My argument in this essay will be based upon sexism, feminism and the standards we have to face to fit in with society and some borders we need to face as women.My first approach will be based upon how women were and are still treated with societal standards and stereotypes to fit in to. “If one is ‘woman’ that is surely not all one is; the term fails to be exhaustive,…because gender intersects with racial, class, ethnic, sexual, and regional modalities of discursively constituted identities”. She criticizes how gender crosses not only your ethnicity or the identity you choose but is depicted by the way you act as a ‘woman’ and everything you do that fits into the womanly category..

Third-wave feminism began in the early 1990s, it was a response to the generation gap between the feminist movement of the 1960’s and ’70’s, challenging and re-contextualising 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.  Barker and Jane regarded third wave feminism having following recognisable characteristics.

Societal changes to do with sexism have developed slightly since the 1960’s, women were made to cook and clean the house/ do all the housework and please the husband whilst also looking after the children. It was only around the 70’s in some places where rape in marriage became illegal. Women were abused in relationships or even whilst not and even still are, being seen as the lower less dominant sex is still a large issue, sexualised to the max and degraded even more when sexual images and videos got easier to access.

Nowadays weare still the lower sex than the male and are still sexualised maybe not as much as we once were but the vulnerability towards women still stands. There are still boundaries to what women and even girls can and can’t wear which is very sad as it isn’t helping with making a statement that we aren’t seen solely for our body and the way we are seen, it is the males problem how the see us and we should we not have to work our way around the male gaze. Abortion laws in someplaces were only made legal in 1973 and are still illegal in most places, these laws are made by men giving women no say in how they want to deal with their body, for example if they are so against killing a foetus then how would they feel if they were married but got another women pregnant, what would they say then? If men feel oppressed about being made out to look like they’re in the wrong then they should start to do more about the issue instead of women.How are women the lower sex when we are significantly as equal to men? We produce the same work, live the same lifestyle and are still treated beneath them in work industries or perhaps in general. ‘Jokes’ that boys make towards girls isn’t a step forward to equality, in fact it is another step backwards, thinking that is the right way to inform us they are higher up in the system is in every way possible wrong.

Laura Mulvey says “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female…In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-less” this is linking to the fact men see women as objects, not all but overall this is how we are progressively seen being the in dominant sex. Sexual attraction is equal to men and women but typically it is men that take that attraction to objectifying us as something they can use for their own pleasure.

The advert ‘score’ where there are females surrounding a man in the jungle in little tops and mini skirts with soft looking legs relates to Laura Mulvey’s ‘the male gaze’ ; this is not showing fluid identity as their identities are fixed, man is seen as a man and the women are seen as women.In the Maybelline advert fluid identity is shown as there are people of color shown and a range of sexuality. There is no fixed identity, it is fluid.

Relating to my arguments, I think that the way the media has portrayed women throughout time is extremely wrong, sexualised from teenage years and treated wrongly is not how women should be treated through the media, affecting lifestyles and creating a view of how they should act and be seen. Feminism should not be frowned upon for sticking up for what is right even if it is contradictory to what society says is right or wrong, there is no wrong in trying to make a change for what should be right.Finalizing my thoughts, more should be done to stop this way of how women are perceived and treated creating stability between both men and women.

