The Male Gaze

The “Male gaze” is the act of representing women and the world in an appealing way to heterosexual men.

Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist and was the person who coined the term

John Berger is known for his essay “Ways of seeing”, which had many feminist views based around the male gaze.

TOMB RAIDER

Lara Croft as the front cover can be seen as a radical , because she is seen with guns in her hand and fighting monsters as showcased in the game at the back. Which is not s

• Sign – a gesture or action used to convey information or an instruction.
• Code – Tools that use signs to create meaning.
• Convention – Media code that is accepted.
• Dominant Signifier – The main thing.
• Anchorage – An image posted with something else to provide context.

• Signifier – Stands in for another thing.
• Signified – The idea that has been created by the signifier.

• Icon – Looks like the object its referring to
• Index – Links to the object its referring to
• Symbol – A sign that has a random meaning and doesn’t have context

• Signification – Levels of meaning, signification or representation
• Denotation – The most basic or literal meaning of a item or sign
• Connotation –  The other or secondary meaning for a sign
• Myth – A changed or distorted meaning of signification.
• Ideology – Pieces and signs that reinforce powerful structures.
• Radical – Something that goes against and challenges dominant, typical ideas.
• Reactionary – Something that goes with and agrees with dominant, typical ideas.
• Paradigm – A collection of items relating to a thing
• Syntagm – How signs and things are put together and fitted together.

• 

Achieving your Dream

By Roisin Mcgranahan

backstory

I did an interview with John Mcgranahan who has achieved his dreams and aspirations in life. I have asked some questions on how he has managed to do this. “When i was 7 or 8 my gran used to go to the auctions and buy old broken radios, speakers, tape recorders and electronic devices and she used to bring them back to her house and when I visited she asked me to fix them” so how did you progress from fixing radios in your grans house to achieving your dream as an electrician “when I was 15 I went to a open day at a technical college and sat a test to become a quantity surveyor with one of the companies that were exhibiting i was successful in the test and then again in the interview process, the company wrote to me and offered me a opportunity to become a qs i was due to start college but i actually wanted to become a electrician so i went and asked the vice principle for advice he then directed me to the electrical section of the collage to speak to the head of the technical department” so what happened next “i then sat a test to become a electrical apprentice and passed i then sat through a interview process and was given a placement with a electrical contactor” what motivated you to keep going to the point where you own your own business “it was easy for me i loved the job i was doing because it was just a job it was my hobby” did you have any hardships or obstacles during the way which could have thrown you off and how did you get through them “my only hardship was that i was paid off at the end of my apprenticeship and it was difficult to find work at the time but i wasn’t the type of person to not work so i left scotland and moved to london to find work the same week” was it difficult following through with your dream “ it wasn’t because it was the only job i knew how to do and i was good at it because i was interested in it i wanted to know every single aspect of the job from where it came from to how it got to the end user” how did you progress from that to working for yourself “ i was very independent and didn’t really like being told what to do so i decided that working fir myself was the best way to achieve my goals” 

Now life

was owning a your own business what you always wanted to do “yes by the time i was 21 i was running jobs large contracts telling 15-20 electricians what to do all people who were older and experienced but i was very confident” what would be your advice to anyone who also wanted to follow their dreams “failure is the key to success you learn more from your mistakes and your failures than you do your successes” was it difficult “i worked for myself 3 times the first 2 times the business failed because of my lack of experiences and business acumen the 3rd time i was 30 and more experienced and used the experience of my last 2 failures to not make the same mistakes again:” what would you say motivated you “it comes from inside i was very independent and didn’t want to give up and had a burning desire to achieve what i wanted in life” now that have achieved your dreams do you feel fulfilled “no i still have a desire to leave a legacy and i don’t think that you ever truly feel like you have achieved success i think people who think they have achieved success is only setting themself up for failure you have to have the desire to keep going , strategizing , expanding and always reaching for the stars but never quite being able to grasp them” do you will ever fully feel fulfilled after your business “ no i dont think ill ever fully feel fulfilled because i still love what i do and its still my hobby i would do it even if i didn’t get paid for it “

advice?

do you think it’s important for people to fully love what they are doing “ i think you have to enjoy the work you do otherwise it feels like a chore if you enjoy your work it’s not a job it’s just getting paid to do something you like” what is the most important reason you think has made you achieve this dream “ i think because i loved what i was doing and was so enthusiastic about it that other people wanted me to do their jobs they could feel the enthusiasm and when your working with people you want them to feel like your happy to be there and wanting to do the job” 

index-A sign with a link to its object

icon– a sign which looks like its object

symbol– a sign with a more random link to its object

Semiotics

sign– something that stands in for something else

code– symbolic tools that are used to create meaning

dominant signifier– the main representative

anchorage– words that have an image to give context

Ferdinand De Saussure

signified– an idea which is summoned by the signifier

signifier– something which stands in for something else

Roland Barthes

Myth– the most apparent quantity of signification which disfigures the meaning by validating arbitrary cultural assumptions in a similar way to the denotative sign.

Radical– something which challenges dominant ideas.

Reactionary– dominant ideas which are confirmed by something

ideology– the reinforcement of codes which are congruent with structures of power

denotation– literal or basic meaning of a signconnotation– the secondary cultural meaning of signs or “signifying signs,” which are then used as the signifiers for a secondary meaning.

Semiotics 

Sign – Stands in for something else 

Code – Symbolic tools used to create meaning 

Convention – Accepted ways of using media code 

Dominant Signifier – The main representative 

Anchorage – Words with an image to provide context 

Ferdinand de Saussure 

Signifier – Stands in for something else 

Signified – Idea being evoked by signifier 

C S Pierce 

Icon – A sign that looks like its object 

Index – A sign that has a link to its object 

Symbol – A sign that has a more random link to its object 

Roland Barthes 

Myth– the most apparent quantity of signification which disfigures the meaning by validating arbitrary cultural assumptions in a similar way to the denotative sign. 

Radical– something which challenges dominant ideas. 

Reactionary– dominant ideas which are confirmed by something 

Ideology– the reinforcement of codes which are congruent with structures of power 

Denotation– literal or basic meaning of a sign 

Connotation– the secondary cultural meaning of signs or “signifying signs,” which are then used as the signifiers for a secondary meaning.