MS3 MEDIA STUDIES COURSEWORK: ESSAY: REPRESENTATIONS OF WOMEN IN THE MEDIA.
The media commonly represents women, in a underrepresented way. It is believed that They are most commonly positioned in magazines, for the pure reason of being looked at. ‘’the male gaze’ has become something of a feminist cliché for referring to the voyeuristic way in which men look at women (Evans & Gamman 1995, 13)’#. The male gaze means that the content shown appeals to the male eye, drawing them into the types of media that express this; such as the females on the over of ‘Women’s fitness’. Not one of the females are stereotypically ‘ugly’ and they all sport similar appearance features. These are iconic features such as: Slim build, toned, smiley, hour glass shape, and so on.
‘To gaze implies more than to look at- it signifies a psychological relationship of power, in which the gazer is superior to the object of the gaze’- #Jonathon Schroeder . This suggests that women are in fact ‘objectified’ in the media, putting them in the hands of many onlookers. ‘In some well known studies Hess found that pupil dialation can also be a reflection of sexual attraction, and that photographs of female models in which the pupils had been artificially enlarged elicited unconscious pupil enlargement from male viewers’#. Women are forced, injected by the media with a whole host of ideologies on what true beauty is and what it means to be beautiful. We are forced to accept this as a ‘norm’ in society, however it doesn’t mean that this is the correct way to approach body image.
‘The traditional view of a woman as a housewife or low status worker has been kick-boxed out of the picture by feisty, successful ‘girl power’ icons’#. David Gauntlett suggests that a new image of women is coming into power, women are not only there to be ‘looked at’ anymore, they have more power in our industrial-modern society. ‘Although gender categories have not been shattered, these alternative ideas and images have at least created space for a greater diversity of identities’#, gauntlet proceeds with. Women’s fitness demonstrates this ‘girl power’ attitude that Gauntlet refers to. The article for hangover cures demonstrates the power that women portray today. This is through the use of the imperative phrase ‘Beat that hangover!’. It gives women the power and courage they need. The choice of words go against the elegant stereotype of women traditionally, almost masculinising them, merging/ challenging gender expectations; Juxtaposing the expectations of women.
The text anthropomorphises with the audience when the sub title of an article referes to ‘kicking hangovers to the kerb’. David Gauntlet states ‘girl power, a phrase slapped into mainstream culture by the Spice girls and subsequently incorporated into the language of the government bodies…’#. The media has changed to show a feminist perspective; displaying women in a ’feistier’ and places a more stern and aggressive tone. This hints at women no longer hiding in the back, but taking control to a degree. ‘Magazines for young women are empathic in their determination that women must do their own thing’#. This demonstrates the independency culture that women are progressing too, being represented as ‘strong and independent’ in recent media. This could have happened because ‘the mass media has become more liberal, and considerably more challenging to traditional standards’#. The media, as part of secondary socialisation, is believed to play a large role in influencing society. Women are being accepted as more powerful nowadays, thereby challenging the traditional more submissive and timid role of a female.
Women are told how to be ‘beautiful’; and what is acceptable. ‘The media disseminates a huge number of messages about identity and acceptable forms of self expression, gender, sexuality, and lifestyle’#. The article in Womens fitness mag captions an image ‘Get a hot bikini body’#, with an image of a slim, toned womens body as the illustration. This suggests that this is the ideal body that women are programmed to have in the media. This body type is a message that the media broadcasts as ‘acceptable’ in terms of beauty and sexualisation. ‘The medias suggestion may be seductive, but can never simple overpower contrary feelings in the audience’#. Gauntlet states that women’s bodies in the media can be used as a seductive device, however this doesn’t overthrow existing expectations of body image.
Role models play an important part in the media. In women’s fitness magazine, the women who read this are forced to look up to people such as ‘celebrities’ for their advice. This shows their high reliance on what’s trending and the ‘mainstream’ voices in the media at the moment. An example of this is the article ‘Judy Murrays top tennis tips and drills’#. Judy is a professional well known tennis player . In order for women to be encouraged to keep fit and active, motivational tactics are put in place such as featured stars. ‘…expect role models to have an impact on individuals…role models serve as navigation points as individuals steer their own personal routes through life’#. Gauntlet suggests that people seek people to inspire them according to gender. Commonly females will seek out higher status females for advice, thereby the media feeds people with gender appropriate content. Another title of which shows an example of role modelling is ‘Naomi Watts: how to get a body like her’. This shows how women are represented as passive in the media, in the sense that they aspire to be like others/ celebrities shown.
‘It is impossible to say that womens magazines, for example, always carry a particular message, because the enormous range of titles target an equal diverse set of female audiences’. Women are represented in a variety of ways under the same spectrum. ‘the multiple messages contribute to the perception of an open realm of possibilities’. This refers to females being more broadly represented than in the past. Gauntlet suggests that woman are being brought out in the media. Women are represented as complexes; rather than just a ‘pretty face’. They are now represented with more complexions, meaning and detail.
