Van Zoonens theory of patriarchy Patriarchy definition A

Van Zoonen’s theory of patriarchy

Patriarchy definition • A society where men have authority, and women are treated as more inferior

Feminism • The belief that there should be equality between the genders

Socialisation • The process of learning about society • 2 forms: - Primary: learning at home - Secondary: learning outside of home eg school, scouts, etc.

Performative • When something is a performance/language acted through a performance. • Judith Butler says gender is performative, it’s based on what we do, not what we are.

Suggestions of Van Zoonen’s theory • Feminist theory argues that patriarchal ownership and control of mass media caused the objectification of women. Therefore the gender socialisation creates inequality and gender becomes performative. The cycle continues

Van Zoonen’s theory of patriarchy • Van Zoonen argues that gender is performative • Patriarchal society controls media content • Women=objects, men=spectacle • All adds to socialisation, therefore vicious cycle

Criticisms of Zoonen’s theory of patriarchy • Could be outdated – was initially published in 1994

The Guardian • David Pemsel runs the Guardian and is CEO. Scott Trust ltd own the Guardian which is run by David Skipwith • Male gender dominates.

The Guardian’s 10 stories analysis • Out of the 10 random stories’ authors, 7 were male and 3 were female. • In relation to content – majority of sports articles were written by men, whereas opinion articles were much more diverse, some articles had several authors consisting of both males and females. • Also for men’s football, huge majority of article authors were male whereas for women’s football, majority of article authors were female. • One particular representation created by Guardian columnist Matthew Taylor in his article about ‘Climate anxiety’ is a representation of fear or long-term worry stemmed from climate change and its feared impacts, and represents young people as long-term thinkers and prepared.

Daily Mail’s 10 stories analysis • Political news largely covered by male authors – eg ‘Carrie vs Cummings’ written by Simon Walters, although not much political news is actually present on the website at the time of writing, perhaps contributing to the reason for majority male authors. • Other types of news such as the ‘Femail’ section of news is predominantly written by female authors, such as Dinah van Tulleken who wrote an article about seasonal fashion, although the first and biggest story was written by a man – Dr Daniel Levitin; evidence of patriarchy because a man is leading a female-centric sector. • The representations created by the Femail section are representations of a lack of seriousness – the entire section, which consists of less serious, more gossip-type news, implies women are less interested in serious, important news and this reduces their credibility unjustly in terms of journalists and readers alike

Van Zoonen’s theory in relation to the Daily Mail front page • I believe this front page subverts Van Zoonen’s theory because Boris’ partner, Carrie Symonds, is pictured beside him or actually slightly in front of him, which represents her as powerful and independent – therefore subverting Van Zoonen’s theory of patriarchy. • However, this image may have been used to construct a reality of Boris being a ‘gentleman’ or a relatable family man, which reflects the Daily Mail’s political allegiance (pro-Tory) who may be trying to paint Boris as respectful and as feminist as possible

Van Zoonen’s theory in relation to the Guardian front page • In the main image, the women are positioned behind the men, and Boris is surrounded only by men, creating connotations such as Boris’ inner circle is largely male. • The women’s position behind the men reflects Van Zoonen’s theory because the image implies they’ve been pushed to the back of the crowd and have had their opportunities to talk to Boris have been limited/prevented – this reflects Van Zoonen’s theory of society, which is constructed by men and positions of power are dominated by men