Netflix recently released a new movie called Moxie which follows a teenage girl who starts a feminist revolution in her school. As per the teenage movie formula, Moxie is riddled with plenty of unrealistic characters, exaggerated comments, a friendship breakup and reunion, and a love interest. Yet, the movie stays true to the experiences of BIPOC students without blindly stereotyping them, successfully navigates away from the white savior complex, and prompts some very useful questioning regarding the role of women in art. It also does a great job highlighting the different forms of female empowerment, from the single mother raising a high schooler trying to find her voice, to the new girl who decides that a boy giving her trouble doesn’t make her the problem, to the best friend who struggles to decide between making too much noise and honoring her parent’s sacrifices for her education, and it’s really refreshing. The movie truly shows that doesn’t matter if a woman is disabled, or trans, or was a victim of sexual assault, or is on her period and PMSing, or wearing a tank top where the straps are thin, or doesn’t want to return a boy’s feelings.
One scene that particularly stood out to me was at the beginning of the movie when the English teacher asks the new student a question about the summer reading, The Great Gatsby saying, “Well Lucy, since you did the summer reading, I’m gonna ask you the first question we apparently have to ask about every work of art now, no matter what it’s about or what time period it was created: how are women portrayed?” Since watching that conversation, the English teacher’s words have been ringing through my ears because in order to answer his questions, we have to know the answer to the question of why should we discuss how women are portrayed in art?
The English teacher seemed to think that asking the question about women’s portrayal in art should be relegated to their relevance to the art itself. Given that The Great Gatsby was written by a rich white man for rich white men, as Lucy points out in her answer to his question, during a time period in which women didn’t have the same rights or access to resources that men did, what’s the point in having to discuss women? My answer is fairly obvious. It’s because women belong in every conversation! If discussing Fitzgerald’s critically acclaimed novel does not include the mention of the changing perception of women and their contribution to society, there is actually no point in reading it. The themes of materialism, the American Dream, and tragedy are universally acknowledged, but for a book that centers around a man whose entire personality and livelihood center around a beautiful woman, the novel’s view of women is extremely distrustful and discussed sparingly. If we’re going to get representation right, which we have to if we want to actually claim societal progress, the lack of substance in the female characters has to be addressed.
Don’t get me wrong, I personally love The Great Gatsby. Nothing has reflected quarantine’s psychological impact on myself quite so much as Nick Carroway’s disenchantment with the world, and it’s a comparison I draw upon frequently. However, this issue exists within every genre of art. Why are there so many female art students but so few women considered “artists” compared to men? Why do people get so offended when art historians point out Picasso’s crippling misogyny or Gauguin’s pedophilia? Why is every successful female musician asked about potential boyfriends after winning a major award? Why do all comedian rankings only include male comedians? Why does it always have to be about men?
For the record, I wrote this whole article on my period. I’ve been stressed and unhappy in oscillating amounts due to this wonderful pandemic we’re experiencing, and added cramps have made me the poster child for PMS. However, as I sat here wondering at my anger at the whole world, I realized I could write about how the representation of women in the media bothered me. I did my research about several artists to make sure I wasn’t making up any facts, read through a few of the side notes in my copy of The Great Gatsby, and watched some reviews of Moxie to see if I was missing any perspectives. So if on some of my worst days of the year, my moodiness can yield a consolidated take on a relevant societal issue, why are there any stigmas around anything women experience? I have very plainly decided that there is no good reason. It really doesn’t have to be about men all the time. So to my ladies, create. Be loud. Unleash your inner Moxie. Do it every day, every chance you get. And don’t ever apologize for being a woman.
The Doodling Duck is an Opinion culture column written and created by Pooja Rajadurai to discuss art as it relates to pop culture, trends, and students.
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