Sexism refers to the systematic ways in which men and women are brought up to view each other antagonistically, on the assumption that the male is always superior to the female‘ (1981:13).

In the social, political and economic realm, this meant demands for equal pay, equal education, equal opportunities, free contraception and abortion, greater provision for childcare and so on

• Feminist = a political position
• Female = a matter of biology
• Feminine = a set of culturally defined characteristics

Scopophilia– taking people as objects and subjecting them to a controlling and subjective gaze‘ ie OBJECTIFICATION

Vouyerism– the sexual pleasure gained in looking

Laura Mulvey– wrote an essay ‘Visual pleasure and Narrative cinema.’ Laura says there is an imbalance between the active male and passive female.

Fetishism (‘the quality of a cut-out . . . stylised and fragmented‘), the way in which parts of the female body are presented as something to be ‘looked at’ and therefore ‘objectified‘ and ‘sexualised‘ – ‘close-ups of legs . . . or a face‘, of lips, hips, bums, tums, thighs, legs and breasts, etc. etc) which are exaggerated through cinematic conventions of ‘scale’, ‘size’, ‘focus’.

Mulvey draws on the work of Jacques Lacan (‘this mirror moment‘), highlighting the parallel between the ‘mirror stage’ of child development and the mirroring process that occurs between audience and screen – ‘a complex process of likeness and difference‘. She also, discusses the position of the audience, categorising them as spectators who project their ‘repressed desire onto the performer‘.

In movies the dominant look is always hetero, rather than homosexual in men

3rd wave feminism- charcaterised by a rebellion against Mothers.

• an emphasis on the differences among women due to race, ethnicity, class, nationality, religion
• individual and do-it-yourself (DIY) tactics
• fluid and multiple subject positions and identities
• cyberactivism
• the reappropriation of derogatory terms such as ‘slut’ and ‘bitch’ for liberatory purposes
• sex positivity

Put another, it suggests that we have multiple identities that are performed to different people, in different social settings, under different social conditions

Structural level – organisation, groups society’s

Textual level- individual images, films

Untouchable – Harvey Weinstein documentary

Laura Mulvey

• wrote an essay in 1975 called ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’
• her thesis being the role of the male gaze
• theoretical approach that suggests the role of ‘women as image, man as bearer of the look’
• active male (the one who’s looking), passive female (one who’s being looked at)
• scopophilia- sexual pleasure from watching others
• vouyerism- sexual pleasure gained in looking
• fetishism- erotic attachment to an inanimate object or an ordinarily asexual part of the human body

Jacques Lacan (the mirror moment)

• psychologist, specialised in child development
• Mulvey draws on his work on the mirror moment
• mirror stage of development, realising you’re a human being and your own person, at a young age
• Mulvey highlights the mirroring process that occurs between audience and screen ‘complex process of likeness and difference’

Raunch Culture

3rd wave of feminism characterised as a reaction to 2nd wave feminists coined by Naomi Wolf . Fighting against the Anti-sexualised narrative of 2nd wave feminists. More aware of feminist divisons, gay, straight, black, white – less blanket terms across ‘all-woman’

‘Raunch culture is the sexualised performance of women in media that can play into male stereotypes of women as highly sexually available, where its performers believe they are powerful owners of their own sexuality’ – Hendy and Stephenson

Judith Butler

• applied queer theory to Feminist Critical Thinking
• reductionist, essentialist approach towards binary oppositions, male/female, feminine/masculine, man/woman
• suggests gender is fluid, changeable, plural

An introduction towards theories of gender representation, couched in a summary of feminist critical thinking and applied to music videos, adverts and video games but equally applicable to all aspects of media, literature and cultural studies.

Feminist= a political position

Female= a matter of biology

Feminine= a set of culturally defined characteristics

1st feminist wave= suffragettes gaining the vote.

Second–wave feminism was a period of feminist activity and thought that began in the United States in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It quickly spread across the Western world, with an aim to increase equality for women by gaining more than just enfranchisement.

