“You know me I don’t really believe in marriage; now botox on the other hand works every time”[1]
Do representations of females in Sex and the City: The movie differ from representations of females in past media texts? If so, how?
In past media text women have been portrayed as passive and their sole purpose on screen is for the male audience’s sexual excitement. Following the hit series Sex and the City, HBO has also brought us Sex and the City: The movie. The characters Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda have ‘sexual freedom, opportunity and the ability to be successful’[2]. So how does Sex and the City’s representation of women differ to women that were once represented as inferior to men, naive and ‘symbolically annihilated’[3] from the media?
[1] Sex and the City: The movie.
[2] Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell: Sohn,Amy (2002) Pg 24
[3] Tuchman, Gaye (1978) -Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media.
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Monday, 26 January 2009
Self evaluation!
Attainment 2
Effort 3 - I get lazy at times, i should put abit more effort in.
Punctuality 3 - Late to miss jones lessons sometimes,never late for mr bush :D
Submission and quality of homework -2 dont always hand it in on time.
Ability to work independently- 2
Quality of writing -2...
Organisation of Media folder 3....beacause its kind of rubbish,maybe i should get dividers etc
Oral contributions in class 2...I say my fair share
Standard of Module 5 blog ...3 Ive done whats been asked of but its not very nicely layed out maybe some pictures ouwld make it nice
Standard of Module 6 blog 4...Its not got much work on it
www - im getting on with independant study quite well
always on time to bush lessons
Ebi - Start coming on time to all of jones lessons.
Make more effort, hand all work in on time.
Sort my folder out
Effort 3 - I get lazy at times, i should put abit more effort in.
Punctuality 3 - Late to miss jones lessons sometimes,never late for mr bush :D
Submission and quality of homework -2 dont always hand it in on time.
Ability to work independently- 2
Quality of writing -2...
Organisation of Media folder 3....beacause its kind of rubbish,maybe i should get dividers etc
Oral contributions in class 2...I say my fair share
Standard of Module 5 blog ...3 Ive done whats been asked of but its not very nicely layed out maybe some pictures ouwld make it nice
Standard of Module 6 blog 4...Its not got much work on it
www - im getting on with independant study quite well
always on time to bush lessons
Ebi - Start coming on time to all of jones lessons.
Make more effort, hand all work in on time.
Sort my folder out
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
First paragraph
“You know me I don’t really believe in marriage now botox on the other hand works every time”
Do representations of women in sex and the city:the movie differ from representations of women in past media texts? If so.How?
Films such as ‘Some Like It Hot’ (1959) and popular film icons such as Marilyn Munroe promote the idea that women are passive and the only purpose of them in the media is for sexual excitement for men.Over the years women have gained more freedom and established a stronger, more authoritative roles; with HBO bringing us a hit movie ‘Sex and the City’ intorducing us to Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda. These female characters have “sexual freedom, opportunity, and the ability to be successful”. So does ‘Sex and the City’s’ representation of women differ from the women that were once “symbolically annihilated” from media texts.
Do representations of women in sex and the city:the movie differ from representations of women in past media texts? If so.How?
Films such as ‘Some Like It Hot’ (1959) and popular film icons such as Marilyn Munroe promote the idea that women are passive and the only purpose of them in the media is for sexual excitement for men.Over the years women have gained more freedom and established a stronger, more authoritative roles; with HBO bringing us a hit movie ‘Sex and the City’ intorducing us to Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda. These female characters have “sexual freedom, opportunity, and the ability to be successful”. So does ‘Sex and the City’s’ representation of women differ from the women that were once “symbolically annihilated” from media texts.
Historical Text
Some Like it Hot 1959
Billy Wilder
Some Like It Hot (1959) is a comedy film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon
Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4TuJv7dgj0
The protagonist of this film is a female and this is fairly suprising as it was produced in 1959,before this women never played a main role and were mere eye candy to male audiences,the reason for a female having the protagonist role could be the accurrance of the first wave of feminism when women began to be recognised in society and therefore it was starting to be reflectd in society.
The film stars Mariyln Manroe,a media sex symbol.In the film she is represented as passive and naive. However although she is represented in that way her costume is also very revealing and her breast's and beauty are often focused on throughout the film. This is done to attract male audiences to satisfy their sexual pleasures. Throught the film she uses her assets to get money and sexual plesure.Doing this can also show her power as she is able to get money and please herself through simply seducing a man, this makes the male character seem foolish .
Men in the film are also represented as powerful through the use of guns etc however in more recent texts propps like these are used by females to show their power and authority for example "Tomb Raider".
