"What Women Want"

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews the film "What Women Want" and in particular looks at why society imparts so many gender roles on men and women. It examines how the film is not a film about an attractive throwback to the Stone Age, but how it certainly portrays what a large group of men still believe about women, even today when there is supposed to be more "equality" between the sexes. It evaluates how Mel Gibson's over the top caricature of the hopelessly chauvinistic male at the beginning of the film is not actually as far-fetched as it might seem, which makes it all the more appalling. Today, many men still see women only as sex objects and even the most liberated man still believes he should head up the household and bring home the major portion of the bacon.

From the Paper:

"Society looks at men and women differently, despite the advances women have made in women's rights. Women as leaders are viewed differently than men as leaders; it is that simple. In "What Women Want," Helen Hunt is viewed with skepticism, especially by Mel Gibson, when she first takes over the leadership role in the agency. The old adage "she slept her way to the top" is often the only way men can justify a woman's rise to prominence in business or government. Men simply do not want to admit that a mere woman might be more talented or qualified than they are, and so must make up personal reasons for professional results. This is not that unusual either, and the statistics of women who serve at the head of major corporations bears this out. There are far fewer women in positions of importance in large companies than men, the percentage is somewhere in the teens, rather than the sixties or even seventies."

More papers on "What Women Want":

• Essay # 61023 : "Women's Wants"
• Article Review # 102583 : "Men Want Something Else"
• Analytical Essay # 47275 : "Women in Homer's "The Odyssey"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: