Feminist theory's

 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)?

-beyonce music video 'why dont you love me'

-PanAn

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

These texts show little feminism as they highly sexualise women.I believe they are simply sexism due to them exploiting womens bodys.

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

Post-feminism is a 1990s-era, primarily Western, cultural sensibility suggesting that the goals of feminist equality have already been achieved, rendering organized, second-wave feminist movements unnecessary

Feminism is a range of social and political movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and achieving equal political, economic, personal, and social rights for women.

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?

Clothing and colours such as blue and pink.

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

It refers to people who do nit identify as any gender such as boy or girl.This links to his theory because it subverts his ideology of that there is male and female binary states

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

-biased opinions from people

-not enough regulation so people can put any remarks online

-opinion leaders 

-influence

Music video analysis

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

Beyonce displays female gender roles as she makes an audience believe that women are supposed to be seen as 'sexy icons' in revealling clothes

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

-sexualised clothing wich makes her stand out in a positive/negative way

-she is able to cook/clean which makes her seem inderpendent

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

She reinforces traditional gender stereotypes due to the way she is dressed.This is because she portrays to her audience that you need to look 'sexy' in order to be loved 

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

Men can still be men without being masculine however the pressure of masiculity has not changed and is still heavy on men

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

He believes that masculinity is not in crisis 

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 men are still highly under pressure in masculinity.This is because they have moved away from traditional masculine norms which makes them be criticised by people in society.Furthermore there is a massive burden on men for being masculine which makes them act differently due to lack of support.