A film review on Cake

1. Discuss gender stereotypes in a particular
2017 or 2018 Pakistani film or drama, using
Patricia Hill Collin’s “Mammies, matriarchs
and other controlling images” and other
relevant literature.
Gender stereotypes arise because the psychological characteristics corresponding to behaviors are
generalized to the sex typically performing them, and these characteristics are viewed as stable,
intrinsic attributes of each sex. Specifically, to the extent that women are concentrated in domestic
work and communally demanding employment, people believe that they are warm, caring, and
socially skilled (Williams & Best, 1990). To the extent that men are concentrated in strength-
intensive roles and in high-status roles, people believe that they are assertive, forceful, and
dominant (Ridgeway, 2011; Williams & Best, 1990).
The film ‘Cake’ is set in present-day Karachi where the film rotates around a dysfunctional family
of five; Zareen (Aamina Sheik), the middle child who has left her dreams to deal with her folks,
their farmlands and essentially everything else around the house, Zara (Sanam Saeed), the
youngest one who has been living in UK for a long time and the oldest, Zain (Faris Khalid), who
lives in New York with his significant other, a child and their folks (Mohammad Ahmed and Beo
Rana Zafar). The family reunites after the parents' wellbeing begins weakening. Following their
get-together, circumstances emerge where the family is constrained to go up against each other
and manage their grievances, laments, feelings of resentment, insider facts, bliss and everything
else in the middle. The film has recently the appropriate measure of mind and amusingness,
adjusted by the perfect measure of disaster. At its center, "Cake" is a film about the progression of
time seen through the eyes of one family and offers a sincere take a gander at the substances of
life, of at various times, of decisions and results.
In Patricia Collins(1999) book ‘Black Feminist thought’ she talks about the Mammy image which
typically portrayed Black women as obedient, faithful domestic servants basically saying that they
were only good for house work and taking care of children. With this picture Black women keep
on enduring this since society still observe's the lady as somebody will's identity dedicated and
would just think about the family unit and kids. The following controlling image that was clarified
was the Matriarch image as the Black woman playing the man's part inside the family unit instead
of being a nurturing lady that she should be. This identifies with intersectional types of abuse that
Black women keep on enduring in light of the fact that Black women today need to play both
mother and father to their youngsters since most fathers are truant in their kids' lives, and Black
women will probably be the ones with fruitful vocations that will enable them to be the principle

2. supplier for the family rather than the Black man. In regard to the film Zareen, the eldest daughter
is both the ‘Mammy’ and the ‘Matriarch’ since she takes care of her parents and their house
domestically, as well as looking after their lands from where they earn their living. Zareen has
both roles as a son and and daughter and as a caretaker of the home and their work.
As for Zara she is portrayed as the Black lady as explained by Patricia Collins is the educated
Black woman who has given up family life in exchange for a career. Zara lives in the UK and
works spending rarely less time in Pakistan with her family. Little is known about her love life but
she lies to her parents about it, she tells them she is still living with her supposedly partner but
there is none.
Both Zara and Zareen are created as controlling images so they audience would know how to view
or treat them as. They would treat Zara as a workaholic not knowing how to live in relationships
thus men should stay away from her. While Zareen being the ‘Matriarch’ and ‘Mammy’ has an
emasculate personality where she goes to their lands to work and has a fatherly role as well as
domestic role where she takes care of her parents. In one scene where Zara takes Zareen to a New
Years party, Zareen feels uncomfortable and wanted to go home even thou she was with her peers,
because she wanted to be at home with her parents. Which shows she was so used to being
domesticized that she didn’t want to do anything with that party but fulfill her role as a ‘Mammy’.
Traditionally it is believed that men and women have ‘different sets of gender roles’ (Giddens,
2006; Schaefer, 2010; Miaji 2010; Spencer, 1997; Rao, 2007). Parsons and Bales, two
Functionalist theorists, say (in Schaefer, 2010), “women should concentrate on domestic life and
become anchored in the family as wives, mothers and household managers; on the other hand, men
are supposed to focus on livelihood and become anchored in the occupational world outside the
home”. Women are only responsible for doing household chores, cooking, washing and rearing
children (Sultana, 2011; Balk, 1996). On top of that it is believed that women are not supposed to
go outside for professional jobs (Balk, 1996). These gender stereotypes impede the development
of a society as these destroy individual talents to some extent (Schaefer, 2010). Cake had broken
these stereotypes in a way that Zareen would work in her father’s Sindhi lands while Zara was
away from home in the UK independent and would work.
People with firm gender role views are more likely to have traditional traits than people who are
more adaptable to these gender roles. The gender roles consist of women being the ‘Caretakers’
while the men are the ‘Breadwinners’ because of entity scholars' more prominent dependence on
generalizations to sort and decipher social information. (Kray, Howland, Russel 2017). Cake broke
this stereotype of a man being a bread winner by having Romeo a male character taking care of
Zara and Zareen’s parents and doing household chores, while Zara and Zareen worked thus
breaking the gender role of a woman.
Zara and Zareen’s brother Zain is married to a woman named Sana, unlike male gender stereotype
he listens to his wife and adheres to her wishes. This may be the cause of emotional vulnerability
may be particularly important within the context of romantic relationships because people want to
maintain the relationship, have their needs met, and avoid being hurt by their partners (e.g., Huston
& Ashmore, 1986; Peplau & Gordon, 1985; Thompson & Walker, 1989; Vogel & Tucker, et al.,
1999).

3. Gender roles arise from expectations of the society and their preconceived notions, where a male
is dominant and orders around his female counterpart and is in control of her, while the female is
submissive and takes care of the children and household. In the case of ‘Cake’ Zain does not order
around his female counterpart instead his counterpart does that to him. While Romeo is also more
domesticized the opposite of the male patriarchal values since he takes care of the parents, cooks,
cleans and basically is around the house, more so his personality is more humble , meek and down
to earth opposite to a stereotypes arrogant dominant man.
References:

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Balk, D. (1996). Defying Gender Norms in Rural Bangladesh: A Social Demographic
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Kray,L.J. Howland,Laura. Russel,A.G. (2017). The Effects of Implicit Gender Role Theories on Gender
System Justification: Fixed Beliefs Strengthen Masculinity to Preserve the Status Quo
Thompson, L., & Walker, A. (1989). Gender in families: Women and men in marriage, work, and
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Confirming Gender Stereotypes: A Social Role Perspective
David L. Vogel,1,4 Stephen R. Wester,2 Martin Heesacker,3 and Stephanie Madon1

5. Williams, J. E., & Best, D. L. (1990). Measuring sex stereotypes: A multination study. Newbury Park, CA:
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Ridgeway, C. L. (2011). Framed by gender. How gender inequality persists in the modern world. New
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