was thrilled to see that Hans, Leia, and Luke looked like real people who grow up and age. I was impressed, but evidently others were not, at least, not with Carrie Fisher. The reactions to her portrayal of an older and accomplished Leia have confirmed for me that our society’s double standard is alive and well.
Women cannot win.
If you are young you are held to unrealistic beauty standards and evidently, when you age you are held to unrealistic beauty standards. Carrie Fisher is having to see her body/looks discussed…again. It appears it is okay for Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill to age, but not Carrie. To quote many, “She didn’t age well”. What the hell does that mean exactly? I’m angry that of all the things that I could have written about this film, THIS is what I find myself thinking about, this unfair expectation that women face…daily.
I shouldn’t have been shocked by people’s reactions, but I really had hoped that a movie so full of positive portrayals of women would inspire a more positive response. But, instead we got more of the same and I have to wonder if women will ever be allowed to just…be. One of the more egregious opinions I read was in The New York Post and as much as I hate to give this guy any attention, it truly must be read to be believed http://nypost.com/2015/12/30/if-carrie-fisher-doesnt-like-being-judged-on-looks-she-should-quit-acting/. It is full of half-truths and misogynistic assumptions and some very big leaps in logic. What I find the scariest is his sincerity. This guy really believes the manure he is spreading! Basically, what he believes is that if you make money from your looks you then have no room to complain when people talk about you… as if your ONLY value lies in your looks. Like most good propaganda and stereotyping there is a nugget of truth in this pile of shite. If you make your living through your looks then, yes, you have to be prepared to be compartmentalized. But, here’s the thing…women are put in that box forever. It’s a double standard that women can’t seem to escape no matter who they are or what they have accomplished.
This particular issue, women being judged and valued by their looks, has taken on more importance to me as I age. Along with the reflection that naturally comes with living as a woman, I now have the privilege of watching my six granddaughters rapidly approach womanhood. I have even more reasons to be invested in how women are treated and portrayed. I don’t want my granddaughters to have to fight for the right to be seen as valuable as a man or god forbid…believe they are less than. But, I must face reality and the reality is that they still face pressure and prejudice.
I found this article that quotes some interesting research from 1974. http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/02/04/susan-sontag-on-the-three-standards-of-beauty-girl-boy-and-man/
[For women], only one standard of female beauty is sanctioned: the girl.
The great advantage men have is that our culture allows two standards of male beauty: the boy and the man. The beauty of a boy resembles the beauty of a girl. In both sexes it is a fragile kind of beauty and flourishes naturally only in the early part of the life-cycle. Happily, men are able to accept themselves under another standard of good looks — heavier, rougher, more thickly built. A man does not grieve when he loses the smooth, unlined, hairless skin of a boy. For he has only exchanged one form of attractiveness for another: the darker skin of a man’s face, roughened by daily shaving, showing the marks of emotion and the normal lines of age.
There is no equivalent of this second standard for women. The single standard of beauty for women dictates that they must go on having clear skin. Every wrinkle, every line, every gray hair, is a defeat. No wonder that no boy minds becoming a man, while even the passage from girlhood to early womanhood is experienced by many women as their downfall, for all women are trained to continue wanting to look like girls.
I’d love to say things have changed since 1974, I don’t believe they have. After-all, we are told this is the most interesting man in the world
and there is a recent (note the recent because its 2016 and this IS happening) trend in Hollywood to portray much older men as the love interest of young women. Here is a link to a very interesting article about this trend with eye-opening charts like the following one displaying the ages of Tom Cruise and his female co-stars.
http://www.vulture.com/2013/04/leading-men-age-but-their-love-interests-dont.html
The messages my granddaughters and all women are exposed to are constant and persistent.
I’m glad my granddaughters got to see The Force Awakens and the positive roles all of the women played and hope they don’t find out that 40 years after earning her role as Leia, Disney once again asked Carrie Fisher to lose weight to be able to play a part 15 years younger than her male co-star.
My lovely husband of almost forty years reminded me that there is a difference between real-life and real people and Hollywood and advertising. “Do you really think that men only focus on looks? Do you think I’m still in love with you after 40 years because of your looks? ” No. I don’t. I know when I look at my husband I see…him. And, I think that is what he sees when he looks at me. In his eyes, I am allowed to just be and that is my wish for my granddaughters and all women that they are allowed to just… be.
Reblogged this on My Outlander Blog! and commented:
Something I wrote on my other site. Non-Outlander, but I’d love to have you read it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
On point, as always. It will be interesting to see what the reaction is if “Voyager” and other Outlander books make it to the screen. The leads will be 20 years older, which I am guessing will be fine for Jamie, but betting Claire will take some hits. Especially if they keep the steamy scenes…”A woman over 50 having hot sex?????” Sad.
LikeLiked by 2 people
One of the reasons I love the books! Diana gets that life isn’t over at 30!
LikeLike
Hi Beth, Didn’t know that you had another blog site. So happy I found it! I enjoy your writing and happen to almost always agree with your insight and opinions. I had read about the criticism about Carrie Fisher not aging gracefully prior to reading your blog. I was so happy to see that you had addressed this topic in your blog. I am 60 years old with two granddaughters. After all these years, body image and aging doesn’t seem to have changed very much despite all of the positive role models, articles and inspirational quotes out there. Body and age shaming are alive and well. I pray that my daughters will be able to direct their daughters in the right direction of positive body images, an attitude that they are just as good as a man and that they can be whatever they want to be when they grow up. Let’s hope for better in 2016
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for reading! And yes hoping for a great 2016!
