Teen's Short Film Shows How Ridiculous Gender Stereotypes Can Be
Ella Fields may only be 14, but the short film she made in middle school last year shines a bright light on gender stereotypes, and has been viewed more than 1.6 million times and counting over on YouTube.
In the film, called "Stereo," gender stereotypes are flipped on their heads. And so Ella, born a girl, has grown up wearing blue, playing sports, and being forbidden from wearing dresses and participating in musical theater. In fact, when her mom catches her eyeing a cute frock in Target, and then later watching Les Mis on TV, she is immediately reprimanded.
"Stay focused," her mom scolds. "I raised a strong athlete, not a wimpy musical theater kid."
Yikes! Or as Ella puts it in the clip, "Stereotypes suck."
"I truly believe that anyone can wear whatever they want," Fields told HuffPost. "Colors should not have any gender associated with them. They are just colors."
It's amazing just how glaring the truth of that statement becomes when the gender roles are reversed in the clip, isn't it? Fields' movie makes a very powerful, very beautiful statement about how arbitrary the assignment of certain codes of conduct seems, and about how a child shouldn't be judged for simply being brave enough to embrace who they want to be.
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"Girls can do anything boys can do," Fields explained. "And boys can do anything we can, too."
Amen!
Hollee Actman Becker is a freelance writer, blogger, and mom of two who writes about parenting and pop culture. Check out her website holleeactmanbecker.com for more, and then follow her on Instagram
