The evolution of the representation of the main female character in Oscar-winning movies and its relationship with female gender stereotypes

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Fatemeh Zahra Baghai 1
Maryam Ghazinejad 2
Azam Ravadrad 3
1 -Holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences and a Master’s degree in Sociology, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding Author).
2 : Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.
3 : Professor, Educational Department of Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/jcsc.2025.2029812.2748
Abstract
A stereotype is a fixed mental image of different social groups such as race, religion and gender. The spread of gender stereotypes in society has harmful consequences such as gender prejudice, gender discrimination and gender inequality towards both sexes, especially women. Cinema, by representing gender stereotypes, causes the reproduction and reinforcement of them in various societies, including our own. Therefore, the current research has been carried out with the aim of investigating and analyzing female gender stereotypes in the representation of the main female character in the films that have won Oscar for best picture and its changes during the years 2002 to 2022.To achieve this goal, the theoretical framework of Stuart Hall's representation theory and Andre Michel's gender stereotypes approach were used, as well as the qualitative content analysis method (Deductive and Inductive), whose data was also collected and analyzed using a checklist. The research population of this investigation is 20 Oscar-winning films during the years 2002 to 2022 (two decades of the 21st century).The findings of research indicate that the portrayal of the main female characters of the first decade of the studied period are represented with 14 gender stereotypes and in the second decade with 9. Also, in both decades, simple stereotypes are less prominent, while complex stereotypes are more pronounced. Therefore, it can be concluded that despite the presence of mostly complex gender stereotypes in Oscar-winning films, over the time, the stereotypical representation of the female character in these films has gone through a downward trend.

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