Mama’s Little GirlExamining women’s role in gender inequality

A documentaryBy

Beatrice Becette

Contact Info:bb6543a@student.american.edu(908) 797-82384100 Massachusetts Ave NW (apt. 920)Washington, DC 20016

Teaser Introduction

AUDIO VISUAL

Fade in…

GENDER, A TERM SO

CONTROVERSIAL YET SO

MISUNDERSTOOD

Montage of gender related clips:

-Men and women walking through a busy street

-Men and women on television

-Advertisements for masculine and feminine

products

Girl1:

Gender is male or female.

Girl 1 speaking

Girl 2:

Sexual orientation

Girl 2 speaking

Boy 1:

men should be men. Women

should be woman

Boy 1 speaking

Boy 2:

a social construct

Boy 2 speaking

Girl 3:

The mental sex

Girl 3 speaking

Expert:

We act as if that being of a man or

that being of a woman is actually

an internal reality or something

that’s simply true about us, a fact

about us….nobody really is a

gender from the start.

Expert speaking:

http://bigthink.com/videos/your-behavior-creates-

your-gender

IN THE MEDIA Montage of gender related clips in movies

-Movies:

-Legally Blonde, Sleeping Beauty, What a Girl

Wants, etc.

-Advertisements

-Rap Music video

A SUBJECT OF DEBATE Montage of images of gender related debates

-Comments on Reddit

-News articles about transgender segregation/debate

IN THE HISTORY OF

MANKIND

Montage of archival images of

-hunter gatherer illustrations

-men and women throughout history

CHANGING AS WE CHANGE Montage of:

Transgender acceptance:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/05/mike-

honda-transgender-daughter_n_6804806.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/17/us/obama-to-

sign-protections-for-contractors-gay-

employees.html?ref=topics&_r=0

Gender Neutral parenting:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9028479/Couple-

raise-child-as-gender-neutral-to-avoid-

stereotyping.html

Feminist campaigns:

https://twitter.com/freethenipple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs

BUT WHERE DOES GENDER Quote appears on screen: “From 18 months on

DEVELOPMENT BEGIN? children rapidly assimilate information concerning

gender and by two years they actively perform it.”

WHERE DOES IT COME

FROM?

Girl 1:

it’s in our society

Girl 1 speaking

Quote appears on screen: “Children seek out ways

to understand their gender so that children want to

be like mommy or be like daddy.”

Girl 3:

I only had a sister and growing up

I noticed how families with boys

were different…

Girl 3 speaking

Boy 1:

It’s life Boy 1 speaking

Boy 2:

I think it’s just in our culture Boy 2 speaking

Girl 2:

it’s everywhere

Girl 2 speaking

Montage of:

-Close ups of babies’ faces

-Babies crying, babies laughing

-Parents holding their children

-Mothers speaking to their children

-Kids playing on the playground

The clips increase in speed with the music and end

on a clip of Kelsi holding her daughter.

Title appears: Mama’s Little Girl

Fade out…

ACT 1: The Girls

AUDIO VISUAL

My name’s Kelsi, I’m 32 years old, and

I’m a teacher in Princeton, New Jersey.

Kelsi sitting on her living room couch

Kelsi walking through her hometown

I teach art to elementary school children.

I love what I do. I love watching my

students grow and find themselves through

art. It’s very rewarding just seeing the joy

in their faces, the joy of expression.

Kelsi at work, painting with her students,

watching them, interacting with them

Kelsi:

I also have a little girl of my own. Her

name is Minka and she’s 19 months old.

Kelsi at her home, interacting with Minka.

Kelsi:

It’s just me and her for right now.

I met her father not too long ago. We met,

fell in love, but things didn’t work out too

well for us

Hupp:

My name is Julie Hupp. I am an associate

professor psychology area coordinator at

Ohio State Newark.

Hupp walking around Ohio State Newark

University

Hupp:

there are very small effects of paternal

absence on gender development…

…mother's marital status does make a

difference

Hupp at her desk

Caption: Julie M. Hupp: Associate

Professor and Psychology Area Coorditor

at Ohio State

Shots of Minka’s room, revealing pink

clothes in her closet, bows on her desk, and

dolls scattered on the floor

Transition:

Camera focuses on a dolls face on the

floor, then fades out and fades back in to…

Claire:

Hi my name is Claire, I’m a junior at AU

studying foreign policy and national

security.

Claire walking around campus

Claire:

I think I am girly. Uhm I like

stereotypically and traditional female

activities…clothing, aesthetics, cosmetics. I

have a high-pitched voice haha!

Claire speaking to camera

Claire:

I had like a cooking set, at school I loved to

play house, be the family cat…My parents

didn’t let me play sports cause they didn’t

want me to get hurt.

Claire putting makeup on

Shots of her room, objects such as posters,

magazines, jewelry, clothing, and shoes

Claire:

My dad would always come back after

we’d finish dinner. He’s a computer

engineer. He was always busy because of

work.

Claire trying on clothes

More shots of her room, objects such as

posters, magazines, jewelry, clothing, and

shoes

Claire:

Uhm my mom left her job when I was in

elementary school to stay home and take

care of me.

Claire speaking to camera

Hupp:

Gender role knowledge is associated with

growing up in a family with a stay at home

mother.

Shots of Claire’s room, objects such as

posters, magazines, jewelry, clothing, and

shoes.