1. Keith Rupert Murdoch born 11 March 1931
2.  English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. 
3. Born in Melbourne, Victoria Australia.
4. Worth:  $17.1 billion.
5. Murdoch found a political ally in Sir John McEwen, leader of the Australian Country Party 
6. In 1968, Murdoch entered the British newspaper market with his acquisition of the populist News of the World, followed in 1969 with the purchase of the struggling daily The Sun from IPC
7. In 1981, Murdoch acquired the struggling Times and Sunday Times from Canadian newspaper publisher Lord Thomson of Fleet.
8. In the light of success and expansion at The Sun the owners believed that Murdoch could turn the papers around. Harold Evans, editor of the Sunday Times from 1967, was switched to the daily Times, though he stayed only a year amid editorial conflict with Murdoch.
9. Murdoch bought the newspaper, ‘News of the World of London’, in 1968
10. Murdoch became a US Citizen in 1985 in order to be able to expand his market to US television broadcasting.
11. 1980s, Murdoch formed a close alliance with Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
12.  February 1981, when Murdoch, already owner of The Sun and The News of the World, sought to buy The Times and The Sunday Times
13. In the general elections of 1997, 2001 and 2005, Murdoch’s papers were either neutral or supported Labour under Tony Blair
14. In July 2011, Murdoch, along with his youngest son James, provided testimony before a British parliamentary committee regarding phone hacking. In the UK, his media empire came under fire, as investigators probed reports of 2011 phone hacking.
15. On 15 July, Murdoch attended a private meeting in London with the family of Milly Dowler, where he personally apologized for the hacking of their murdered daughter’s voicemail by a company he owns.
16. 16 and 17 July, News International published two full-page apologies in many of Britain’s national newspapers. The first apology took the form of a letter, signed by Murdoch, in which he said sorry for the “serious wrongdoing” that occurred. The second was titled “Putting right what’s gone wrong”, and gave more detail about the steps News International was taking to address the public’s concerns.
17.  Murdoch accepted the resignations of Rebekah Brooks, head of Murdoch’s British operations, and Les Hinton, head of Dow Jones who was chairman of Murdoch’s British newspaper division when some of the abuses happened. They both deny any knowledge of any wrongdoing under their command.
18. On 27 February 2012, the day after the first issue of The Sun on Sunday was published, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers informed the Leveson Inquiry that police are investigating a “network of corrupt officials” as part of their inquiries into phone hacking and police corruption. She said that evidence suggested a “culture of illegal payments” at The Sun and that these payments allegedly made by The Sun were authorised at a senior level.
19. In testimony on 25 April, Murdoch did not deny the quote attributed to him by his former editor of The Sunday Times.
20.  1 May 2012, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee issued a report stating that Murdoch was “not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company”.
21. On 3 July 2013, the Exaro website and Channel 4 News broke the story of a secret recording. This was recorded by The Sun journalists, and in it Murdoch can be heard telling them that the whole investigation was one big fuss over nothing, and that he, or his successors, would take care of any journalists who went to prison.^[97] He said: “Why are the police behaving in this way? It’s the biggest inquiry ever, over next to nothing.”
22. Murdoch’s downfall beings
23. Murdoch is played by Malcolm McDowell in the 2019 film Bombshell.
24. Murdoch stuck up for Roger during his allegations.
25. Women working at fox go against Murdoch, Female employees at Fox News were quick to controvert Murdoch. “I have had to put up with a hostile work environment for years, and now I’m told that it doesn’t exist by a man who doesn’t have to walk these halls every day? I’m hungry for justice,”

Question: Judith Butler describes gender as “an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts”. In other words, it is something learnt through repeated performance. How useful is this idea in understanding gender is represented in both the Score and Maybelline advertising campaigns?

Judith Butler presents gender with many different ideas, claiming that it is “an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts”.

In this essay I am going to make a few arguments based on Butlers idea of gender by linking to ideas such as gender as performance and waves of feminism. Also, in this essay I am going to be using Score and Maybelline to help defend my argument.

Butler suggests that gender is not fixed and presented through a stylized repetition of acts. “An identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts”. (e.g someone sitting in a certain way to present their gender.) This suggestion can be seen in the 1967 ‘Score’ advert when the male surrounded by woman is sitting in a masculine like position which was very common during these time periods where men would be seen as more dominant and empowering than woman. This links to the idea of the ‘male gaze’ which is the act of depicting women and the world, in the visual arts and in literature, from a masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the heterosexual male viewer. As shown in the ‘Score’ advert the male actor is shown to be dominant and above all the woman which gives the idea that men were seen as better and more powerful than woman during the 1960s time period. “Our genders are culturally rather naturally formed.” As stated by Judith Butler she believes peoples genders aren’t confirmed on the date of our birth but are more identified when you find yourself and feel confident with the way you are. This quotation links to the ‘Maybelline’ advert where a male actor is shown promoting ‘female’ products (make-up) which is stereotypically meant for females. This proves how society has changed massively throughout the years about their ideas of gender representation.

In the time period of the ‘Score’ advert the second wave of feminism took place. During this time the feminist movement was focused on issues of equality and discrimination which was a big problem in the 60s and 70s. “Masculine and feminine roles are not biologically fixed but socially constructed.” As Butler stated the roles for woman and men have been constructed through society instead of biologically (e.g a job such as a construction worker which is usually a job for men). Some people may be affected by this idea because they may believe they have to do the role their gender typically does.

