Postcolonial representations of women: Critical issues for Education by Rachel Bailey Jones: “Women objectified as natural source." PAGE 11 this quotation not only can interpret how sexualising women is so natural in today’s society but in the modern society too. It can also inform audiences (Uses and gratification-Blumler and Katz) that by objectifying women it is natural and acceptable. Also, this quotation can enable audiences to be aware that there is nothing wrong in objectifying women and that it has become the norm in today’s society.
Hanna Rosin- The End of Men 2012: “In the West, meanwhile, women behave sexually aggressive ways that would have been unimaginable even twenty years ago.”Page 6 this quotation connotes how changes in society has occurred both socially and historically. This is because twenty years ago representations of women were different; this is because they were represented as lady-like e.g. men used kiss women’s hand. However, this has changed because the way women are sexualised today has happened to have a big impact on today’s society. This is because women are now not only changing by the way they behave but becoming more sexually aggressive. An example can be that in perfume adverts are always portraying women and men sexually fighting and acting more seductive. This quote summarises the fact that as timed as changed public views on certain things have changed to, this means that it is much more acceptable for women to behave sexually aggressive in today’s society as it challenges the way they are represented other ads.
Introducing Feminism 2012 A Graphic guide: “Patriarchal refers to power relations in which women’s interests are subordinated(less) to the interest of men.” Page 4 this quotation can interpret to the readers that patriarchy refers to men always being dominating over women and that women are always oppressed in every way. This can interpret that because women are so used to how they are sexualised, they therefore only are there to serve the interests of men.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “Frailty, thy name is women!” page 7 this quotation can be interpreted in many ways, firstly it can refer to how women are so weak and innocent and that it is easy possible to exploit them for sexual reason. Also, it can connote that women are always represented as being weak and that this representation will stick to them. This can be done through the high-angel shots of women as they are always below the men and are always controlled by them.
Aristotle: “women were women by virtue of a certain lack of equalities.” Page 5 this can interpret as an oppositional reading (Stuart Hall) that because women are not like men, they will therefore face inequality in society and those that will always be treated different to men and can face misogyny in society due to their gender.
Laura Mulvey, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema 2008 Carolina Hein: “Women are regarded as objects of fetishistic display for male viewer’s pleasures.” Page 4 this quotation can link with theorist Laura Mulvey as to how women are always exploited and used as sexual objects for men to either voyeur on them or to use them for their own means. This quotation informed audiences that women are like a toy- they can be controlled from doing anything and that they are always on display for a reason. The word fetishistic could interpret can convey that women are always dressed sexually, and area given roles that objectify them sexually and weaker than men- which means that they are always there for a reason.
“Male position with active and female position as passive.” Page 4 This actually explains to the audiences how women are sexualised in ads and that there is always a type of positioning which connotes that men are dominating and powerful than women as to how they are always accept how they are controlled. The word ‘active’, can connote how men are the one that play the game and that women are the ‘passive’ ones and will accept what happens to them.
"Young women are especially susceptible to objectification, as they are often taught that power, respect, and wealth can be derived from one's outward appearance."
This links with the perfume ads as younger women who are objectified in Perfume ads are powerful, wealthy and respectful however, their appearance is what still attracts the male audiences as to believe that they are only there for a reason and that they can see that by the women dressed sexually they can have the right to still voyeur on them.
"Pro-feminist cultural critics such as Robert Jensen and Sut Jhally accuse mass media and advertising of promoting the objectification of women to help promote goods and services."
Judith Butler’s work on gender is set out in Gender Trouble (1990).
From Articles:
1. The Guardian: No wonder men treat us as sex objects if we act like this
“It is no wonder a lot of men now genuinely believe that women want to be treated as sex objects.” This concludes what women want to be treated like- sex objects however; this can raise debates as to how women do not want to be treated like this and that these are just the typical stereotyping of women. It can also interpret that society is now used to women being treated as women however an oppositional reading can be that Perkins will argue that that some stereotypes are true as to how some women do like to be treated like this and have a negative representation than no representation at all.
