Representation of Women

Women represented in the media

Women are represented in near enough the same way in all kinds of media, they are usually represented as the domestic worker in adverts and are sexual objects for the desires of men in films. 

For example in the film trailer 'Focus' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxCRgtdAuBo) one of the protagonists played by Margot Robbie is shown in a number of shots wearing very little clothing, having sex with men and seducing men, this is because the male director has chosen so. 

This happens in the trailer due to a theory called the 'Male Gaze', the director of the film has chosen to represent the female character this way because he believes that's the way they should be represented in his eyes, he believes women are a object that's only purpose is to satisfy men and the purpose of them in the film is to satisfy the Male audience.

A similar text that also shows women represented through the male gaze is this scene from Michael Bay's Transformers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6L3Ef1JCC8), in this scene Megan Fox is sexualised through the Mise-en-scene used, for example her revealing flimsy clothing and the camera which focuses on her body and womanly features. This has been done to appease the target audience, being male teenagers/young adults.

Other medias represent women in a similar, one media being advertising. Advertising usually relies on women's looks for example this lynx advert.

This advert relies completely on the models looks to gain the attention of the male audience it is aiming to advertise to, this and plenty of other adverts similar to it create the stereotype that this is what all women should look like, having a curved slim body. 

This creates a image for women which they feel they have to achieve as it is their representation they have to live up to. The model in the advert is being completely sexualised by the encoder of the text to appeal to the target male audience.

However advertisement also represent women in another way being the 'domestic house woman' who's purpose is to stay at home and do the cleaning up and house work. This is shown in this GTECH hoover advert (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVtb7h3Wccs) which shows only women because it is traditional that they're the ones who do the cleaning in the home. The advert is completely based around the sexualisation of the woman and relies on her looks to sell the product.

Women in the news are represented in a similar way in the News, if they are an anchor they usually have to be younger than the Male presenter and fairly good looking. This is done because it is believed that is the way women should look and the only way for them to become important is to be good looking. This is shown through all the medias I have mentioned as the media itself is what creates this image women feel they should live up to and the media is what reinforces the stereotype that Women should be domestic house wives who's soul purpose in life is to serve the dominant male sex.