The Depictions Of Gender-Based Discriminations in the U.S. in Mimi Leder’s On the Basis of Sex (2018): as a Feminism Study

Abstract

Gender-based discrimination is one of many kinds of discrimination ever exist
in this universe. It has been a crucial issue yet it is also often ignored by society. This
phenomenon happens because patriarchy ideology has made it be a common thing in
society. The patriarchy ideology influences and makes people hegemonized in
behavior, way of life, and social structure. Related to this research, it mainly discusses
the depictions of gender-based discrimination in the U.S. which found in the movie
‘On the Basis of Sex (2018)’ by Mimi Leder. The aim of this research is to find out the
causes, the depictions, and the ways the main character take actions to overcome
gender-based discrimination in the U.S. according to the movie. This study is
categorized as a qualitative-based research that uses feminism approach as the applied
theory. The research was done by doing analysis on the conversations over the scenes
in the movie regarding to the research questions and applies the theory of feminism by
Simone de Beauvoir (1949). The research found that depiction of gender-based
discrimination and men domination in the movie ‘On the Basis of Sex (2018)’ occurs
in the field of education, legal, working environment, and public place that was derived
from patriarchal culture in the United State for centuries. The discrimination
experienced by some characters both man and woman.
Keywords: gender based discrimination, feminism, movie, patriarchy