ZOE KIRIAZIS and AMBER MATTICE
Staff Writer, Reverb Editor
In 2016, women cannot be ignored in the world of pop culture. We are seeing women become more powerful in television, movies, video games and in real life as well. We are seeing women shine.
More than just “Beauty”
One of the most anticipated Disney remakes, “Beauty and the Beast,” which will be released in February 2017, will start the new year off with a feminist heroine. Emma Watson will be playing Disney princess Belle, who is traditionally “nothing more than a receptacle for the male desire,” said Zoe Williams in The Guardian. Watson comments in the same article that she has given Belle a full backstory rather than playing Belle as a two-dimensional character from the original animated movie. Watson believes Belle is an inventor and for the movie we will see Belle take on that role.
Complex gamechangers
“Overwatch,” a video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment that came out May, recently introduced a new character, Sombra. Sombra is a hacker of Mexican heritage who is neither a hero or a villain. She is one of the most recently released characters in “Overwatch” and is depicted to be an incredibly strong female character. She sports outfits that reflect her heritage and often speaks Spanish in the game. Many players of the game were excited to have another strong female character with such an underrepresented background.
“Sombra is a unique character because she isn’t only a strong female … she’s out only for herself and she has managed to manipulate everyone on her own,” said sophomore English major Makenzie Smith. “She uses her intelligence and tech skills rather than strength [and] she’s canonically about 30 so it’s cool that she’s not just a teenager.”
Challenging the Barbie doll image
Ashley Graham, a plus-sized model and body positive activist, has recently been the inspiration for a new Barbie doll that has curves and her thighs touching. Graham was awarded the new addition to the Barbie collection at the 2016 Glamour Women of the Year Summit in Los Angeles. Mattel, the company that produces and manufactures Barbie dolls, have been working to make their dolls body positive and ethnically representative of women we see every day. “It was important that the Barbie resembled me as much as possible. The thighs touching was one way to show young girls that it’s okay for your thighs to touch, despite society saying that a ‘thigh gap’ is more beautiful,” Graham comments in an interview with “Forbes.” The Barbie collection includes three new body types and seven skin tones. In recent studies covered by “Forbes” magazine and “Buzzfeed,” it was determined that the average size for a woman is now between 16 to 18.
A political year defined by women
Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has had a flood of support and outreach from supporters after the shocking results of the 2016 presidential election. Many women are now sporting “Nasty Woman” T-shirts and apparel in support of Clinton’s loss. Beyoncé’s “Formation” performance this past year at the Super Bowl provided her political stance of police brutality, racism in America and her support of the Black Lives Matter movement. “The Final Five,” better known as the U.S Olympic gymnastics team made history winning gold medals consecutively in London and Rio. Sia was one of the only artists who wrote a song in response to the horrific shooting in Miami, Florida at Pulse nightclub titled, “The Greatest.” Kelly Oxford, writer and blogger, came to Twitter asking women to come forth about sexual assault experienced after Donald Trump coined the term “locker room talk” at the second presidential debate.
The media has covered numerous breakthrough moments for women in pop culture. Women have been making strides in mainstream news. With the new year in less than five weeks, the anticipation of continuous success and recognition of women in pop culture is another step in the right direction for representation of women everywhere.