Critical Thinking= the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgement.

A good starting point, in terms of key concepts, is to look at the work of Laura Mulvey and specifically focus on her 1975 polemical essay: ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema‘. Central to her thesis was the role of the male gaze, a theoretical approach that suggests the role of ‘woman as image, man as bearer of the look,’ in contemporary visual media.

 ‘cinema offers a number of possible pleasures’. 

 scopophilia (‘taking people as objects and subjecting them to a controlling and subjective gaze‘ ie OBJECTIFICATION); 

vouyerism (the sexual pleasure gained in looking)

 fetishism (‘the quality of a cut-out . . . stylised and fragmented‘), the way in which parts of the female body are presented as something to be ‘looked at’ and therefore ‘objectified‘ and ‘sexualised‘ – ‘close-ups of legs . . . or a face‘, of lips, hips, bums, tongues, thighs, legs and breasts, etc. etc) which are exaggerated through cinematic conventions of ‘scale’, ‘size’, ‘focus’.

 Jacques Lacan and The Other

‘Man is reluctant to gaze at his exhibitionist like‘, thus, he must control the look, and thereby, the narrative. Made possible ‘by structuring the film around a main controlling figure with whom the spectator can identify‘. Rules and conventions of mainstream narrative cinema, that appear to follow ‘according to the principles of the ruling ideology‘. In other words, the dominant look is always hetero, rather than homosexual.

Third-wave feminism began in the early 1990s, coined by Naomi Wolf, it was a response to the generation gap between the feminist movement of the 1960’s and ’70’s, challenging and recontextualising some of the definitions of femininity that grew out of that earlier period. In particular, the third-wave sees women’s lives as intersectional, demonstrating a pluralism towards race, ethnicity, class, religion, gender and nationality when discussing feminism.

‘rebellion of younger women against what was perceived as the prescriptive, pushy and ‘sex negative’ approach of older feminists.’ 

• an emphasis on the differences among women due to race, ethnicity, class, nationality, religion
• individual and do-it-yourself (DIY) tactics
• fluid and multiple subject positions and identities
• cyberactivism
• the reappropriation of derogatory terms such as ‘slut’ and ‘bitch’ for liberatory purposes
• sex positivity

Judith Butler: Initial critical ideas that looked at the plurality of feminist thought can be found in the early work around Queer Theory. In the UK the pioneering academic presence in queer studies was the Centre for Sexual Dissedence in the English department at Sussex University, founded by Alan Sinfield and Johnathon Dollimore in 1990 (Barry: 141). In terms of applying queer theory to feminist critical thought, Judith Butler, among others expressed doubt over the reductionist, essentialist, approach towards the binary oppositions presented in terms of: male/female; feminine/masculine, man/woman. Arguing, that this is too simple and does not account for the internal differences that distinguishes different forms of gender identity, which according to Butler ‘tend to be instruments of regulatory regimes . . . normalising categories of oppressive structures‘

Reductionist: a person who analyses and describes a complex phenomenon in terms of its simple or fundamental constituents.

Essentialism is the view that every entity has a set of attributes that are necessary to its identity and function. In early Western thought, Plato’s idealism held that all things have such an “essence”—an “idea” or “form”.

some of the ideas presented by Laura Mulvey seem to suggest that gender is fixed – male/female – that it is structured by institutions and those powerful individuals who are able to exert power and control 

• feminism closely linked to sexism
• feminism is operating at an institutional level and a individual level.
• looking at not just how sexual difference was represented but who was in the positions of power to represent sexual difference.