"The beauty industry is a monster, selling unattainable dreams. It lies, it cheats, it exploits women."
This links to the idea of how adverts lie about what you can become out of this product if you purchase it. It also informs audiences that adverts never tell the truth and in order for an institution to sell its product it has to trick it’s audiences to by making the models look more attractive so that other women can purchase the product, which then means that women are only there for a show and that they are exploited by brands to encourage audiences to purchase the product.
2. Are these most offensive ads of all time?
“Over the last five decades the ASA has dealt with around 431,000 complaints - 31,000 were lodged in 2011 alone.”
"We haven't really changed that much since the Victorian times - we are offended by bad manners and nudity,"
This article informs the audiences with the statistics of how many complaints the ASA had received. It also points out how socially nudity has changed and what impact it had back in the Victorian era and how society reacts towards these representation of women in today's society.
Reflection on gender and equality
‘Woman is more compassionate than man, more easily moved to tears, at the same time is more jealous, more querulous, more apt to scold and to strike. She is, furthermore, more prone to despondency and less hopeful than the man, more void of shame or self-respect, more false of speech, more deceptive, and of more retentive memory. She is also more wakeful, more shrinking, more difficult to rouse to action, and requires a smaller quantity of
nutriment.’ Aristotle, History of Animals, 4th Century BC.
What Aristotle is summarising in this quote is how women are always more emotionally stronger than men. It also enables audiences to be aware of how women are more suited to the expressive role which is to look after the family and to supporting the family through emotional times. However, it also informs audiences to some extent that men are better in a way as they can handle all this criticisms made about men, which proves that all the things women are weak at men are not.
Sexualisation of Girls in the Media Is Harmful
“The consequences of the sexualization of girls in media today are very real and are likely to be a negative influence on girls' healthy development."
What this quotation from the news article informs its audiences, is how sexualizing women in today’s media is more likely to have a big impact on its audiences.
"As a society, we need to replace all of these sexualized images with ones showing girls in positive settings - ones that show the uniqueness and competence of girls," said Dr Zurbriggen
This quotation can summaries how society should change both the way women are portrayed and how women should challenge these to become unique from the stereotypical representation.
TV DOCUMENTARIES:
CODES OF GENDER
“There not real people, there dolls so you can do whatever you want to them.”
What this quotation connotes(Barthes) is that because women are treated only as sex objects and pleasure for the male audiences therefore we as an audience can do whatever we want with them. This means that they have no control over their life and that they can be controlled easily. This quote can also link with the Feminist theory as they believe that women are always exploited for sexual reasons and that they are always there to attract the male gaze (Laura Mulvey).
Google scholar:
http://www.acrwebsite.org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx?Id=9532
The critics state that the women shown in ads are too often "only housewives;" stupid or incompetent; dependent on men; decorative or sex objects; passive; and not involved in making major decisions.
This can link with my critical investigation as it informs audiences that women portrayed in television ads really do not have much of say in what they are asked to perform and that they have a particular role which is to be on display performing the obvious roles that society like to see.
Dominick and Rauch (1974) conducted a study of 1,000 prime time television commercials and found that the sex object and housewife/mother role stereotypes also existed in that medium.
This can link with my critical investigation as it informs and educates the audiences that the study carried out by these two people had identified that even on prime time television commericials found women stereotypically represented as sexual objects. MediaEdu:
http://media.edusites.co.uk/article/gender-theory/
‘Femininity is not typically a core value for women today. Instead, being ‘feminine’ is just one of the performances that women choose to employ in everyday life – perhaps for pleasure, or to achieve a particular goal.’
This links with my case study as to how women in perfume ads may choose to act seductive and erotic not to be stereotypically a weak women who has no power over what she is doing but in order to achieve a particular goal and that may be to challenge men. This quote can also be interpreted in a different way as it may connote that not every women plays the typical role of being feminine as some challenege these quotation by going agaisnt this stereotypical representation and becoming independant.
Media Magazine:
inforgrapghic
