Category Archives: Representation

Filters

Author:
Category:
Feminist Critical Thinking, Representation, Theory

Femenist Critical Thinking

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

First wave of Feminism

In the past men were regarded greater at creating literally pieces and writings then woman were. Virginia Woolf stating that simply if women were not stereotyped and given equal opportunities to men originally, then more literacy pieces would have been made. These opportunities being not regarded as worse or beneath men and given the correct education and same rights as men.

Mary Wollstonecraft: was an English writer, philosopher, and advocate of women’s rights. She was one of the first advocate for woman’s rights and created a piece in 1792 named “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects” which is about as the name states, a moral and vindication of women’s rights.

Third wave of Feminism

Third wave feminism is different to feminism of the 1960’s. Similar, but also different. Third wave feminism tries to embrace plural identities. This is called intersectionality.

According to Barker and Jane (2016), third wave feminism, which is regarded as having begun in the mid-90’s has following recognisable characteristics:

  • 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 re-appropriation of derogatory terms such as ‘slut’ and ‘bitch’ for liberatory purposes
  • sex positivity

‘a product of the unresolved feminist sex wars – the conflict between the women’s movement and the sexual revolution‘ .

According to Ariel Levy, in her book Female Chauvinist Pigs, raunch culture is on the one hand, the idea of liberation involves new freedoms for sexual exhibition, experimentation and presentation, and on the other, it may well be playing out the same old patterns of exploitation, objectification and misogyny?

Exam Prep, Feminist Critical Thinking, Representation

Feminist Critical Thinking

Leave a comment

 Toril Moi’s (1987) distinctions of feminine, female and feminist:

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

The issue of women’s inequality has a history that pre-dates the 1960’s.

“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 1981:13)

1st wave of feminism:

  • 1848 to 1920’s
  • Suffragette and Suffragists movements.
  • women campaigned for basic rights such as an education.
  • Virginia Woolf touches upon the fact that women have less rights to such things as education, art and literature. she challenges this and asks what if men had the same restriction? Society would have missed out on people like Shakespeare. And was he really talented? or did he just have a good education?
Feminist Critical Thinking, Institution, Representation, Theory

feminism notes

Leave a comment

1st wave feminism 

‘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‘. 

2nd wave 

‘the feminist literary criticism of today is the product of the women’s movement of the 1960’s’ 

Indeed feminist critical thought became much more prominent and pronounced during the counter cultural movements of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, which heralded, among other changes: the facilitation of of birth control and divorce, the acceptance of abortion and homosexuality, the abolition of hanging and theatre censorship, and the Obscene Publications Act (1959) – which led to the Chatterly trial. Nevertheless, 

This period is often termed second wave feminism – after the first wave of feminism, which was galvanised by organisations such as, the British women’s suffrage committee (1867), international women’s committee.

In contrast, ‘at the beginning of the 1970’s the Women’s Liberation Movement set great store by the process of consciousness raising’, ‘influencing everyday conduct and attitudes.’ and ‘exposing the mechanisms of patriarchy, that is, the cultural ‘mind-set’ in men and women which perpetuated sexual inequality’ . 

3rd wave 

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. 

According to Barker and Jane (2016), third wave feminism, which is regarded as having begun in the mid-90’s has following recognisable characteristics: 

  • 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

3rd wave- Niomi Wolf:

3rd to 4th wave feminist critical thinking

The shift in critical feminist studies that reconciles exploitation against empowerment illustrates the shift in feminist thinking towards the 3rd Wave of feminist thought, see for example, groups such as Third Wave Foundation.

However, a 4th wave feminism also looked to explore these contradictory arguments and further sought to recognise and use the emancipatory tools of new social platforms to connect, share and develop new perspectives, experiences and responses to oppression, ‘tools that are allowing women to build a strong, popular, reactive movement online‘ As such, from the radical stance of #MeToo to the free the nipple campaign, which Miley Cyrus endorsed and supported (which may encourage you to re-evaluate your initial reading of her video Wrecking Ball above), the use of new media technologies has been a clear demarcation for broadening out the discussion and arguments that are played out in this line of critical thinking.

Feminist Critical Thinking, Representation, Theory

Feminist Critical Thinking

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

First Wave Feminism

First started with the Suffragettes and International Alliance of Women. Women across the world started to realise that they should have as much chances at success as men. Virginia Woolf created a fantasy character as William Shakespeare’s sister as a metaphor for this and how if William was born a female, the world would have missed out on a major part of history. Basically highlighting the fact that we also have missed out of many other crucial parts of history as women weren’t allowed to be educated and read/write. They had great potential but never used it as they were females and didn’t have the same opportunities as males.

Second Wave Feminism

Simone de Beauvoir wrote a book that came out in the 1940s containing ideas of women not being allowed to vote, and when they were able to, they were told to ‘go home and make babies’. “If you’re around long enough, you will see that every victory turns into a defeat.” There was a massive trend on twitter in 2017 called the #MeToo movement.

Singular, one-dimensional

Third Wave Feminism

Naomi Wolf- Early 1990s, is a lot more fluid in sexuality and ways women express themselves, major age difference to second wave feminism.

Intersectionality- Pluralism, multi-dimensional

Judith Butler- Gender was never there from the start, it is believed to be who you are but in reality it’s constructed based on things you like and how you act.

Notes, Representation, Research

harry styles on identity for the guardian

Leave a comment

This is Pleasing: Harry Styles sets out to ‘dispel the myth of a binary existence’

By Karen Dacre – Nov 2021

‘the mission of this venture is to “bring joyful experiences and products that excite the senses and blur the boundaries”. Styles announced that he hoped to “dispel the myth of a binary existence”.’

‘this brand is about celebrating what is already there and encouraging customers to be themselves.’

‘In July, the global beauty industry was valued at $511bn’

Notes, Representation, Theory

David Gauntlett – media & identity

Leave a comment

Fluidity of identity – an identity that has the potential to be changed and shaped frequently in many directions. 

This is often due to different representations of men and women in media and as a result people find themselves adapting and changing their identity’s in order to reciprocate said representations they are exposed to.

Constructed identity – an identity that has been built upon experiences, relationships and connections. A persons identity will differ depending on:

  • where they’ve been brought up
  • how they have been brought up 
  • who they have been brought up with 
  • their financial state and/or social class 
  • a persons faith 
  • life experience

The list if different influences is endless and each factor can also be affected by one another.

Negotiated identity – the process of which people reach an agreement of their identity and well as their relationships with other people’s identities – once the agreement is established, people are expected to remain faithful to their identity.

This establishes what people can expect from one another and therefore reinforces the inter-relations that holds relationships together.

Collective identity – cognitive and affective attained from belonging to certain groups (ethnic, gender, class, sexual orientation ect…) creating a sense of belonging to that group for the individual.

It seems that if someone begins to reciprocate certain practices of a group, such as they way they dress, their mannerisms etc, they will become part of that persons own individual identity and will develop a sense of belonging within that group. This can sometimes take over other aspects of a persons individual identity.

Traditional and Post-Traditional Media Consumption: Anthony Giddens

‘The notion of who we are is heavily determined by long-standing social forces’

Too often, people are basing their identity on what they are told is ‘right’ by surrounding influences such as institutions, media, family members, friends, religion etc, rather than how they actually want to present themselves. Although…

‘We are transitioning… to a distinctly different phase that he calls ‘late modernity’.’

meaning that certain social constructs of the past are relaxing and people are coming to realise that they have control over their identity and have the power to shape it themselves, despite what other influences tell them otherwise. However, in my opinion, as traditional conventions begin to die out, more conventions begin to appear which quickly become seemingly hard to exceed.

Reflex Identity Construction: David Gauntlett

‘audiences are now in charge of the remote control’

Whilst media attempts to influence our identities and encourage us to look and act in a certain way, it is actually up to us as consumers to decide how far we let those messages influences and therefore it is us who control how we want to look and how we want to act.

Media manufactures ‘narrow the the interpretations of certain roles or lifestyles’

Gauntlett suggests that the media does not present every aspect, good or bad, of certain identities which creates a huge issue when it comes to interpreting these representations as it can cause people to feel insecure in terms of how they perceive themselves as they begin to wonder – why doesn‘t my hair look like that? or, why does she look like that but i don’t? etc…

With regards to the power of media narratives, we can ‘borrow from these stories when shaping our narratives of the self’

He highlights a positive aspect of media, the way in which TV characters or video game characters influence they way in which we build upon our own character and often how we can become someone thing better. however, in some situations the power and influence of media narratives could be negative, depending on what type of characters you are exposing yourself to.

Feminist Critical Thinking, Representation

Wider reading

Leave a comment

Key Notes:

Judith Butler:

  • “our gendered identities are not naturally given but constructed through repetition and ritual.” – showing that this is how we act because it is a rigid stereotype given by society.
  • our bodies or sex do not define our gendered identities. – we do not have to conform to society’s demands of being masculine or feminine.
  • contemporary culture reinforces a traditional gender binary- identities that fall outside of that binary are constructed as subversive.
  • the media assists in the marginalisation of subversive identities through absent representations, abjection and parody.
  • the performance of gender trouble is a difficult, sometimes painful, process given the entrenched nature of heteronormativity.

David Gauntlet:

  • “Audiences realise they can change their identities”– David refers to Anthony Giddens’ theory who suggests “late- modernity” – where our identities are transitioning from the rigid stereotypes and starting to construct our own.
  • Audiences are in control of the media – adapting and assimilating ideas about themselves through the various representation that the media presents.” – illustrating how audiences are collectively adapting cultural norms and adapting themselves to fit in to society.
  • “Contemporary media practices mean that heteronormatitvity does not completely dominate”– showing how heterosexuality is not in complete control over society and that we are becoming a more inclusive community.
Representation

notes at home

Leave a comment

Judith Butler – describes gender as “an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts”. In other words, it is something learnt through repeated performance.

Judith creates the idea that there aren’t specific aspects or qualities that make you gender specific, but that gender is only a title . You can choose and change your gender, and that whatever you do will not change who you are and who you identify yourself as. Judith Butler writes to identify and break gender stereotypes such as football being a male sport and/or makeup being feminine.

Score – advertises the idea that if you use this hair cream you will “get what you’ve always wanted” and your attractiveness will increase. additionally it exemplifies the hair cream is a product for males and that men should be buying it. Controversially, the women seen in the alert are young and slim, wearing proposed sexualised outfits that reinforcing the idea of Laura Mulvey’s ‘male gaze’. As the advert was curated during the time of the discrimination against homosexuality, the idea of the male only attracting females by ‘using the hair cream’ would have been the only accepted result. Score is seen to focus in on the ideology of men being the dominant gender and women being the inferior. This links back to Judith Butlers notes on the representation of gender in society and the characteristics of gender as the sense of dominance and power from the male gender is clearly represented in this advert.

Maybelline – Maybelline challenges the representation of gender and goes against the stereotypes of makeup being for women alone. Manny MUA, a male is seen to be using the product, allowing for the generalisation of males enjoying makeup, to be apparent. It is counter-typical to the ‘ideal’ model who would be used in a cosmetic advert as make-up is considered typically feminine. It can be noted as a radical representation of gender and masculinity and connotates to Judith Butler’s theory of gender being ‘performative‘.

Exam Prep, Maybelline, Notes, Representation, Score

Home notes

Leave a comment

Judith Butler

Judith Butler discusses the ideas of gender representation such as gender is fluid, changeable, and plural a set of categories to be played out and performed by individual subjects in individual moments in time and space.

Identities

Lipstick Lesbian – It’s a slang word that means feminine gender attributes. Lipstick Lesbian is used to demonstrate the feminine gender expression of bisexual women.

Butch and femme – This is a term for lesbian subculture. The relationship of the lesbian community is organized principle for sexual relating that is varied over the course of the 20th century.

Girly girl – The term for this is to behave in a feminine way. This explores the range of gender positions where a girly girl is seen as fluid and partially embodied.

Representation, Identity & Self

Identity gives us the impression about the idea of knowing and understanding the self in relation to others. Judith Butler explains how women are females with feminine traits, being heterosexuals who desire is directed at men. Men are males with masculine behavioural traits, being heterosexuals. Butler argues that being born a male of female does not determine behaviour, she believes that individuals behave in different ways to fit into society. “The idea of gender is an act, or performance.” which gives us the concept that it produces a series of effects. There can be no gender identity before the gendered acts because the acts are continuously constituting the identity.

Score

Score considers its historical, social and cultural contexts, as it relates to gender roles, sexuality and the historical context of advertising techniques. The Score advert was produced in the year of decriminalisation of homosexuality and as such, the representation of heterosexuality could be read as signalling more anxiety than might first appear. Butler believes that there can be no gender identity as it can produce a series of effects. There are 5 women and one man to suggest that you will get all the females if you buy the product. They also use a lot of words that are repeatedly repeating itself. The audience responses to the narrative because it influences and manipulates the men into something different. Butler gives us the idea that gender is an act or a performance.

Maybelline

The video ad touches on issues of gender representation, ethnicity and lifestyle. The ad, like its 1960s counterpart, uses an aspirational image showing two friends who do not conform to masculine and feminine ideals but are nonetheless powerful: happy in their own skin, confident in their bodies and their sexuality. This relates to Judith Butler as she explains that being born a male of female does not determine behaviour. The whole campaign is youthful and empowering. Slogans like ‘let’s get bossed out’. After the recent demise of gay icon George Michael, several gay men had paid tribute to the singer recalling how he was a huge inspiration when they were growing up and helped make their coming out easier, furthermore Judith Butler suggests that that’s why people behave different so they fit into society.

Feminist Critical Thinking, Maybelline, Representation, Score

At Home notes

Leave a comment

Judith Butler Notes:

  • Butler states that gender is ‘performative’ and a ‘social construct.’
  • Best known for her book “Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. ” 
  • Butler says that historically we have viewed gender in a binary fashion- dividing gender into categories based on stereotypes or characteristics which cannot be changed. She believes this limits us.
  • “gender should be seen as a human attribute that shifts and changes”
  • views are complimentary to modern identities 
  • believing that gender is fluid and changeable- dependent on who we are with/situations/ different times
  • links to David Gauntlet’s theories about identities being fluid, constructed and collective.- and how cultural norms are constantly changing.
  • Butler believes gender promotes the patriarchy and suppression of feminism where we constantly compare men and women to each other.
  • ‘nobody is a gender from the start’
  • ‘no “repetitive” acts can determine who you are’

Score Notes:

The man is sat at a higher position to the women who are holding the seat at shoulder height. This could foreground the patriarchy and the negative connotation that he is more superior then the women. Which is a reactionary representation of the relationship between men and women as the patriarchy is a dominant ideology and can still be seen in present day society. In the 1960s it was typical for men to go out to work and to provide the money for his family and for the women to be stay -at -home-wives/mums who would do the cooking and cleaning because woman weren’t seen as capable of the things that men were. Men were superior and sexism was an accepted way of living. The women in the advert are seen in less clothing or clothing that has been altered to accentuate their body figure. This links with Feminist Laura Mulvey and her theory of the “Male Gaze” where women are as objects to be looked at and men are the “lookers”. They have been over-sexualised in order to help promote this product, however this has negative consequences on how women are perceived by both men and women. This also shows the link to voyeurism as this is encouraged in order to increase the sales. Furthermore this shows the growing number of men conforming to toxic masculinity and believing that by over-sexualising and objectifying women makes them masculine. It teaches women to also sexualise themselves as they believe that they will be considered attractive if they are submissive and their body is owned by the male perspective. The women are also seen as trying to ‘stroke’ the man and touch him in some sort of way. This makes him seem desired and irresistible to women which they have justified with the hair product “score”.

Maybelline:

This production is a radical representation of gender and masculinity and connotates to Judith Butler’s theory of gender being ‘performative‘ and not in a binary fashion. Gender is fluid and can change depending on many different things. The Maybelline’s advert shows this with including their first male influencer (Manny MUA) to promote this product which is counter-typical to the kind of model who would normally be used in a cosmetic advert as make-up is considered feminine and only for those who identify themselves as female. It creates a new representation of what it means to be a ‘man’ and that wearing make-up can still be masculine. As an influencer he is constructing his own identity in a positive way and helping others around him to embrace their feminine side as well as their masculine side and that having interests that would normally be considered feminine doesn’t make them less masculine.