 Laura Mulvey

• ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema‘.
• “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male passive/female.”
• fetishism =The way in which parts of the female body are presented as something to be ‘looked at’ and therefore ‘objectified‘ and ‘sexualised‘ – ‘close-ups of legs . . . or a face‘, of lips, hips, bums, tums, thighs, legs and breasts, etc. etc) which are exaggerated through cinematic conventions of ‘scale’, ‘size’, ‘focus’.
• scopophilia = pleasure in looking
• vouyerism = sexual pleasure in looking
• controlling and subjective gaze  = male gaze
• Mulvey draws on the work of Jacques Lacan

Jacques Lacan

• mirror stage = child development and the mirroring process that occurs between audience and screen – ‘a complex process of likeness and difference

• Third way feminism can be characterized by a rebellion against mums
• The third-wave sees women’s lives as intersectional, demonstrating a pluralism towards race, ethnicity, class, religion, gender and nationality when discussing feminism.
• Raunch culture is the sexualised performance of women in the media that can play into male stereotypes of women as highly sexually available, where its performers believe they are powerful owners of their own sexuality –Hendry & Stephenson

Feminism is closely linked with sexism.

Company and individuals

Sexism is defined on the assumption that men are always superior to females.

Sexual harassment is major in the media industry. Harvey Weinstine= blackmailed woman into having sex with them so that they could work with him to produce their own films.

Feminist- political , Female- biological gender, Feminine- characteristics

1960’s American civil rights movements

Ads view woman differently than men as they are often used to model however in the work place was a secretary, waitress or a cleaner.

First wave of feminism– Suffragettes (1867) – worked on getting womans rights. Woman went as far as chaining themselves to railings, protesting in streets however got punished for this by men. The were often put into prison or beaten in the streets.

Partricarchy – is he cultural mind set in men and woman about sexual inequality.

Laura Mulvey- “visual pleasure and narrative cinema” + there are more men in the film industry (more camera operators, directors…ect) There is an imbalance. ‘visual pleasure’- active in looking and woman are essentially for ‘looking at’ usually sexually. (scopophilia- is the liking of looking, example objectification) freud pschoanalytic concept.

Laura-” taking people as objects and subjecting them to a controlling and subjective gaze” ie: man gaze, vouyerism- the sexual pleasure gained in looking.

Fetishism- close ups of the female body to be presented as something to admire therefore being objectified and sexualised.( eg; lips, hips,bum,breast,thighs…)

Child development- building a sense of who we are through the Other, only ever see a reflection of ourselves. We define ourselves by others. Identity formation. A male construction of women. Cinema- woman are portrayed in a certain way which forces woman to think that how the should behave or be.

Music videos often show woman as a sexual object to please the men. In the background behind men whilst wearing small pieces of clothing (bikini, underwear) dancing erotically this is because it ‘sells’. They use woman bodies as a selling point in music videos. Eg blurred lines- men in suits , woman in underwear.

However is also used in the gaming industry, female characters movement are a lot more sexualised than the male eg; their walk- the hips are oftenly swayed drawing more attention to their butt. This is for the male gaze.

Laura Mulvey wrote her book many years ago however it is still relevant in todays world.

Dreamwolrd- codes and conventions which are taken from pornography.

Raunch Culture the 3rd wave of feminism– younger than 2nd wave feminist, more alert to race and class.(Naomi wolf) Began 1990 characteristic rebellion against their feminist mums, and a ‘sex negative’ approach towards older feminists.

They had many characteristics: sex positivity, a re-appropriation of derogatory terms (slut, bitch), fluid and multiple subject positions and identity.

Eg- wrecking ball by Miley Cyrus, they use their sexuality to make money or to feel empowered.

Eg- metoo movement, about being sexually harassed. Or free the nipple were woman want to be able to not wear a bra and not be sexualised by men.

4th wave – lipstick, butch, femme, and girly girl are all different types of feminism. Judith Butler- we are not a gender its how u construct yourself. You can change how you portray yourself, you build your own identity, eg social media.

Multicultural intersectionality- black gay females/white gay females… e.c.t…

sexism was coined by analogy with the term racism in the American civil rights movement in the early 1960s. Defined simply, sexism refers to the systematic ways in which men and women are brought up to view each other antagonistically, on the assumption that the male is always superior to the female.

