Weird Title, I know but look at the prefix of the word, "androgy". Really it should be androgyny but the sexes of 2011 are tugging for the characteristics they should embrace. So what if a man is in tune with his feminine side and vice verse for a woman; but with women its always a issue and a finger-pointer because were told to always act like a lady.
I found a article called "Watching Aggressive, Attractive, Female Protagonists Shapes Gender Roles for Women Among Male and Female Undergraduate Viewers". Long title, but the experiment really makes you wonder how much do actresses influence society due to their roles in films. The study in this article took 122 undergraduate students male and female from the West Coast area in the U.S. and under laboratory conditions explored gender expectations roles or GRE's for the female protagonist in selected films.
Results showed that stereotypical feminine and masculine gender role expectations for female protagonists who were highly attractive and aggressive were greatly endorsed rather than an female protagonist who was less attractive.
Aggression and attraction in women in some cultures are scowled upon; can be seen as defiant, disrespectful and unbecoming of women. The U.S .being a liberal country allows women of all kind and their various traits to be on display. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and in this case, 122 beholders found that sexier, statuesque, semi masculine women are better suited to be aggressive. When I read the article and saw some the films that they used for their results, it would seem like a obvious choice to say that Angelina Jolie is a better fit rather than Kathy Bates because of physical appearance, but till this day does beauty reign of intelligence, or overall cognitive knowledge?
References:
Setters, Tiffany. Taylor, Laramie D. "Watching Aggressive, Attractive, Female Protagonists Shapes Gender Roles for Women Among Male and Female Undergraduate Viewers". Sex Roles. 2011. Vol 65. P35-46.
