Feminist theory: blog tasks

 Media Magazine reading - two articles on feminism and theory

Read Playing With The Past: Post-feminism and the Media (MM40, page 64 - our Media Magazine archive is here). This is a great example of sophisticated media analysis and an indication of the level we want to be writing at by the end of the two-year course.

1) What examples are provided from the two texts of the 'male gaze' (Mulvey)?

In the two texts of the 'male gaze', the examples provided were Beyonce and Pan am which both suitable for representing highly well achieved women in between 20th and 21st century. 

2) Do texts such as these show there is no longer a need for feminism or are they simply sexism in a different form?

Both texts still believe that there is still a lot to be done about feminism as Pan Am tries to fix this but getting it's female cast to try and empower the sexism regain confidence back. This leads to feminism still being an impact in today' society with sexism due to internalised ideology of the idea of post-feminism throughout the centuries.

3) Choose three words/phrases from the glossary of the article and write their definitions on your blog.

Patriarchy: An ideology that places men in a dominant position over women.

Male gaze: The gaze referring to Laura Mulvey's seminal article 'Visual pleasure and narrative cinema' which argues that main stream Hollywood films subject female characters to the 'male gaze' of the camera, fragmenting and objectifying their bodies.

The Third wave: was a movement that redefined and encouraged women to be dominant and sexually assertive.

Now read The Theory Drop: Gender Performativity (MM69, page 25) and answer the following                                                                         questions.

1) How does the writer suggest gender performativity is established from a young age?

The write suggest of gender performativity is established from a young age as it is established to them to be a certain gender and pick certain things because of their gender because that is what they were told. This is directing them to be in a certain category of what clothes they wear, what they should play with and how they behave overall.

2) What does the phrase 'non-binary' refer to and how does it link to Butler's theory?

The phrase 'non-binary' refers to people who don't identify as neither male or female as use gender neutral pronouns like 'they/them' as that's what makes them comfortable. This links to Butler's theory as it demonstrated how gender was constructed by society to be a certain gender because of genitals but really you ca identify into a gender neutral pronouns or neopronouns which is evolving today's generation that is coming out more confidently with LGBTQ+ issues.

3) How and why does the media help reinforce gender stereotypes? The writer provides several examples in the final section of the article.

The media reinforced gender stereotypes to represent certain roles like believing females are inferior to males as that is what we have been socially constructed to believe since it helps the audience see what each character is presented in the media production.

Music video analysis

Finally, write up our analysis of the two music videos we studied in class. This is your opportunity to develop your own opinions on these crucial media debates.

Watch the Beyonce video for ‘Why Don’t You Love Me?’ again: 

1) How might this video contribute to Butler’s idea that gender roles are a ‘performance’?

The video contributes to Butler's theory as Beyonce is being represented as 'a traditional white housewife' but showing how women are dependent on male figures as she is seen needing help of her 'husband' as she cleans the kitchen floor and not being able to fix the car engine. Which reinforces the role of women being dependent and fragile. 

2) What might van Zoonen suggest regarding the representation of women in this video?

Van Zoonen suggest that women are represented  in the video as passive, fragile, gentle and objectified by males. This is because they sexualised Beyonce by doing close ups to her body which is inappropriate and showing how the only thing they like is visual.

3) What are YOUR views on this debate – does Beyonce empower women or reinforce the traditional ‘male gaze’ and oppression of women? 

In my perspective, I believe that this does the opposite of empowering Beyonce's image as she is clearly being presented in the male gaze by her revealing outfit and the way she is shown throughout the music video.

Watch Will Jay's video for ‘Gangsta’ again:

1) How does the video suggest representations of masculinity have changed in recent years?

The video represents how masculinity has changed over the recent years as men are becoming more confident with opening up and not wanting to be muscular and strong as the 21st century has become more or an equal party for more genders compared to the 20th century.

2) What does David Gauntlett suggest about representations of men in the media over the last 20 years?

David Gauntlett suggest men being represented in the media over the last 20 years have evolved  has everyone has their own personality and differences compared to the past centuries.

3) What is YOUR view on the representation of men and masculinity? Are young men still under pressure from the media to act or behave in a certain way?

In my opinion, the representation of men and masculinity still have pressure from the media as they are expected to be strong as society makes actors who are the male lead to be strong most of the time and not be emotional but smart that leads up to stereotypes.