Laura Mulvey – A good starting point, in terms of key concepts, is to look at the work of Laura Mulvey and specifically focus on her 1975 polemical essay: ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema‘. Central to her thesis was the role of the male gaze, a theoretical approach that suggests the role of ‘woman as image, man as bearer of the look,’ in contemporary visual media. in a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male passive/female.

• vouyerism (the sexual pleasure gained in looking)
• scopophilia (‘taking people as objects and subjecting them to a controlling and subjective gaze‘ ie OBJECTIFICATION)

Mulvey draws on the work of Jacques Lacan (‘this mirror moment‘), highlighting the parallel between the ‘mirror stage’ of child development and the mirroring process that occurs between audience and screen – ‘a complex process of likeness and difference‘.

• Feminism and sexism are closely linked
• ‘sexism was coined by analogy with the term racism in the American civil rights movement in the early 1960s. Defined simply, sexism refers to the systematic ways in which men and women are brought up to view each other antagonistically, on the assumption that the male is always superior to the female‘  – Michelene Wandor
• individual textual levels
• company levels
• how different genders are represented
• who has the power to represent gender difference
• “the camera becomes the mechanism for producing an illusion”

Laura Mulvey

• ‘Visual pleasure and narrative cinema’
• cinema is biased towards men
• split between active/male and passive/female
• scopophilia (pleasure in looking)
• controlling and subjective gaze (male)
• vouyerism (sexual pleasure in looking)
• fetishism – close ups on parts of the body which are objectified or sexualised

Sut Jhally

• a connection between the aesthetics of pornography and the codes and conventions of the music video.
• “There’s no such thing as communication that doesn’t have something behind it, that it is always constructed by someone. And I want people to be active in the construction of their own world because if you’re not active in the construction of your own world then you’re a victim of someone else’s construction. “

Third wave feminism (raunch culture)

• began in the early 90’s
• younger and newer looks at feminism compared with older generation feminism
• emphasis on the difference among women due to race, ethnicity, class, nationality, religion
• individual and DIY tactics
• fluid and multiple subject positions and identities
• cyber activism
• ‘Raunch culture is the sexualised performance of women in the media that can play into male stereotypes of women as highly sexually available, where its performers believe they are powerful owners of their own sexuality’
• the re appropriation of derogatory terms such as ‘slut’ and ‘bitch’ for liberatory purposes
• sex positivity

Essay in planner – gender as performance p1

Feminist usually links with Sexism

This operates at an institutional level (making films about women by women is hard) in positions of power

Also, a personal level, such as Weinstein making women sleep with him to produce their film etc.

1st Wave Feminism – Suffragettes in mid 1800’s – wanted vote

2nd Wave Feminism – 1970’s – the Women’s Liberation Movement – exposing mechanisms of patriarchy (Barry 2017) and conscious raising (Wandor 1981)

Laura Mulvey

‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ – about the male gaze – objectifying women in films. Imbalance of active male and passive female.

Based on Freud’s ideas of scopophilia (pleasure of looking) and voyeurism (sexual pleasure gained in looking). Also, fetishism (parts of female body that are cut up to look out such as legs).

Also draws on Jaques Lacan, children form a consciousness throughout childhood. The ‘mirror stage’ where a child understands they are a person and will never know our self but just a reflection – the Other.

Sut Jhally

Draws a connection between pornography and conventions of the music video.

Modern Feminism

Raunch Culture – 3rd Wave Feminism coined by Naomi Wolf – Early 1990’s – rebellion of younger women to older feminists due to a ‘sex negative’ approach. Also, a larger scale of race, sex and gender.

‘They are powerful owners of their own sexuality’ Hendry & Stephenson (2018:50)

4th Wave Feminism – staying connected, sharing and developing new perspectives such as #MeToo and the Free the Nipple campaign

Intersectionality – Queer Theory

Judith Butler

‘Gender as performance’ –

Van Zoonen

Bell Hook

‘Power relationships between black and white women’.

Ideas of Intersectionality intersect with other concepts, ideas and approaches.