The Images of Women as Portrayed by the Female Character in Secretary

iABSTRACTUtami, Lidia Nur. 2007. The Images of Women as Portrayed by the FemaleCharacter in Secretary. Thesis, English Literature Department, Faculty ofLetters, State University of Malang. Advisors: (I) Dr. Yazid Basthomi,M.A. (II) M. Nasrul Chatib, M.Hum.Key Words: image, imaging, women, power, feministThe images of women in films show how films view women and theirrelationship with men. So often, the representation of women and spectatorshipare viewed from the patriarchal point of view. Thus, woman as a woman is absentfrom the text of film.The images of women in Secretary can be seen from the three domains;professionalism, domestic, and sexuality. This study reveals that the images haveshown the same basic pattern. Women are submissive, inferior, dependent, andintellectually less capable then men. Furthermore, the images show that womenare sacred as well as profane. They are to be worshiped as well as to be enjoyed.Thus, women are said to be ‘divine slut'. In terms of power, women are portrayedas having less power than men do. Thus, they should live under men's control anddomination, which force them to suffer sexual objectification and harassment,stereotyping, and mental oppression, and even slavery. In any relationshipbetween men and women, the images show that women are the slave, whereasmen are the master.Furthermore, the imaging of the characters uses the ‘male look' or ‘malegaze'. Thus, the imaging of the female characters works to satisfy the malespectators' needs of sexual pleasure. The female character is made to be thesexual object for both the male spectators and characters. Moreover, the imagingdiminishes the power of the female character and encourages the admiration forthe male character by employing various film techniques. And within everyimaging lies enormous meanings that stereotype, objectify, and subordinatewomen