Seminar 5: Gender In Animation

This seminar was all about about gender in animation. I find the representation of gender in animation to be a bit of a tricky subject because my thoughts on the matter are a mix to be quite honest. Whilst I find it overly unnecessary to sexualise female characters, as emphasis on particular body parts don't actually add to the story in any way whatsoever, I also aren't concerned by the notion either. However, I am fully aware of the misrepresentation of both female and male genders within animation and I am also fully aware of the effects that this has on society.

Many people are concerned with how the female gender is represented within animation yet there are also a few examples of the male gender being misrepresented too. One example of this would be in Joanna Quinn's Girl's Night Out (1987). This animation can be praised for it's representation of the female gender, as it is quite accurate and there aren't any offensive stereotypes that are present within the animation. However, it's a different story for the male gender. Within the animation the males are either portrayed as 'slobs' slouching on the sofa, ignoring their wives preferring to pay mindless attention tot he TV screen. Or they are portrayed as big muscly men, with a great figure that use to earn money. Although this may be greatly overlooked, it is an issue that effects many people. Some may argue that males won't feel as pressured into believing this is how they should look or are expected to behave, but I feel that this isn't the case.

Regardless of what gender is within the animation I feel that it should be represented correctly if the issue of misrepresentation is to be avoided. People need to remember that females aren't the only gender that are affected by this either. Personally, the issue doesn't bother me all that much, as I am fully aware that this is one persons view on how a particular gender should behave and it's not the building blocks of any new rules on how to be a woman or a man. However, misrepresentation of gender is having that kind of effect on younger audiences and this is something that needs to be considered when gender is playing a large role in an animation.