Feminist theory: blog tasks

 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)?

However, it seems that at that time, being an air stewardess was not seen as a career for life; frequent references are made to finding a husband, one stewardess commenting on Laura’s magazine front cover, that ‘with a face like that you will find a husband in a couple of months’. Critical of these restrictions, like many post-feminist texts the show is aware of feminism, acknowledging the terrible sexism the women experience, and even punishing male characters who behave in a sexist way.

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

in the conclusion it says "I don’t believe we live in a time where there is no need for feminism;" this shows that they are trying to say that there is still sexism however its died down a lot and I think that are trying to say that it isn't a big deal. 

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.

Nostalgia – A sentimental longing for the past, often only remembering the positives of the time.

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.

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?

Children are taught to perform their gender from early on so that they align themselves with certain tastes and behaviours befitting their gender category.my children’s t-shirts.

My son – ‘Mummy’s little monster’– has permission to be a scallywag, to be disruptive and chaotic – monstrous,

even – and the main woman in his life will never disown him.

My daughter – ‘Dancing with my friends makes the sun shine’ – has a duty to be nothing more than agreeable, pleasant and pretty in order to make the world a better, sunnier place.

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

The phrase ‘non-binary’, referring to someone who doesn’t define themselves as either wholly male or female, is increasingly in common usage.

 And of course, audiences are more likely to be drawn to things that they recognise, that chime with their own

reality, even though those ‘realities’ are – as Butler would argue – false, socially constructed and mediated

(shaped through the media).

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

Have a look at the hashtag #everydaysexism on Twitter for numerous examples of how casually stereotypical messages about what it means to be male or female are spread and consider how far this influences how you perform your gender.

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.

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

In the video she's struggling to fix the car and it suggest the role of only men fix a car. she also cleans the floor, is hanging up clothes, cleaning plates e.g. which is a "woman's job" it shows the gender roles from the olden days.

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

That woman are good at housework and need a man for other things like fixing a car as in the video it shows that she is only good at those things .

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

I believe that shows that old gender roles suggesting that woman need men, the lyrics say "why don't you need me " suggesting that she needs and wants him. the song starts after she is seen trying to fix her car but she struggles and then the song starts maybe suggesting that she needs a man.

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

People have judged this type of dancing as feminine and would think a man is acting like a female. so people would of judged this in the past saying it doesn't fit the gender roles. However now it is normal thing for any gender to do any type of dancing. 

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

Gauntlett looked at men’s lifestyle magazines and found a new, quite different representation of masculinity (reflecting similar changes in women’s magazines as third-wave feminism took hold in the 90s). 

Importantly, he disagrees that masculinity is in crisis – a popular view in the media in recent years. This shows that he believes the gender roles are fine doesn't view the representations of men as a problem

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?

I believe that it representation of men is good and i feel like they don't get as much pressure to be masculine then they used to. Sometimes I think younger boys feel the need to act hard , getting into gangs e.g. to prove there masculinity that they aren't scared of anything however other then that i think that is is not as bad because people are less judgemental nowadays .