Feminist Theory
Feminism is the opposition to out of date and derogatory view points of women that many people in society still share today. Feminism aims for equality and to portray a strong image of women. In recent history and still in many different cultures around the world that men hold the dominant role. In the twentieth century many British women moved the feminism movement forward.
Feminism is the opposition to out of date and derogatory view points of women that many people in society still share today. Feminism aims for equality and to portray a strong image of women. In recent history and still in many different cultures around the world that men hold the dominant role. In the twentieth century many British women moved the feminism movement forward.
It is clear that in terms to careers within the media that there is more powerful and hold more positions in today's society, however many theorist show that although there is more equality women still hold a different purpose within the media. Three theorist I am particularly interested in for this topic is Laura Mulvey, Judith Butler and David Gauntlet.
The Male Gaze
The Male Gaze
Laura Mulvey, a British feminist film theorist,argues that audiences interact with the media"voyeuristically" and "fetishistically". Cinema audiences watch a film without being watched by the characters on screen and usually in a darkened cinema so other audience members do not observe them either. Therefore they are almost voyeurs, watching the people on screen, this can lead to two effects
objectification of female characters in relation to this controlling (male gaze)
narcissistic identification with an ideal image seen on the screen
Mulvey argues that this is voyeurism involves turning the represented figure itself into a "fetish"
or an object so that it becomes even more beautiful. This is simply just a visual object for the audience to appreciate, the identity that follows is usually mild as to focus on the beauty of the character. Mulvey suggests, this leads to the cult of the female movie star, who's appearance is widely appreciated but considered as an object and often treated as such.
Propps Narrative is another theory related to feminism. He stated that conventional Hollywood films have a male protagonist in the narrative and assume a male audience. Male characters are "active and dynamic" and not always "conventionally attractive". Actresses must be glamorous and attractive but are often given supporting roles, such as the princess to Prince Charming and therefore are on screen as "eye candy" to appease the male gaze of the male audience.
Gender as performance
Judith Butler argues that we all put on a gender performance, regardless of sexuality. By choosing to subvert, we might work to change gender conventions and the binary understanding of masculinity and femininity as represented in the media. She suggest that:
"Gender is not some inner truth but the presence of received meanings,"
"Gender is not fixed but constructed".
Gender representations are used to construct identity in the media you can see how these 'performances' can be manipulated. Music artists who often construct complex gender ideologies as part of their image - "Madonna has constructed images which are expressly feminine, overtly masculine and less extreme over her career". Other artists who aim to construct particular gender identities to present particular ideologies to an audience - Eddie Izzard and David Beckham both use feminine gender identity at times as part of their image, presenting less conventional ideologies to their audience. In order to change representations and expectations, Sigorney Weaver shaved her head completely and was not filmed in a far more 'male' context than had previously been the case for female characters in conventional sci-fi film, who, whether human or alien were usually products of the male gaze
Gender and Lifestyle
David Gorndlett argues that in contemporary society, gender roles are more complex and that the media reflect this. He points out that the female role models today are often glamorous as well as successful (Ali McBeal) in a way that previously they were not. He argues that much of this is due to the rise of 'girl power' in the media, through identities constructed by music artists such as Destiny's Child as well as contemporary actresses, for example who are demanding less passive film roles. He argues that our expectations of gender are flexible and culturally dependant and therefore will continue to change. He tracks these changes through different media texts, especially lifestyle magazines.
objectification of female characters in relation to this controlling (male gaze)
narcissistic identification with an ideal image seen on the screen
Mulvey argues that this is voyeurism involves turning the represented figure itself into a "fetish"
or an object so that it becomes even more beautiful. This is simply just a visual object for the audience to appreciate, the identity that follows is usually mild as to focus on the beauty of the character. Mulvey suggests, this leads to the cult of the female movie star, who's appearance is widely appreciated but considered as an object and often treated as such.
Propps Narrative is another theory related to feminism. He stated that conventional Hollywood films have a male protagonist in the narrative and assume a male audience. Male characters are "active and dynamic" and not always "conventionally attractive". Actresses must be glamorous and attractive but are often given supporting roles, such as the princess to Prince Charming and therefore are on screen as "eye candy" to appease the male gaze of the male audience.
Gender as performance
Judith Butler argues that we all put on a gender performance, regardless of sexuality. By choosing to subvert, we might work to change gender conventions and the binary understanding of masculinity and femininity as represented in the media. She suggest that:
"Gender is not some inner truth but the presence of received meanings,"
"Gender is not fixed but constructed".
Gender representations are used to construct identity in the media you can see how these 'performances' can be manipulated. Music artists who often construct complex gender ideologies as part of their image - "Madonna has constructed images which are expressly feminine, overtly masculine and less extreme over her career". Other artists who aim to construct particular gender identities to present particular ideologies to an audience - Eddie Izzard and David Beckham both use feminine gender identity at times as part of their image, presenting less conventional ideologies to their audience. In order to change representations and expectations, Sigorney Weaver shaved her head completely and was not filmed in a far more 'male' context than had previously been the case for female characters in conventional sci-fi film, who, whether human or alien were usually products of the male gaze
Gender and Lifestyle
David Gorndlett argues that in contemporary society, gender roles are more complex and that the media reflect this. He points out that the female role models today are often glamorous as well as successful (Ali McBeal) in a way that previously they were not. He argues that much of this is due to the rise of 'girl power' in the media, through identities constructed by music artists such as Destiny's Child as well as contemporary actresses, for example who are demanding less passive film roles. He argues that our expectations of gender are flexible and culturally dependant and therefore will continue to change. He tracks these changes through different media texts, especially lifestyle magazines.
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