Opinion | Filmmakers: stop stereotyping female journalists
Women journalists’ dull portrayal in film and TV is repetitive. Photo collage by EMILY PARIS, photo editor
Taylor Bazella, features and entertainment writer
As journalists, we are always excited to watch the latest film or television show about female reporters uncovering the truth and bringing large stories to the public.
In 2022, Maria Schrader’s “She Said” was the feminist film we needed as it followed two female journalists who gave a voice to Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault victims. The film tied together themes of feminism, justice and empowerment with the journalists reporting on what started the #MeToo movement so their own daughters might have a better future.
After countless films that have portrayed female journalists as dull, unfashionable or struggling to balance work and children at home, it was disappointing to see “She Said” fall into stereotypical portrayal of female journalists with dreary fashion choices and screaming kids at home.
Although growing up with a number of movies featuring female journalists felt inspiring at the time, it wasn’t until we reached college that it became obvious just how skewed their portrayal really is. From classic film “Spotlight” with Rachel McAdams taking care of her elderly nan or critically acclaimed show “Inventing Anna,” where the lead female journalist chooses to finish her story while going into labor, it’s never enough that they work hard, they must also face challenges in their roles at home.
Emily Hewitt, features and entertainment writer
What makes this repetitive narrative more disappointing is when it's compared to how men are portrayed in similar movies. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman in “All the President’s Men” are never seen taking care of their family. If they are shown at home, we see them working overtime on a story. Or in “Spotlight,” Mark Ruffalo is shown at the office working endless hours on a story without any mention of his personal life.
The individuals who create these films think they are doing service to what a busy woman looks like, but really all they do is show that female journalists have no idea how to properly balance work and home life.
In addition to the constant need for female journalists on screen to go home to be a nurturing caregiver, they also dress like they have never owned an interesting article of clothing in their lives. With gray pencil skirts and white button ups, these characters become unrelatable and difficult to admire.
Postpartum depression and the struggle of parenthood are incredibly important topics to authentically portray in films. However, it’s always a female journalist who is facing those particular issues — constantly spreading themselves too thin by devoting their life to their craft and also other people.
Why can’t female journalists ever be the main character in their own story?
Through our combined years of consuming journalism media, we feel one of the only empowering female journalists portrayed on screen whose life isn’t taken over by motherhood nor swallowed by drab garments is Carrie Bradshaw from “Sex and the City.”
Bradshaw always made a point of not wanting children, while her female counterparts Miranda and Charlotte had children throughout the show. This proved to audiences that there isn’t one way of being a woman — each character was valid whether they had children or not.
But this presents another nuance to the problem. Bradshaw was a journalist who had a sex column and whose writing was just as iconic as her closet. So, how come only sex and fashion writers are able to dress in pink heels? Women journalists in film should have the same opportunities regardless of the topics they report on.
Don’t worry. We aren’t just complainers. We’re problem solvers too.
Give your female journalist a pop of color. It can be a pastel blazer, colored slacks or even just a vibrant Nike “swoosh.” These women journalists need some joy outside of their jobs and wailing children. Make her more than one dimensional. Because that’s what she deserves.