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March 31[edit]

update and comparison[edit]

On my last post, I included a couple of references to South Korean taekwondoist/actress Taemi. But recently, I saw a couple more YouTube videos. One featured a comparison of ceremonial first pitches [1] between Shin Soo-ji and Nakamura Kaori, who is a Japanese actress and rhythmic gymnast. The other featured only the latter tossing the ceremonial first pitch [2]. Is there information about Nakamura Kaori?158.222.165.116 (talk) 18:02, 31 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

From the information I found I have discovered that Nakamura Kaori is a Japanese actress from Saitama Prefecture. She enjoys scuba diving and skiing and was born on February 26 1986 [3]. Her name in Japanese is 中村果生莉 (なかむらかおり) [4]. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mlgr245 (talk • contribs) 23:55, 5 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Why are documentary narrators mostly men?[edit]

I watched a NOVA episode, and the narrator was distinctly male. I watched a whole series of Modern Marvels, and the narrator was also male. Women did appear, but they mostly worked as scientists and made brief appearances. Apparently, those fields were dominated by men. I watched a whole series of Mankind. Same thing: male narrators. Are these narrators ever female?!? 140.254.70.33 (talk) 21:58, 31 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Female narrators occur but are rare. I made a Google search on female documentary narrator. The third hit was [5] which links to [6]. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:11, 31 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Why? The patriarchy, mainly. --Tagishsimon (talk) 23:33, 31 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It's not just limited to narrators. Gender inequality is prevalent in the entertainment and film world. A quick Google search for "gender inequality in film" turns up a number of hits. Adding "narrator" to the mix will likely get some more results. As far as film in general, see this infographic from the New York Film Academy for some numbers. It was referenced in this article from The Huffington Post. Dismas|^(talk) 00:35, 1 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It's difficult to match a strong, authoritative male voice. If you notice, these narrators tend to sound a lot more like Walter Cronkite than like Truman Capote, for example. But the glass ceiling could figure into it as well. Women have often been narrators, but usually on a limited range of topics, such as women's issues. And on the TV series Who Do You Think You Are?, the subjects usually do pretty much their own narration. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:55, 1 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The 'strong authoritative' voice things is mostly an American things though. Whilst over here it it still mostly male narration, at least they're not permanently using what I'd like to call 'movie trailer voice' all the time, see for instance David Attenborough, which I understand is ironically replaced by Oprah Winfrey (!) in US broadcasts. 82.21.7.184 (talk) 06:57, 1 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

For the Planet Earth series, it was Sigourney Weaver who, instead of Attenborough, narrated the American version. Dismas|^(talk) 07:27, 1 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It's difficult to match a strong, authoritative male voice. Except, you know, with an authoritative female voice. --Tagishsimon (talk) 16:52, 1 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Yep! Maybe like Judi Dench? Judi_Dench_filmography lists her as narrating a few documentaries. Candice Bergen also does some narration [7]. Whoopi_Goldberg_filmography shows a few narration roles for her as well. But I think you're right, the reasons we don't see more are numerous, but mostly come back to sexism, patriarchy, and the influence of those on entertainment media... SemanticMantis (talk) 18:42, 1 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Those are good examples. I wonder if there's any useful source that would less anecdotally answer the OP's question. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:37, 1 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

If producers are aiming for an image of authoritativeness based on physical strength, then they are ignoring the preferences of viewers who do not appreciate that view of authoritativeness.

—Wavelength (talk) 23:08, 1 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Female narrators seem to work better in documentaries on artists, the humanities, etc. Sister Wendy is one example. StuRat (talk) 19:05, 1 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The premise seems dubious to me—my impression is that a lot of documentaries are narrated by women. Movie trailers do tend to be narrated by men, more precisely by Don LaFontaine or an imitator. Computer/synthesized voices tend to be female, and I know it's been demonstrated that consumers prefer female voices in that context (see e.g. [8]). -- BenRG (talk) 21:01, 1 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I would argue that using female voices for computers and other tech is not necessarily a good thing. When you consider that the majority of tech designers, engineers, and programmers are men, and the stereotypes that exist about their relationships(or lack thereof)with women, their constant use of female voices raises some questions. I'm not trying to start a feminist debate here, but considering that far too many men seem to view women as some kind of alien species, I don't imagine that being surrounded by cold, synthetic female voices is exactly healthy.146.235.130.20 (talk) 15:33, 2 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

In at least one Star Trek episode the female computer was transformed into a seductress. Somehow I doubt they would have done that with a male computer voice. Imagine HAL saying "I'd sorry Dave, I can't do that, but might I add that your ass looks particularly sexy today ?". :-)

The Simpsons did do such an episode though, where, for comic effect, the male computer tried to seduce Marge (and kill Homer). StuRat (talk) 15:43, 2 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Many producers automatically default to using a man's voice for narration. Furthermore, it depends on the subject that is being narrated, because it will set a specific tone to the piece. http://kottke.org/05/02/history-channel-no-women http://www.contentious.com/2005/02/27/women-as-narrators-bad-logic-in-documentary-land/ http://www.reelmarketer.com/2012/11/battle-of-the-sexes-how-to-choose-between-a-male-or-female-voice/

-April Massard ICT 201 UofK — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ajma245 (talk • contribs) 06:21, 5 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

A male voice is typically deeper and is able to give a more dramatic tone that the documentary has already set on its own. A female voice would not accompany that very well. http://www.ravishly.com/2014/03/28/why-dont-women-ever-narrate-movie-trailers http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-08-23/in-a-world-where-women-never-narrate-movie-previews http://www.contentious.com/2005/02/27/women-as-narrators-bad-logic-in-documentary-land/ Oliviabrashear (talk) 20:45, 5 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Many producers often times choose a male voice to narrate documentaries for the deeper more dramatic tone that they offer the film but also due to the fact that most times when creating a documentary they must choose a target audience and that audience for most part is usually men so they like to have men narrate in order to attract more men into watching the film. ^[1] ^[2] </ref>https://www.alsintl.com/blog/documentary-narration/</ref> Cody Taylor18 (talk) 23:37, 7 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

[1] ttp://kottke.org/05/02/history-channel-no-women

[2] ttp://www.contentious.com/2005/02/27/women-as-narrators-bad-logic-in-documentary-land/

[1]

[2]