Primeval - Textual Analysis Homework

How is gender represented?

Red hair girl at the start can be seen as over-emotional as she becomes upset and storms off after talking to the man. This enforces the stereotype that women are weaker and sub dominant to men.

In the second scene the woman subverts (goes against) the typical archetype of the damsel in distress as the woman fights off the tiger and saves the mans life opposite to the contrary. To do this she uses heavy machinery which is commonly referred to as a masculine form of equipment. This is highlighted through a wide shot at the start of the scene allowing us to recognize her and the machinery. The close ups used of her in this scene also allow us to see that she is experienced and able to operate such machinery. As female in this scene is seen as a less weak character because she is portrayed as strong, contrary to certain popular stereotypes highlighted previously in the extract.

In the next scene one of the men is wearing the colour pink, most commonly referred to as a girls colour portraying him as more feminine, controversially to the typical image and ideas of a stronger, 'bread wining' man. He is also not holding a gun opposed to the other man in this scene and instead a shovel which is less dangerous implying he is weak and unable to handle such equipment furthering this controversial idea. The woman in the pack is however holding a gun unlike the more feminine man reversing the stereotype that women are weaker and sub dominant to men.
However during this scene the farmer over powers the red haired woman stating his dominance. Dressed clearly as a farmer shows that he is a hard worker and due to his practical role shows he is the bread winner of the family. He is also holding two fighting dogs conveying his power as they are dangerous animals and he has dominance over them. One of the men then come and save the woman from the man and rescues her following the traditional damsel in distress archetype unlike earlier in the extract, conveying his power, strength and heroism. This also further suggests the stereotype that woman are weak as the red haired woman is unable to overcome the farmer.