Media Screening

The movie “In a World” features a woman named Carol Solomon who wants to be a voice over in movie trailers, which her father regards as a “man’s business, nobody wants to hear a female voice.” Carol’s voice was heard by the executive producer of the Amazon Games Quadrilogy and she was selected to be the voice of the trailer. Her father, who was notorious for his voice overs in movie trailers (who was also in consideration for the job) was upset that a female was going to be the voice in the trailer. People responded very negatively to a female entering the voice over industry, and believed that there was no room for her. The other male candidates considered her a “thief” because she “stole” the position from the other male contestants. This film displays gender identity because men don’t believe women are fit to be in the voice over industry. The gender stereotypes are on full display when men continuously and openly announce how a woman isn’t fit to be in the voice over business. In the very last scene, the executive producer tells Carol that “everyone in the world hears movie trailers, and everyone in the world hears TV commercials.” She picked Carol because she believed that young females need to be empowered and motivated by hearing a female’s voice in a powerful position in influential media roles.

The documentary titled “It’s a Girl” displays the fear and danger of being a woman in countries like India and China. The documentary begins with a woman explaining how she killed eight of her female children because of their sex. She would continue to get pregnant hoping for a boy, however she kept getting a boy. In India, society views females as a drain of resources due to the fact that they cannot retain family property and cannot provide as a source of income. Additionally, due to the poor living conditions and costs of raising a child, the female children families get pregnant with are often aborted or killed to lessen the expenses on the family. Fortunately, India has taken action against the killing of young female children by implementing a law that prohibits killing a child based on their gender. Similarly, in China, there are 13 million abortions a year. On top of that, there are 500 female suicides every day in China. When you break down the population of China, there are 37 million more men than women in China. These staggering statistics are caused by a policy in China that allows families to have no more than two children. Chinese families often kill the female children they have to ensure both of their kids are males because they will be more successful in society. Female rights are taken away at a very young age in both of these countries. The documentary fully exposes the gender inequality in these societies, where it has become so extreme that mothers kill their children because they would rather have them die than live in their society.

Both of these movies encompass the gender inequality found in our world today. While “In a World” is a little less severe, it is still important to note how people responded to when Carol won the job. They accused her of being a thief to her male counterparts, who believed she was inadequate for the job simply because the industry “had no room for a female voice”. “It’s a girl is a little more serious and eye opening to the global issue of gender inequality. Female deaths at a young age are abundant in India and China because a female does not have the same opportunities a man has. In our world, we need to address the issue of gender inequality and make it clear that people are people, no matter whether they are born as a male or female. Everyone is capable of making a contribution to society, and they shouldn’t be stripped of that opportunity at birth when their parents say “It’s a girl.”