Women are represented in a vain way- they appear to take a lot of care in how presentable they are.
The media commonly represents women, in a underrepresented way. It is believed that They are most commonly positioned in magazines, for the pure reason of being looked at. ‘’the male gaze’ has become something of a feminist cliché for referring to the voyeuristic way in which men look at women (Evans & Gamman 1995, 13)’#. The male gaze means that the content shown appeals to the male eye, drawing them into the types of media that express this; such as the females on the over of ‘Women’s fitness’. Not one of the females are stereotypically ‘ugly’ and they all sport similar appearance features. These are iconic features such as: Slim build, toned, smiley, hour glass shape, and so on.
‘To gaze implies more than to look at- it signifies a psychological relationship of power, in which the gazer is superior to the object of the gaze’- #Jonathon Schroeder . This suggests that women are in fact ‘objectified’ in the media, putting them in the hands of many onlookers. ‘In some well known studies Hess found that pupil dialation can also be a reflection of sexual attraction, and that photographs of female models in which the pupils had been artificially enlarged elicited unconscious pupil enlargement from male viewers’#. Women are forced, injected by the media with a whole host of ideologies on what true beauty is and what it means to be beautiful. We are forced to accept this as a ‘norm’ in society, however it doesn’t mean that this is the correct way to approach body image.
‘The traditional view of a woman as a housewife or low status worker has been kick-boxed out of the picture by feisty, successful ‘girl power’ icons’#. David Gauntlett suggests that a new image of women is coming into power, women are not only there to be ‘looked at’ anymore, they have more power in our industrial-modern society. ‘Although gender categories have not been shattered, these alternative ideas and images have at least created space for a greater diversity of identities’#, gauntlet proceeds with. Women’s fitness demonstrates this ‘girl power’ attitude that Gauntlet refers to. The article for hangover cures demonstrates the power that women portray today. This is through the use of the imperative phrase ‘Beat that hangover!’. It gives women the power and courage they need. The choice of words go against the elegant stereotype of women traditionally, almost masculinising them, merging/ challenging gender expectations; Juxtaposing the expectations of women.
The text anthropomorphises with the audience when the sub title of an article referes to ‘kicking hangovers to the kerb’. David Gauntlet states ‘girl power, a phrase slapped into mainstream culture by the Spice girls and subsequently incorporated into the language of the government bodies…’#. The media has changed to show a feminist perspective; displaying women in a ’feistier’ and places a more stern and aggressive tone. This hints at women no longer hiding in the back, but taking control to a degree. ‘Magazines for young women are empathic in their determination that women must do their own thing’#. This demonstrates the independency culture that women are progressing too, being represented as ‘strong and independent’ in recent media. This could have happened because ‘the mass media has become more liberal, and considerably more challenging to traditional standards’#. The media, as part of secondary socialisation, is believed to play a large role in influencing society. Women are being accepted as more powerful nowadays, thereby challenging the traditional more submissive and timid role of a female.
Women are told how to be ‘beautiful’; and what is acceptable. ‘The media disseminates a huge number of messages about identity and acceptable forms of self expression, gender, sexuality, and lifestyle’#. The article in Womens fitness mag captions an image ‘Get a hot bikini body’#, with an image of a slim, toned womens body as the illustration. This suggests that this is the ideal body that women are programmed to have in the media. This body type is a message that the media broadcasts as ‘acceptable’ in terms of beauty and sexualisation. ‘The medias suggestion may be seductive, but can never simple overpower contrary feelings in the audience’#. Gauntlet states that women’s bodies in the media can be used as a seductive device, however this doesn’t overthrow existing expectations of body image.
Role models play an important part in the media. In women’s fitness magazine, the women who read this are forced to look up to people such as ‘celebrities’ for their advice. This shows their high reliance on what’s trending and the ‘mainstream’ voices in the media at the moment. An example of this is the article ‘Judy Murrays top tennis tips and drills’#. Judy is a professional well known tennis player . In order for women to be encouraged to keep fit and active, motivational tactics are put in place such as featured stars. ‘…expect role models to have an impact on individuals…role models serve as navigation points as individuals steer their own personal routes through life’#. Gauntlet suggests that people seek people to inspire them according to gender. Commonly females will seek out higher status females for advice, thereby the media feeds people with gender appropriate content. Another title of which shows an example of role modelling is ‘Naomi Watts: how to get a body like her’. This shows how women are represented as passive in the media, in the sense that they aspire to be like others/ celebrities shown.
‘It is impossible to say that womens magazines, for example, always carry a particular message, because the enormous range of titles target an equal diverse set of female audiences’. Women are represented in a variety of ways under the same spectrum. ‘the multiple messages contribute to the perception of an open realm of possibilities’. This refers to females being more broadly represented than in the past. Gauntlet suggests that woman are being brought out in the media. Women are represented as complexes; rather than just a ‘pretty face’. They are now represented with more complexions, meaning and detail.
Women are represented in a vain way- they appear to take a lot of care in how presentable they are.
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