Romance cinema for debunking gender bias of non-egalitarian couple relationships in higher education

Romance cinema may recreate cisgender heterosexual couple representations by means of image-making, with the use of gender bias or traditional images that have considerable effects on how women and men are represented or are expected to behave, which may confront egalitarian models of relationships....

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Main Authors: Beatriz Morales-Romo, María J. Hernández-Serrano, Noelia Morales-Romo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1134813/full
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author Beatriz Morales-Romo
María J. Hernández-Serrano
Noelia Morales-Romo
author_facet Beatriz Morales-Romo
María J. Hernández-Serrano
Noelia Morales-Romo
author_sort Beatriz Morales-Romo
collection DOAJ
description Romance cinema may recreate cisgender heterosexual couple representations by means of image-making, with the use of gender bias or traditional images that have considerable effects on how women and men are represented or are expected to behave, which may confront egalitarian models of relationships. This study aims to analyze how the traditional model of couples is represented in the 20 romantic highest-grossing movies selected from the years 2000–2010, and whether the reading of non-egalitarian images awakens different meanings and reflections by experts and undergraduates in Higher Education (areas of education and communication). For this aim, a mixed methodology was used, first qualitative (six in-depth interviews with academics and film analyses of the selected movies), then quantitative (questionnaire to 251 undergraduates analyzing films), and then qualitative again (personal reports from the same students). Results confirmed the reflective making of gender bias and non-egalitarian images of couple relationships in six of the box-office films, with moderate percentages in categories of Submission, Dominance, Dependence, and higher percentages of Manipulation, either for/from women or men. The study concludes that romance cinema was positively valued by students and academics as an enabling cultural product for the analysis, reflection, and deconstruction of non-egalitarian images, so that higher education students can be guided to critically seek suitable understandings of gender and couple relationships.
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spelling doaj.art-cd0135056ce14d2e8672b3532b043edc2023-05-18T12:25:06ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2023-05-01810.3389/feduc.2023.11348131134813Romance cinema for debunking gender bias of non-egalitarian couple relationships in higher educationBeatriz Morales-Romo0María J. Hernández-Serrano1Noelia Morales-Romo2Department of Didactic, Organization and Research Methods, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, SpainDepartment of Theory and History of Education, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, SpainDepartment of Sociology and Communication, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, SpainRomance cinema may recreate cisgender heterosexual couple representations by means of image-making, with the use of gender bias or traditional images that have considerable effects on how women and men are represented or are expected to behave, which may confront egalitarian models of relationships. This study aims to analyze how the traditional model of couples is represented in the 20 romantic highest-grossing movies selected from the years 2000–2010, and whether the reading of non-egalitarian images awakens different meanings and reflections by experts and undergraduates in Higher Education (areas of education and communication). For this aim, a mixed methodology was used, first qualitative (six in-depth interviews with academics and film analyses of the selected movies), then quantitative (questionnaire to 251 undergraduates analyzing films), and then qualitative again (personal reports from the same students). Results confirmed the reflective making of gender bias and non-egalitarian images of couple relationships in six of the box-office films, with moderate percentages in categories of Submission, Dominance, Dependence, and higher percentages of Manipulation, either for/from women or men. The study concludes that romance cinema was positively valued by students and academics as an enabling cultural product for the analysis, reflection, and deconstruction of non-egalitarian images, so that higher education students can be guided to critically seek suitable understandings of gender and couple relationships.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1134813/fullhigher educationgender biascouple relationshipsromance cinemacritical reflectionundergraduate students
spellingShingle Beatriz Morales-Romo
María J. Hernández-Serrano
Noelia Morales-Romo
Romance cinema for debunking gender bias of non-egalitarian couple relationships in higher education
Frontiers in Education
higher education
gender bias
couple relationships
romance cinema
critical reflection
undergraduate students
title Romance cinema for debunking gender bias of non-egalitarian couple relationships in higher education
title_full Romance cinema for debunking gender bias of non-egalitarian couple relationships in higher education
title_fullStr Romance cinema for debunking gender bias of non-egalitarian couple relationships in higher education
title_full_unstemmed Romance cinema for debunking gender bias of non-egalitarian couple relationships in higher education
title_short Romance cinema for debunking gender bias of non-egalitarian couple relationships in higher education
title_sort romance cinema for debunking gender bias of non egalitarian couple relationships in higher education
topic higher education
gender bias
couple relationships
romance cinema
critical reflection
undergraduate students
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1134813/full
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AT mariajhernandezserrano romancecinemafordebunkinggenderbiasofnonegalitariancouplerelationshipsinhighereducation
AT noeliamoralesromo romancecinemafordebunkinggenderbiasofnonegalitariancouplerelationshipsinhighereducation