In the ‘Score’ advert the male actor is seen to be as more dominant by being above all the woman and having all of them trying to touch him. The idea that is supposed to be given from this advert is that if you use the ‘Score Liquid Hair Gel’ you will attract any woman and live a luxury life. This is shown through the clothing the actors are wearing representing a safari like experience with the fake plants in the background to create an effect on the viewer. Also, the actor seems to be sitting in a typical male posture which links to Butlers idea of gender being an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts.

Similar to the ‘Maybelline’ advert, Harry Styles has recently released his own cosmetic line named ‘Pleasing’. “Starting the brand with beauty felt exciting because creating great products is a unique way to make people feel good.” Shown here is a representation of breaking the social construct of gender and the stereotype that only woman wear makeup. “Bring joyful experiences and products… and dispel the myth of a binary existence.” With Harry releasing his new beauty products it is clear to see that he is trying to break the social construct of gender and the stereotypes of men and woman.

To conclude, the development of feminism has been presented in both CSP 3 and CSP 4, for example in the Score CSP the male seems to be more dominant over the woman. However in Maybelline CSP we can see the development of equality and feminism over the years through the male actor who is comfortable enough to wear makeup which wasn’t a thing in the earlier advertisement days.

As a way of linking some of the ideas that we covered in terms of Feminist Critical Thinking towards the 4th KEY CONCEPTUAL AREA OF A LEVEL MEDIA STUDIES: INSTITUTION, let’s look at Bombshell.

The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative-cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owned by the Fox Corporation.

Roger Eugene Ailes (May 15, 1940 – May 18, 2017) was an American television executive and media consultant. He was the chairman and CEO of Fox News, Fox Television Stations and 20th Television.

Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors.

After co-moderating the 2016 Republican debate, Megyn Kelly faces numerous insults from Donald Trump, who is upset because she asked him about his offensive comments toward women. Under pressure from the network, and after receiving death threats and unwanted paparazzi attention, Kelly eventually reconciles with Trump.

Meanwhile, Gretchen Carlson is removed as co-anchor of the popular Fox and Friends show, and is transferred to a less popular show. Inundated by sexist comments on and off the air, including by Roger Ailes, Carlson meets with lawyers, Nancy Smith and Neil Mullin, who explain that Carlson’s contract prevents her from suing the network, but she can sue Ailes personally.

On her first day on The O’Reilly Factor, Kayla Pospisil meets fellow staffer Jess Carr, and the two sleep together. The next day, Ailes begins sexually harassing Pospisil. Pospisil begins to tell Carr about what happened, but Carr interrupts, saying she cannot get involved.

Carlson is later fired, ostensibly for her on-air support of the federal assault weapons ban, and decides to sue Ailes. When the news breaks the next day, Ailes denies the allegations and Kelly admits to her core team Ailes sexually harassed her when she started at Fox. In the following weeks, despite a number of other women voicing their public support against Ailes, Kelly conspicuously refuses to make a comment on Carlson’s accusations.

• RUPERT MURCOCH
• Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
• Birthdate: 11 March 1931 
• Education: Worchester College, Oxford
• He has 6 children including Prudence, Elisabeth, Lachlan and James
• MEDIA EMPIRE
• became a media tycoon
• Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has unveiled plans to launch a new UK television station and will bring Piers Morgan back to the screens as a presenter, threatening to further disrupt the rapidly shifting broadcasting sector.
• Murdoch’s media empire includes Fox News, Fox Sports, the Fox Network, The Wall Street Journal, and HarperCollins.
• In 1981, Murdoch bought The Times, his first British broadsheet, and, in 1985, became a naturalized US citizen, giving up his Australian citizenship, to satisfy the legal requirement for US television network ownership.
• He won the companion of the Order or Australia in 1984
• Worth:  $17.1 billion.
• In 2015, 21st Century Fox announced that Murdoch would be handing off new leadership roles to his two sons, James and Lachlan, keeping the company in the family. Lachlan, 48, now holds the role of co-chairman of News Corp and executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation
• Fox corporation is owned by the Murdoch family via a family trust with 39.6% ownership share; Rupert Murdoch is chairman, while his son Lachlan Murdoch is executive chairman and CEO