Topic > Gender Stereotypes in The Wolf of Wall Street

Martin Scorsese, an Italian-American director, produced and directed "The Wolf of Wall Street", released to the public in 2013. This film tells the story of Jordan Belfort, who was a stockbroker living a life of luxury on Wall Street in the late 1990s. Belfort ended up unemployed due to the collapse of all the stock markets, but then landed a job selling stocks through a small brokerage firm where Jordan could earn a 50% commission at the end of each sale. He was able to quickly convince many clients with his charming ways that he learned on Wall Street. Jordan became so good at his job that he immediately founded his own company, Stratton Oakmont, where he was able to amass all his wealth. He continued to manipulate the stock market and convinced many potential investors to buy his shares with false information. Although the result of his unethical stock sales resulted in many people losing investments, it was still completely legal, until he lost control and ruined everything. Through Belfort's riches, he became addicted to the money he was acquiring, along with drugs and alcohol, which led him to begin committing federal crimes. Additionally, throughout the film, many scenes portray and reinforce gender stereotypes along with the human desire for wealth. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. For example, women are constantly objectified while men hold all the power. In the opening scene, it is obvious that women in this film are only portrayed as objects and only seem to exist around men. To emphasize this point, Naomi Lapaglia, one of the lead actors, appears to orally pleasure Jordan Belfort while driving his Lamborghini at the beginning of the film. This shows the audience how the desire of masculinity is to have sexual interactions with women along with the power of wealth. It is also important to realize that there is very little dialogue exchanged between Naomi and Jordan throughout the film. When Naomi becomes Jordan's girlfriend, she seems to have no life of her own. She is caught talking mostly about house maintenance and is definitely only portrayed as a sex object. To prove this point, there are many scenes where she is completely naked and only wears short, tight clothing to obviously dominate the male gaze. Along with a very significant scene where Belfort is punished for cheating on Naomi. While he is being punished, she eventually has sex against his will, saying things like "Mommy is so sick and tired of wearing panties." This shows the audience how, furthermore, the concept of reinforcing gender stereotypes portrayed through this film is abstracted through all the female characters who are all primarily prostitutes and strippers, who are naturally classified by Jordan based on status and quality. After Jorand begins to become more successful, we see how money can instantly and drastically change the way people live. In front of Belfort's riches, the audience can see how much love he had for his girlfriend, Terressa and how he always denied any drugs of any kind that were offered to him. However, as his wealth began to increase with his stock market activity, he eventually continued to sell and manipulate his clients, which earned him millions of dollars. During this process, we can see how Belfort becomes unrecognizable and full of energy thanks to the power of the wealth he has acquired. He begins to abuse his power andhe begins consuming a large amount of drugs every day as the money accumulates and begins throwing large parties at his house filled with drugs, alcohol and women. This is where we see how wealth can successfully lead people to lose control and begin to embrace drug and alcohol addiction. Above all Jordan and his stockbrokers show no sign of guilt for selling their consumers terrible stocks where they can potentially lose everything. All they try to capitalize on is their hunger for wealth and they demonstrate throughout the film that they will do anything to surpass their fortunes. He lets his hunger and lust for money hinder his morals and even lies to the legal authorities who are investigating Jordan for his illegal transactions in the stock market. Most importantly, I can connect many aspects of this film to today's world and how there are expectations in society about how men should behave. In a way where males are constantly driven by masculinity and the fact that they always have to be stronger than other males. This is why this film is a perfect example of how gender representations depict a patriarchal society as women in the film are associated with femininity. Even though it is Jordan's company, the public can see that the percentage of male employees is significantly higher than the percentage of female employees at Stratton Oakmont. This is because society stigmatizes women because they are seen as weak and treated as less than men. It is seen that men hold all the power in our society and that is why Naomi is able to live such a luxurious lifestyle throughout the film. If it wasn't for Jordan's financial gains, Naomi would have been viewed differently and that's why she depends on Jordan. These gender stereotypes of masculinity and femininity have become naturalized in society. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay However, many scenes portray and reinforce gender stereotypes along with the human desire for wealth and it is clear how money can influence a person to direct harm. Audiences saw the result of Jordan's thirst for wealth and how this leads him to drug and alcohol addiction. This is the case in many incidents, but traditionally occurs in men as they have many more opportunities available to them than women. However, Jordan's success allows him to indulge in pleasurable activities such as spending all his money on drugs and alcohol. This film succeeds in portraying Jordan's masculine urges as he still feels the need to seek sexual interactions with other women even though he is happily married with a family of his own. Also, as stated, Naomi is treated like an object throughout the film which is why she denied Jordan sexual activities to represent how women are presented as nothing more than sexual objects in today's society. However, she manages to break away from these stereotypes and decides to divorce Jordan and take full custody of her son. Furthermore, he is sentenced to thirty-six months of security prison, due to his illegal fraud which led to the ruin of Jordan Belfort's life. In conclusion, Jordan Belfort demonstrates what a life with money and power can lead to if you let it guide you. The Wolf of Wall Street shows how history continues to repeat itself and shows how gender stereotypes are reinforced in our society. Works CitedAitken, R., & Dupuis, M. (2017). Risk, governance and compliance after the global financial crisis: The implications of regulatory capitalism for restructuring.