Representation of Women

 

Foster The People : Supermodel

The cover art for Foster The People’s 2^nd album features a female being sick. The title of the album ‘Supermodel’ implies that the woman has some form of supermodel status, playing to the stereotype that many women aspire to be supermodels and have that ‘supermodel look.

The appearance of the female, while it may be drawn, she still remains feminine, wearing a dress and having long curly hair, which again plays to the typical stereotype of what a woman should ‘look’ like. The action of the woman in the image however, contrasts with the ideology and stereotype of a how a woman should behave, as she is being sick, in public. This is shown through the cameras taking photographs. Being sick in public can have connotations of drunkenness and overindulging in alcohol, therefore leading to being sick in public. Stereotypically, this contrasts with the ideology and stereotype of how a woman should behave, as it is not pleasant or pretty.

The cover art also suggests that women are worth something, despite their flaws and not complying with the stereotype, because she is positioned on top of gold, showing that she is above gold in terms of worth. Also the fact that she is being held up by hands implies that she is physically worth something to someone and they are prepared to hold her, because of her worth.

The Preferred reading here would be to see beyond the ‘supermodel’ status and see the woman, not as an object that needs to be photographed but as an individual who does not have a monetary value, because she is worth more than the gold, therefore cannot be priced or categorised. Also, women should not have the social pressures (which are depicted by the cameras) placed upon them, as it is the cause of the negative effects, whereby she is vomiting a poem. The poem also insinuates that only once the negative effects of the social pressure have been noticed (ie, her being sick) will people begin to identify the treatment of woman and how she is viewed as wrong or faulty.

The Oppositional view may be that vomiting of the poem in front of the cameras also suggest that women are not strong, and that they are weak and buckle and fail under the pressure of the modern society where there is a desire to have ‘the look’ and be ‘perfect’. The constructionist view may also be that women are still objectified here, as they are on top of gold and are held by hands, implying that they can be controlled and handled like objects.

The negotiated reading maybe that women do feel social pressures to fill the desired characteristics, which is shown through the cameras, yet this does not always cause extreme affects, such as being sick, either physically or mentally. Also the fact that a woman is situated on top of gold may show how she ranks above gold in terms of value, however the fact she is situated in hands shows she is no more than an object and is therefore objectified.

 

Foster the People : Best Friend Video

 

Here the video features the 'Supermodel' depicted in the album art, yet this supermodel represents women to be fashion 'junkies. Throughout the video pills and drugs are shown and featured, which the model consumes, however as the video develops, the model starts consuming other models in order to satisfy her need to be and look 'perfect' and alters her look.

The preferred reading that the encoders intended is that women, while they may be fashion junkies, do not need to look 'perfect' because having all the stereotypically beautiful characteristics makes the model look almost alien like and rather ugly. Therefore presenting women to be attractive the way they are.

The negotiated reading the audience may have could be that while women may strive to have the 'look' which is shown through the gym workouts and consumption of models may be true within society, it certainly does not completely consume the life a woman. The model in the video is so consumed by the idea of perfection that she physically makes herself sick, vomiting up the dress which has the poem written on it (The poem which is vomited up by the supermodel in the Cover Art) While audiences may accept the desire women have for the 'look' they may reject the extremes to which people will go to, in order to achieve it, eg physically reconstructing themselves, or making themselves ill.

The oppositional view is that all women are not just driven by looks and to be admired. The predominant occupation of the women in this video is being a model, and when they are not modelling they are being admired (such as in the club where Mark Pontius is talking to her and staring at her legs. This represents women as only wanting to be successful in their beauty, whereby the world of fashion notices them or men. This completely avoids the intellectual aspect or any other qualities, desires of need women may possess.

The Breakfast Club

This classic 80's film displays the archetype of women being either pretty and posh, or crazy and hostile. Claire's character 'The Princess' portrays women as being objects to be admired, like a real princess. This implies that she's popular and admired, almost objectified by others as something pretty to look at. This differs from Ally's character of 'The Basket Case', presenting women as dark and morbid, which is connoted from the colour of her clothes, and a social recluse and somewhat hostile, which is connoted from her hair that covers her eyes and a fair portion of her face.

The preferred reading of this would be that women and their personalities differs greatly and no two women are the dame, this is shown by the fact that the only other women in this film are briefly introduced as parents and the rest are mentioned in speech, but we never meet them.

The negotiated reading would be that while this film displays the differences between women and show that no two women are the same it also shows that women can only be two things. Either objectified by society, like Claire, who is seemingly like and admired by everyone, or a social outcast like Ally, who is shunned somewhat by the school society. It does not display a middle ground of these two, it merely displays polar opposites.

The oppositional view would be that women should not have to change themselves in order to 'fit in' like Ally does, under the influence of Claire. She changes from wearing dark cloths to wearing her hair out of her eyes and light colours, this transformation leads her to 'getting the guy' Andy. The oppositional view would be that her appearance should not make  difference as to if someone likes her or not, as she is still the same person, just looks different, therefore provoking the audience to question why changing her appearance should matter when people are making judgements about her and her character.