The female gaze is also applied in this film as marilyn manroe wants to have sex and gazes over at the man she wants,female audiences will identify with her and also do the same.
Sex and the city differs from Some Like it Hot in the sense that mariylyn manroe isnt shown as inependant and working with a job, where as all four girls in sex and the city have well paid jobs in the city which result in the being very materialistic girls.
However it is also very similar in ways they use there body and beauty to seduce men and get what they want.
The character of samantha is very self absorbed and career obsessed and at the end of the film decided to leave her actor boyfriend so she can live her life, she says at the begining of the film "you know me i dont really believe in marriage now botox on the otherhand works everytime", this shows that women are now more in to them selves their looks and careers rather than settling down and getting married to have children.
This is not much the case in Some like it hot as getting married is represented as the most important thing to do in a young womens life.
Suprisingly women started appearing in comedies like these very early.
"Some Like It Hot" depicted a male world so predatory that the heroes were literally forced to abandon their sexual identities in order to survive"
http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/masterpiece/2002/02/11/some_like_hot/print.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Some_Like_It_Hot
-Judith Butler: "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory" in The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader.
-David Glover and Cora Kaplan: "Introduction: Gendered histories, gendered contexts, from their book Genders.
-Maggie Humm: Feminism and Film.
-Laura Mulvey: "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" in Film Theory.
-Marry Ann Doane: "Woman's Stake: Filming the Female Body" in Feminism and Film.
Billy Wilder
Some Like It Hot (1959) is a comedy film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon
Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4TuJv7dgj0
The protagonist of this film is a female and this is fairly suprising as it was produced in 1959,before this women never played a main role and were mere eye candy to male audiences,the reason for a female having the protagonist role could be the accurrance of the first wave of feminism when women began to be recognised in society and therefore it was starting to be reflectd in society.
The film stars Mariyln Manroe,a media sex symbol.In the film she is represented as passive and naive. However although she is represented in that way her costume is also very revealing and her breast's and beauty are often focused on throughout the film. This is done to attract male audiences to satisfy their sexual pleasures. Throught the film she uses her assets to get money and sexual plesure.Doing this can also show her power as she is able to get money and please herself through simply seducing a man, this makes the male character seem foolish .
Men in the film are also represented as powerful through the use of guns etc however in more recent texts propps like these are used by females to show their power and authority for example "Tomb Raider".
The female gaze is also applied in this film as marilyn manroe wants to have sex and gazes over at the man she wants,female audiences will identify with her and also do the same.
Sex and the city differs from Some Like it Hot in the sense that mariylyn manroe isnt shown as inependant and working with a job, where as all four girls in sex and the city have well paid jobs in the city which result in the being very materialistic girls.
However it is also very similar in ways they use there body and beauty to seduce men and get what they want.
The character of samantha is very self absorbed and career obsessed and at the end of the film decided to leave her actor boyfriend so she can live her life, she says at the begining of the film "you know me i dont really believe in marriage now botox on the otherhand works everytime", this shows that women are now more in to them selves their looks and careers rather than settling down and getting married to have children.
This is not much the case in Some like it hot as getting married is represented as the most important thing to do in a young womens life.
Suprisingly women started appearing in comedies like these very early.
"Some Like It Hot" depicted a male world so predatory that the heroes were literally forced to abandon their sexual identities in order to survive"
http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/masterpiece/2002/02/11/some_like_hot/print.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Some_Like_It_Hot
-Judith Butler: "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory" in The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader.
-David Glover and Cora Kaplan: "Introduction: Gendered histories, gendered contexts, from their book Genders.
-Maggie Humm: Feminism and Film.
-Laura Mulvey: "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" in Film Theory.
-Marry Ann Doane: "Woman's Stake: Filming the Female Body" in Feminism and Film.
Monday, 15 December 2008
Gender in Advertising...
Gunter 1995 -
Before the 1970's women in magazine adverts were rarely shown to be in paid work and if they were shown to be in paid work it would be the stereotypical smiling secretary or hairdresser.
The number of housewife images started to decline in the 1950's although it was still common in the 1960's and 1970's.
In the 1970's strong evidence was found of stereotyping as three quarters of television ads featuring women were bathroom and kitchen products.
If and when women were seen in a paid environment they would be seen as subservient to men.
Studies in 1970's and 1980's showed a continuation of these trends.
It also became more common to see men in the home, as fathers or husbands.
Studies found strong simlirities in gender representations from country to country and particular sexism aimed at children.
In the 1980's, TV advertising did start to take on the idea of the busy working women.