LikeLike
I was entertained by Star Wars, but it reminded me of Peyton Place. Quite frankly, the story could have moved into more original territory. I am pleased that George Lucas made reference to this, too.
As for the disparity between how men and women are portrayed by Hollywood, my husband and I had exactly the same discussion you had with yours: it is unrealistic and leaves a huge chunk of valuable contributions out.
LikeLike
Yes, I agree with your assessment! It almost felt like they felt the need to catch us up!
LikeLike
Great article! Happens everyday in real life. At 52 I was appalled to hear a male coworker (also 52) say emphatically that women shouldn’t just let themselves go gray because it makes them look so much older. Never mind that he’s gray-headed and beginning to bald! What?!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep…double standard alive and well!
LikeLike
I was so disappointed with the new Star Wars film, but I was thrilled to see that Carrie Fisher wasn’t hiding behind all kinds of makeup and was truly a beautiful senior citizen! I thought that she looked terrific and her performance was inspiring. We have discussed the film at length and it has never come up nor have we read reviews concerning her “ageing”. I liked the female character of “Rey” and thought, for the younger women (girls?) she is a pretty good role model. Other than Harrison Ford I found the other male characters lacking in so many ways and felt them “cartoonish”. Mark Hamill showing up in the end with no lines was anticlimactic at best. I remember when we first saw him in “The Empire Strikes Back” and how changed he was because of the accident he had been in. Reviews said that he had “lost his looks”. His character was originally the “hero” character but because he had changed so much (looks wise) they switched the hero status to Harrison Ford. So, though I do agree with you about the older woman status in Hollywood…in society in general…there is male bias as well. In this country we don’t honor ageing which is sad…and we all suffer.
I strongly hope that if we are so lucky to have Voyager brought to the screen that Claire’s ageing is positively acknowledged. Diana portrays her so beautifully as an older woman…with as much honor and respect given her as any male warrior…and how Jamie adores her in every way…most especially the physical…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great article! I’m 48 soon to be 49 my husband is 42. (Yes I married a younger man) neither of us asked about age when we met, didn’t even occur to us to ask it didn’t matter. We found out when filling out the application for or marriage certificate, we had assumed that we were the same age or at least very close to it. (Charlie has salt and pepper hair 5-10″ 180lbs, and my hair is blond with grey 5-9″ 160lbs.) I can’t tell you how many times people (men) have referred to me as his mom! (I gave our description to prove a point.) If our ages were reversed they would high five him.
LikeLike
Wow! Thanks for sharing your story!
LikeLike
Thank you Beth. Haven’t been able to get tickets for the movie yet but will.. That said you make points that go beyond the movie and as always say it with care understanding and ‘force’ . So ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to you and a big thank you for another great read. Keep ‘the force’ with you Beth😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Dee! 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Been lurking around Outlander Twitter sites for over a year and love your commentary.
As I make my waxing appointment to rid myself of chin hairs, I think about the extraordinary things that young women in film have to do to stay relevant. They are constantly dieting, purging, cleansing, nipping, tucking, filling…. The surgeries alone to create the generic face and body are daunting. And then, there are no guarantees that they’ll get the role. So they go through all that pain for naught! Only to be replaced by the next it girl.
I am glad that you and Terry keep bringing up these truths. I hope that change will not be so glacial. Thank you for your voice.
Staten Island Sharon
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sharon thank you for sharing your thoughts. Do you mind if I share with Terry?
LikeLike
Please share. Thanks for responding. S
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m 62 and just came out on the high-side of a heartbreaking divorce due to his online affair. The affair has crashed and burned several times, but knowing that he kept leaving me for a 10 year younger foreigner didn’t help my own self-esteem. The one thing that cut me the hardest were the comments of my own BFs attempting to console me with words of superficiality…”Don’t worry, you are ‘still a beautiful woman’…You still have ‘time to find happiness’ with another man. WTH!??! Last time I looked, MY INNER SELF WAS DRIVING THIS CAR, not the hesitancy of someone else’s foot.
“You all can go to Hell but I shall go to Texas.”- Davy Crocket (&Me)
LikeLiked by 1 person
((Hugs)) and 🙌
LikeLike
I did not know you had another blog…now I know what I’m doing today!! LoL
You always have an amazing insight and ability to say what you mean in a wonderful way.
I thought what happened to Carrie was disgusting, but sadly it wasn’t unexpected. That’s the way the world works. I hope there’s an answer and a change to come because it is ridiculous the way women are treated. We just can’t win. You’re supposed to be natural but glamorous. Love who you are but only if you fit the ideal image. Be who or what you want as long as it’s what you’re “supposed” to do. If you’re big you need to lose weight. If you’re skinny you need to eat. It’s ridiculous. The double standards and backhanded compliments are everywhere, so what do you do? No wonder the young girls have issues. I’m 32 and even I get blindsided sometimes. My favorite is when people tell me how young I look and how much I’ll appreciate that as I get older, like not looking your age is what you should hope for. I’m also skinny and have to constantly defend myself from those who can’t believe I eat as much as I do because it’s not possible apparently. I try to teach my nieces to love themselves for who they are but for every positive they get 10 negatives. It’s an uphill battle.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes. I have six granddaughters and I worry do for them. Thanks for reading. I don’t put stuff in here regularly. Needed a place to write about things other than Outlsnder
LikeLike