Feminist Theory: Blog Tasks

Media Magazine reading - two articles on feminism and theory

Read Playing With The Past: Post-feminism and the Media (MM40, page 64 - our Media Magazine archive is here). This is a great example of sophisticated media analysis and an indication of the level we want to be writing at by the end of the two-year course.

1) What examples are provided from the two texts of the 'male gaze' (Mulvey)?

Pan Am and Beyonce.

2) Do texts such as these show there is no longer a need for feminism or are they simply sexism in a different form?

Beyonce: 

In her music video Why Don't you Love Me Beyonce parodies the stereotype of the 1950s housewife, the video relishes in the period details and costumes of the 1950s which is a nostalgic version of the time and highlighting the informative nature of femininity. A post feminist reading of this might be that since Beyonce is openly allowing herself to be objectified, encouraging it by looking down the camera playfully and winking at the audience, she is controlling the gaze and is thus empowering. The video confirms conventional gender roles, by the lyrics and the song's constant rhetorical questioning. She states that states that there is ‘nothing not to love about me’ and why, when she makes herself ‘so damn easy to love’ does he not love her? These are not the words of an empowered independent woman. 

Pan Am: 

It celebrates the exciting lives of the pilots and stewardesses, staying in some of the most expensive hotels around the world; its partly this aspirational and nostalgic aspect of Pan Am which creates it post-feminism credentials, however what is interesting is that the first image we see of the Pan Am stewardesses, which is of the main character on a magazine cover, is highly constructed and mediated, an image whose purpose is to be admired and aspired to by women, and visually enjoyed by men. Like many post-feminism texts the show is aware of feminism, acknowledging the terrible sexism the women experience, and even pushing male characters who behave in a sexist way. Nevertheless, throughout the series the women use their appearance to empower themselves, frequently donning their uniforms to gain access to places they want to be, using their looks to their own advantage, and allowing the audience to enjoy appreciating their bodies.

3) Choose three words/phrases from the glossary of the article and write their definitions on your blog.

Patriarchy: an ideology that places men in a dominant position over women.

Third wave feminism: a movement that redefined and encouraged women to be dominant and sexually assertive.

Nostalgia: a sentimental longing for the past, often only remembering the positives of the time.

Now read The Theory Drop: Gender Performativity (MM69, page 25) and answer the following questions.

1) How does the writer suggest gender performativity is established from a young age?

Gender is a social construction, it is taught us by external influences and it's ingrained at such a young age that we often mistake it as nature rather than nurture.

2) What does the phrase 'non-binary' refer to and how does it link to Butler's theory?

It refers to someone who doesn't define themselves as either male or female. It links to Butler's theory because she says that gender is a performance rather than biological.

3) How and why does the media help reinforce gender stereotypes? The writer provides several examples in the final section of the article.

In the media (most movies and TV shows), females, non white, working class, LGBTQ+, disabled, and etc are presented as inferior and males, white, wealthy, heterosexual, able-bodied, and etc, are viewed as superior.

Of course the mainstream media relies on gender stereotypes for other reasons, mostly as a shortcut to meaning. 

Music video analysis

Finally, write up our analysis of the two music videos we studied in class. This is your opportunity to develop your own opinions on these crucial media debates.

Watch the Beyonce video for ‘Why Don’t You Love Me?’ again: 

1) How might this video contribute to Butler’s idea that gender roles are a ‘performance’?

That gender is a performance rather than a biological thing that people are born with.This is shown in the video by Beyonce wearing clothes from the 1950's

2) What might van Zoonen suggest regarding the representation of women in this video?

Fixing car; failing, cleaning, 1950s housewife. These are the stereotypical representations that women are trying to reverse

3) What are YOUR views on this debate – does Beyonce empower women or reinforce the traditional ‘male gaze’ and oppression of women? 

Although Beyonce did point out that there is some humor behind this music video, the male gaze is still reinforced in this video through the jobs shown (cleaning the house) and the 1950's stereotypical clothing.

Watch Will Jay's video for ‘Gangsta’ again:



1) How does the video suggest representations of masculinity have changed in recent years?

This music video agrees with bells hook's fact that ending sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression shouldn't just be a fashionable choice but a serious political commitment.

2) What does David Gauntlett suggest about representations of men in the media over the last 20 years?

The increase in social media due to the rising advancement of technology has allowed more people to have a voice on the representations of men.

3) What is YOUR view on the representation of men and masculinity? Are young men still under pressure from the media to act or behave in a certain way?

I do believe that men are under pressure from the media to act and look a certain way, which is even more prominent nowadays.