Media Magazine reading
1) Read Playing With The Past: Post-feminism and the Media (MM40, page 64 - our Media Magazine archive is here).
2) What are the two texts the article focuses on?
The two texts that are the focus of the article include: Pan Am, which included Destiny Child's "Independent Women". Alongside, "Why Don't You Love Me", by Beyonce.
3) What examples are provided from the two texts of the 'male gaze' (Mulvey)?
Pan Am - The introduction to the character 'Laura', was one that was "be admired and aspired to by women, and visually enjoyed by men."- The opening scene follows the females having their weight checked, highlighting the conciousness women must have in regards to their appearance to visually satisfy men.
- The female's overall attire is very 'done up' - glorious make-up, hair styles, prim and proper uniforms, leading to the stares of males
Beyonce "Why Don't You Love Me" - Exaggerated make-up and several costume changes, mirrors the extents of perfection that women want to express to then be gazed at and visually enjoyed.
- The costume specifcally include high waisted knickers and overly sexualised attire, despite her attempt to parodise the 1940/50s female housewife lifestyle.
-Even when completing the domestic chores, her body stance and gaze at the camera, invites an audience to willing objectify and watch her.
4) Do texts such as these show there is no longer a need for feminism or are they simply sexism in a different form?
I think that these texts are simply sexism in a different way, as both were created in the climate of social change - where women have stabilised rights for more than a decade and have managed to adjust in some aspects of the patriarchal dominant society that exists. Thus, the producers of both texts are aware of what is sexist and not - however, they have masked behind the 1950's lifestyle and are, in Pan Am's case reminiscing the gender norms and how females were presented, alongside Beyonce's music video, capturing her parody of the 1950's housewife. Neither one presents females in the 21st century and how they are currently captured within society and the media, this could imply that their representation has therefore not changed and dominantly exists, as it did then.
5) Choose three words/phrases from the glossary of the article and write their definitions on your blog.
Third wave feminism – Was a movement that redefined and encouraged women to be dominant and sexually assertive.
Male Gaze – The gaze referring to Laura Mulvey’s seminal article ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ which argues that main stream Hollywood films subject female characters to the ‘male gaze’ of the camera, fragmenting and objectifying their bodies.
No More Page 3
1) Research the No More Page 3 campaign. Who started it and why?
The campaign was started by Lucy-Anne Holmes in August 2012 and it reached 215,000 signatures by January 2015. No More Page 3' is a video presenting the most prominent division within the media - the representation of men and women. This is illustrated through the experiment of cutting out images from the newspaper 'The Sun', of the two genders. The researchers then stick all of the images of women onto 1 mood board, and do the same for the men. From this, the opposing representations is clearly portrayed - women are sex objects and men are successful sports men. A prime example of the sexual representation of women is through 'Page 3' where women are posing half naked for male satisfaction. Whereas men are seen to be scoring goals and doing well within the world of business.
2) Read this debate in the Guardian regarding whether the campaign should be dropped. What are Barbara Ellen and Susan Boniface's contrasting opinions in the debate?
Barbara Ellen expresses views in favour of the campaign, whereas Susan Boniface finds the overall idea as a joke and is unafraid to mock it.
KQ: "FSF I have titties, whammers, bazookas, fun bags, lady lumps, breasts, boobs or anything else you might want to call them. That’s the thing – boobs mean different things to different people, and the campaign for No More Page 3 is sort of insisting they must all mean the same to all of us – some sort of sacrosanct gland we may only expose when feeding, as through we were glossy, middle-class milkers. I think that’s futile, never mind silly, or dare I say it, offensive."
In contrast with - BE - "I respectfully disagree. The campaign against Page 3 should not be abandoned"
3) How can the No More Page 3 campaign be linked to the idea of post-feminism?
This can be linked to the idea of post-feminism, as it still seems that there is a strong amount of objectification placed upon women, and they are merely idealised to be visually appreciated and gazed at by men. Page 3 primarily serves as pornography that features in a newspaper and can be easily accessed by many; easily. The overall idea of a women being exposed in such a way and several females and possibly males too, campaigning against this, highlights and indicates the fact that gender equality hasn't reached its peak as there is still a dominant marginalisation occurring within women's rights and their social values.
4) What are your OWN views on the No More Page 3 campaign. Do you agree with the campaign's aims? Should the campaign continue?
I am torn between the two - ultimately several female celebrities, the ones who in fact feature on Page 3, willingly enjoy exposing their assets for a living - therefore, they actively allow their bodies to be gazed at, therefore it is hard to argue against the page existing, because if it didn't - would it make much of a difference, as there are still magazines such as Zoo, that cater a vast number of pages that are of a similar nature. Alongside this, new and digital technologies, such as phone apps and internet sites, capture similar imagery, thus by diminishing page 3, on the grand scheme of things, it won't make that much of a difference. However, it is fair to say, that removing the page and campaigning against it's existence, will create awareness towards the lack of gender equality that profoundly remains in the current social climate.
5) Do you agree that we are in a post-feminist state or is there still a need for feminism?
I think that there is certainly still a need for feminism, as there should be for race, ethnicity and disabilities too, because despite there being mild social developments, there is still an underpinning divide in regards to gender representation and opportunities. In regards to the 'No More Page 3' campaign, it is not as though there are males plastered on a page exposing their genitalia and bodies, therefore it shouldn't be acceptable that women are portrayed in an overly sexualised way instead.
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