Seeing Gender

I remember being in middle school at about the age of 12 or 13. One of the biggest movies that year was Gladiator directed by Ridley Scott, and staring Russel Crow. Piratically every boy in my 6th grade class was talking about it, and practically every mother that attended my church was repelled by intense level of violence in the movie. In short, it was one of those "ultra violent" master pieces of my childhood that was supposed to "define cool." While at my local Blockbuster, I had the chance to rent the movie. In school I was studying Roman Mythology at the time, and I was never one to "mix work with pleasure." Seeing that I was unsure if I would enjoy the film, my mother offered an alternative. She suggested her all time favorite movie Gone With The Wind. While skeptical at first, I found the film to be highly enjoyable and it remains one of my favorite films to this day, though I am still sometimes embarrassed to admit it. Why? Because of the way media influences gender identity. There was no written rule that said which of the two movies should appeal to either sex, it was just that Gladiator seemed to be the more masculine choice. The main character was a man, the villain was a man, the leading actress in some part played the "damsel in distress" etc. Gone with the Wind, by comparison seemed to be much more feminine. Half of the main cast was female, most of the scenes centered around female interaction and response, the story focused on a love triangle as opposed to an "epic struggle."
This does not mean that only men can appreciate Gladiator or viceversa, but base on the culteral norms of the time, I felt somewhat silly for admitting which of the two films I enjoyed the most.