Cumberbatch -
In the 1990's a study by cumberbatch of 500 prime time TV ads in the uk found that advertisers had become wary of showing women doing housework and for the fist time men wer shown doing the cooking more than women.
Still, not much had changed as women were more likely to be young and attractive and men were twice as likley as women to be shown in paid employment.
work was seen as central to mens lives; 'relationships' were shown to be more important to women.
89% of ads used a male voiceover
Macdonald 1995 -
Representation of gender roles seems to have been, for many years, one of the areas where advertisers were often reluctant to do anything very different.
'Advertisers generally lagged begind womens magazines in the cultivation of new modes of adress, even when the evidence suggested that commercial advantages could be gained from modernising their approach'
Scheibe -
Before the 1970's women in magazine adverts were rarely shown to be in paid work and if they were shown to be in paid work it would be the stereotypical smiling secretary or hairdresser.
The number of housewife images started to decline in the 1950's although it was still common in the 1960's and 1970's.
In the 1970's strong evidence was found of stereotyping as three quarters of television ads featuring women were bathroom and kitchen products.
If and when women were seen in a paid environment they would be seen as subservient to men.
Studies in 1970's and 1980's showed a continuation of these trends.
It also became more common to see men in the home, as fathers or husbands.
Studies found strong simlirities in gender representations from country to country and particular sexism aimed at children.
In the 1980's, TV advertising did start to take on the idea of the busy working women.
Cumberbatch -
In the 1990's a study by cumberbatch of 500 prime time TV ads in the uk found that advertisers had become wary of showing women doing housework and for the fist time men wer shown doing the cooking more than women.
Still, not much had changed as women were more likely to be young and attractive and men were twice as likley as women to be shown in paid employment.
work was seen as central to mens lives; 'relationships' were shown to be more important to women.
89% of ads used a male voiceover
Macdonald 1995 -
Representation of gender roles seems to have been, for many years, one of the areas where advertisers were often reluctant to do anything very different.
'Advertisers generally lagged begind womens magazines in the cultivation of new modes of adress, even when the evidence suggested that commercial advantages could be gained from modernising their approach'
Scheibe -
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
1950's-1990's Films
1950's
'High Noon'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKLvKZ6nIiA
'Samson and Delilah'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rotd6t_BAhc
In high noon women are "symbllically anihillated", they have no real role in the film and in Samson and delilah portrays a powerful man however the female also has an aspect of power as she is able to weaken the male with her love and beauty.
1960's
'The sound of music'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtQdYoK64S4
'Cleopatra'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6tr9exD0kw
The sound of music represents caring nuturing women. It gives a "madonna" portrayal of females.Cleopatra has powerful strong women which is unusual as the 60's was still a decade were women werent really noticed however films like this brought female empowerment to attention.
1970's
'Alien'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HjwbnhVnDM
'Star Wars'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gvqpFbRKtQ
The females in star wars are seen to be caring however are not portrayed as a "damsel in distress" she can defend herself and doesnt need men to fight her battles.The film alien supports the second wave of feminism as the female is out defeating aliens and her strenght is emphasized a lot.
1980's
'Terminator'
'Legend'
The film legend represents the damsell in distress whilst terminator represents an aggressive man.
1990's
'Fatal Attraction'
'Species'
Both these films 'fatal attraction' and 'species' are representing the "whore" and the "femme fatale" which is the deadly women, this is shown as she kills the men at the end.
'High Noon'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKLvKZ6nIiA
'Samson and Delilah'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rotd6t_BAhc
In high noon women are "symbllically anihillated", they have no real role in the film and in Samson and delilah portrays a powerful man however the female also has an aspect of power as she is able to weaken the male with her love and beauty.
1960's
'The sound of music'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtQdYoK64S4
'Cleopatra'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6tr9exD0kw
The sound of music represents caring nuturing women. It gives a "madonna" portrayal of females.Cleopatra has powerful strong women which is unusual as the 60's was still a decade were women werent really noticed however films like this brought female empowerment to attention.
1970's
'Alien'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HjwbnhVnDM
'Star Wars'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gvqpFbRKtQ
The females in star wars are seen to be caring however are not portrayed as a "damsel in distress" she can defend herself and doesnt need men to fight her battles.The film alien supports the second wave of feminism as the female is out defeating aliens and her strenght is emphasized a lot.
1980's
'Terminator'
'Legend'
The film legend represents the damsell in distress whilst terminator represents an aggressive man.
1990's
'Fatal Attraction'
'Species'
Both these films 'fatal attraction' and 'species' are representing the "whore" and the "femme fatale" which is the deadly women, this is shown as she kills the men at the end.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)