Transition:

Camera close up on a picture of Claire with

her mother as a child, then fades out, then

fades back in too…

ACT 2: The Origins of Gender Development

AUDIO VISUAL

Hupp:

Children seek out ways to understand their

gender so that children want to be like

mommy or be like daddy and therefore

imitate the highlight gender stereotypical

behaviors they witness in their parents

Hupp at her desk

Kelsi and Minka play with her toys

Kelsi:

She’s sweet. She’s beautiful. She’s a

precious one.

I like to call her my mini-me.

Kelsi speaking to camera

Close up on Kelsi’s face as she is speaking

to Minka

Claire:

I definitely admired my mother when I was

growing up. I mean, I still do.

Claire sorting through photos of her as a

child

Claire:

My favorite sound is the opening and

closing of jars…I associate the sound with

my mother.

Claire speaking to camera

Claire:

Even though she didn’t wear makeup she

was always into skin care, so she has a lot

of lotions, tonics, serums she put on her

face. And so when I heard her opening and

closing her jars…it made me happy.

Camera close up on photos of Claire’s

mother

Sterling in her at work in her office

Sterling:

My name is Anne Fausto-Sterling, and I

specialize in biology and gender

development

Sterling speaking on camera

Caption: Anne Fausto-Sterling: Biology

and Gender Development

Sterling:

From 18 months on children rapidly

assimilate information concerning gender

and by two years they actively perform it.

Minka playing by herself, Kelsi not

included

Close ups of her facial expressions

Kelsi:

She already shows a preference for more

“feminine” things, her dolls, her

grandmother, and aunt.

Kelsi on camera

Kelsi:

I definitely can tell that she gets more

excited to see females than males. Like my

sister and mom. She seems confortable.

Minka playing by herself, Kelsi not

included

More close ups of her facial expressions

Claire:

I’m not really sure when I became girly.

Claire speaking to camera

Claire:

My mom…I think she’s feminine but not

girly. I mean she has feminine interests,

baking, quilting, gardening, but at the same

time she’s not girly.

Claire speaking to camera, thinking

Claire: Photos of Claire as a child

I took ballet, gymnastic, choir… But I have

to say that’s also because I wanted to be, I

wanted to play ballet, I wanted to wear a

tutu.

Archival footage of her as a baby

Claire:

I mean I’m not really sure where that desire

came from. I feel like I’ve always been this

way. Like it’s in my DNA or something...

Claire speaking to camera

Endendijk interacting with students

Endendijk:

My name is Joyce Endendijk, and I teach

Child and Family Studies at Leiden

University.

Mothers show different interactive

behaviors with sons than with daughters…

Mothers not only talk more to girls than to

boys in general…but they also talk more

about interests and attitudes to girls than to

boys…

Endendijk in her office, speaking to camera

Caption:

Joyce Endendijk: Professor of Child and

Family Studies at Leiden University.

Sterling:

at 3 weeks mothers hold female infants at a

greater distant, but attend to and hold male

infants more often. They also stress male

infant musculature more, stimulate and

arouse males more and look more at their

male infants…

Sterling speaking to camera

Sterling:

They describe newborn daughters as fine,

little, weak, quiet and delicate with far

greater frequency than they do their sons.

Archival footage of Claire and her mother

Footage of Kelsi and Minka interacting

Kelsi:

Honestly, I don’t know much about child

development, and you know, when they

start to identify these gender norms.

Kelsi speaking to camera

Kelsi:

But I’ve always considered myself a

feminist. I’m not a man hater, but I mean I

believe that women should have equal

rights.

Kelsi speaking to camera

Kelsi: Kelsi holding Minka in her arms, rocking

It’s a crazy world right now. It’s really hard

for women to, to make it in this world. I

know, I’ve lived in it. My mother. My

sister. I don’t want Minka to live that way.

I really don’t.

her back and forth as she sleeps

Ttransition:

Fade to black, then fade in to…

CONCLUSION:

AUDIO VISUAL

Girl 2:

So it’s the mothers?

Girl 2 speaking on camera

Boy 1:

Haha knew it. Us men aren’t the only ones

to blame

Boy 1 speaking on camera

Boy 2:

Makes sense to me.

Boy 2 speaking on camera

Girl 3: Girl 3 speaking on camera

So if the research is true, if it’s really

mothers that start all this gender nonsense,

and it’s, it’s all subconscious, what does

this mean for the future?

Claire:

Even though I like things that are sparkly

and shiny and things with gold accents, that

doesn’t make me any less capable or

strong.

Claire speaking on camera

Claire interacting with her friends on

campus

As long as I’m getting paid less than a

man, I’m totally fine with making up that

difference when having men buy me stuff

and doing things for me haha!

Claire speaking on camera

Some women could argue that it’s

benevolent sexism.

Claire in class, raising her hand to speak

I feel guilty saying this but, I kind of enjoy

it and milk it.

Claire speaking to camera.

She laughs, then looks serious.

Kelsi:

I mean yes, when I think about it, I do pick

out her clothes, I do buy her toys and stuff.

But she enjoys it, and, she’s a girl.

Kelsi speaking to camera

Close up on framed photos of Kelsi and

Minka

Kelsi:

I don’t know, what else am I supposed to

do?

Kelsi speaking to the camera

Transition:

Camera close up on Kelsi’s face, then fades

to black.