She's not like other girls; she is a cool girl : A qualitative study on the portrayal of female characters as the cool girl in films

Sammanfattning: Society's view on women is a long-debated topic, and there are several studies made to analyze where and how these attitudes toward gender roles arise. This thesis focuses on how women are portrayed and represented in media, especially as female characters in film fiction, to gain insight into what effect this can have on society's view of women. This thesis examines how female characters are portrayed in media by using a qualitative method. The objects chosen to analyze are two female characters that have been identified to be representative of the cool girl trope. A character analysis has been conducted to examine the study objects as a form of qualitative text analysis. The study applies relevant theories such as genre theory, representation theory, and the feministic perspective on the media and the male gaze. The previous research presents earlier studies on the cool girl trope and other perceived devaluating representations of women on screen. The results from this study suggest that women as female characters are portrayed differently than male characters, which can be seen as devaluing of women. In some cases, female characters are used as a treat to the male eye, as something to desire, or as something to laugh at and make fun of. Above all, the portrayal of women as the cool girl creates a distinction between different types of female behavior and gives the male viewers a fake image of women.