On Sunday, I went to the film with a couple of friends. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and as usual when I really enjoy a film, I looked it up on iMDB when I got home, to see what other people were saying about it.
I was shocked out of my socks to learn how many people are up in arms about what they believe is its 70s era sexism. And as a feminist myself, I'm truly bothered by such criticism. (Witness the fact that I just spent ninety minutes on my day off to write this post).
It appears the whole hullabaloo got started when Joss Whedon complained about sexism in the trailer. Then the film came out, and everybody saw sexism in the film.
From what I can tell, looking into the complaints online, accusations of sexism generally center around primary character Claire's change of heart: She starts the film off wrapped up in her job and generally insensitive to her nephews, but ends it feeling maternal towards them, and feeling something entirely different for Chris Pratt's character. This, people say, is evidence that the filmmakers buy into the assumption that a woman's role is certainly not at the helm of a major business; it's in the home, feeling maternal towards her husband and two-point-six children.
And as a self-identified feminist, I get this concern. Watching the film, I noticed a few places that might "push the buttons" of people like me, who don't have a husband or children and yet hear frequently that our lives would be so much richer with them. There's a scene in which Claire's sister tells her, "Having children is worth it!" and part of me cringed. No, I don't have children. At this point, I'm unlikely ever to have children. And yet my life is full and rich without them.
But a single cringe-worthy scene, which in fact only echoes conventional wisdom among the film's target audience, does not make this a sexist film.
A few thoughts:
One, those who say the film is sexist are ignoring actual evidence from the film. Viewers argue that the film, in showing Claire changing from being in love with her job to being in love with her nephews and Chris Pratt, suggests that women are out of place in the workforce. This ignores what the film tells us about Claire's sister, played by Amanda Seyfried. Seyfried's character joshes her two sons, calls frequently to check up on them, and tries hard to promote family bonding. And yet Claire's sister clearly has a successful career: When she tells Claire children are "worth it," she's standing outside a boardroom, dressed in a business suit. She's a successful mom, the film implies, and a successful career woman.
In fact, I would argue that the film does not portray Claire's main problem as being a successful career woman, only as being a woman with her priorities out of balance. When her nephews arrive, she's clearly let herself get swept up in work duties, such as taking executives on a tour of the Jurassic World lab and checking on the I. Rex with the theme park's financial backer. The problem is not that she has a job; the problem is that she has let her job control her, instead of the other way around.
And this is not a problem exclusive to women. In fact, Hollywood is as likely to call men out as women for spending too much time caught up in their work (even if it's good work!), too little time with the ones they love.
Think The Incredibles. Or The Santa Clause. or Die Hard. or Taken. In each case, the main character is a man, and in each case, that man's problems come about in part because he hasn't spent enough time with his family.
So when Jurassic World calls out Claire for her indifference to her nephews, it's not following a sexist script; it's following the standard Hollywood script, that family is top priority.
Which brings me to my second point:
Two, accusations of sexism in Jurassic World assume a conflict between "work" and "family" that need not exist.
When people complain that the film is sexist simply because Claire, who previously loved her job, now loves the idea of having a family, they imply that women shouldn't love the idea of having a family. They imply that nowadays, since women have the freedom to be in the workforce, they should be in the workforce.
But this is not every woman's idea of happiness. So what if Claire wants a family by the end of the film? Many, many women do.
If feminism means support for women, then we have no business policing what makes a particular woman happy or not. Yes, I am happy in my job, without a husband or children. I have friends who had a job, but now have a husband and children, and are much happier in the home.
A job is a good thing, but a family is a good thing too, and it's time we feminists stopped seeing the two as engaged in some kind of zero-sum game.
(Incidentally, as Christians it's time we stopped seeing the family as the be-all-and-end-all of a meaningful, godly life, but that's another post.)
And this brings me to my last point:
Third, getting your panties in a bunch over perceived sexism in Jurassic World ignores the much greater real problems that stand in the way of women's happiness around the globe.
I don't call myself a feminist because I'm upset that a movie, which is mainly about dinosaurs, shows a woman who decides she wants a family.
I call myself a feminist because I think women, married and single, deserve respect.
Yes, I get frustrated when people assume that women's lives revolve around family, or when people assume that I'm nurturing (I'm not!) simply because I'm a woman. But ultimately, whether I'm asked about a recent date or a recent race is not that big a deal, in the great scheme of things.
This is a big deal:
In the United States, women are sexually objectified in ad after ad to sell products; when the ads are actually aimed at women, they often work so that women are conditioned by advertising to like pink and frills and purchase Disney Princess items. Women are often unwelcome in higher education, assumed to be poorer scientists and poorer teachers.
Honestly, who cares if Claire wants a family? A family is a great thing! We should be far less worried (by which I mean, not worried at all) about her desire for this good thing, then we are about the very bad things which women encounter every day, in the United States and elsewhere.
You call yourself a feminist? Fine, standing up for women is important.
But complaining about sexism in Jurassic World is not standing up for women.
Don Quixote was laughed at for tilting at windmills. If we feminists are not careful, we'll wind up doing the exact same thing.
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