Animus, Anima, and Shadow: Gender Role Representation in Fantasy Films of the Third Wave Feminist Era

Abstract

Research on representation of gender in 20th century media suggests that traditional attitudes towards gender, which call for aggressive, dominant male behavior and passive, submissive female behavior, have been propagated through negative framing of characters who challenge those attitudes. Traditional attitudes have been especially prominent in fantasy tales, though some research suggests that contemporary (third-wave feminist era) fantasy does support alternative views. A quantitative study of fantasy films of the era reveals that characters who challenged tradition were still more likely to be framed negatively than those who did not. Qualitative analysis was then used to determine the reasons for, and the significance of this continued correlation.