Feminism Role Models List as many role models

Feminism

Role Models • List as many role models in the media, as you can. • Be prepared to say why they are a good role model and how they are represented in the media. • Finally, why do you think they are represented in the media this way?

Feminism • The belief that women should have equal rights to men. • The feminist movement fights for rights and opportunities. • Feminists seek to challenge the unfair and unequal distribution of power and wealth in patriarchal society; based on male rule and domination. • SO… Feminists are particularly interested in the contribution made by the media to society’s dominant ideas about gender roles.

Feminism and Media • In the 1960 s feminists began to identify the limited representations of women in the media. They argued that social divisions benefitted men, and this imbalance was reinforced in the media representations of women. • The mass media play a crucial role in socialisation, in teaching us how to behave and think in ways that our culture finds acceptable. • Can you think of some examples?

Feminism • Feminists have campaigned to erode the stereotypes. • Discuss in pairs • Are feminists responsible for the stereotype changing from one extreme to the other?

Feminism • Compare these websites, how are women represented? • • Glamourmagazine. co. uk Feministing. com Thefword. org. uk Dailymail. co. uk/femail • 10 minute activity

Feminism Theory • Laura Mulvey (1975) • She argued women are represented in a way that emphases their sexuality and physical appearance. • 3 common trends in Hollywood films: • 1. Men controlled the action and were responsible for driving the narrative. • 2. Women are represented as passive objects for the ‘male gaze’. • 3. The pleasure of viewing comes from voyeurism and scopophilia (people as objects) • In pairs, choose a film and explain how this theory is demonstrated

Feminism Theory • Naomi Wolf (1991) argued that women are oppressed by the pressure to fit into a myth or false ideal. Beauty Myth • Andrea Levy (2005) argues that women are encouraged to see themselves as objects and to see sex as their only source of power. Raunch Culture • Feminists are concerned with the way these behaviours are reinforced in the media.

Criticisms of Feminism • Many films do not support Mulvey’s idea of a passive heroine. • However the female lead is still a glamorous actress, who is sexually appealing to men. The camera encourages the audience to view the women in a voyeuristic way. • Lots of programmes such as soaps, are centred around ‘women’s issues’. Females drive the narrative forward so are central to the plot. • Gammon and Marshment (1988) suggested a ‘female gaze’, that men are objects for women. They suggested that women engage critically with texts and so they’re not a passive audience either!

Post-Feminism • Due to the changes in opportunities for women in society, many argue that feminism is no longer relevant! • Many media texts take a playful and irreverent attitude to the traditional gender divisions of the past (texts make fun of it).

Post-Feminism • Celebrates the diversity of identity available to women. • Positive endorsement of consumerism. • Sometimes seen as ‘anti feminism’. • If women know that femininity is a construct, then they can play with its signs, symbols and identities from a position of power. Meaning signifiers such as high heels/lipstick/designer clothes can be shifted from powerless to powerful.

Post-Feminism • Angela Mc. Robbie (1991) argued that there were some positive aspects to the representation of women in the media; women's magazines could be seen to empower young women in how to enjoy sex or learning about their bodies. • (2008) She also argued that women give consent to the media and allow the negative representations to prevail; girls entering competitions to appear on the front of lads’ mags, or makeover programmes where females willingly give consent to others being critical of their appearance. • Do you see any links with Marxist Theory?

Post-Feminism • “…Advertisers have now realised that audiences will only laugh at images of the pretty housewife, and have reacted by showing women how to be sexy at work instead. ” David Gauntlett (2002) • Is there a new problem?

Feminism • Look back at the findings of the research into these websites, which theories are supported? • • Glamourmagazine. co. uk Feministing. com Thefword. org. uk Dailymail. co. uk/femail • Also consider… • What other theories/ideas support or oppose feminist beliefs that the media is reinforcing behaviours to women?

Feminism: Key Points • Feminists are interested in the contribution made by the media to society’s dominant ideas about gender roles. • The Mass Media can influence how we think, and reinforces ideologies behaviour to women. • There is an imbalance in the representation or misrepresentation of gender in the media; ‘male v female gaze’; manufactured consent; • By campaigning for stereotypes to change, new problems are created as there is still a dominant ideology! • Post-feminism suggests that traditional stereotypes (that have been seen as negative) can now be seen as positive and empowering. • Key criticism: There are many positive representations • Theorists: Mulvey, Levy, Mc. Robbie, Wolf, Gammon & Marshment.