Alternative Representation

(hip hop/r&b)

Firstly the couple are presented as a strong united force as we can see in the mise en scene as they hold hands together and the closeup shot emphasises they are married. Only in the beginning is the fourth wall broken as they look and talk directly to the camera inviting the audience into their life.The slow motion shot of Keri running past him is done to 'to-be-looked at-ness' with the non diegetic heartbeat sound effect which connotes the passion as the male looks at her not so much fetishized but more lovingly as shes not parading herself and was just going for a jog in a rather tight outfit but I do think her run was inspired by Baywatch.

In the scene of the pictures shes embraces the manly pose behind him and he has locked onto her arm for comfort and the image next to it is her with the gun from the army. The phallic symbol of the gun connotes she has the power in their relationship and shes the more dominant one. Although the next scene is more feminine and reinforces that women can be brought with gifts as he gives her a necklace he represents the chivalrous man. Similarly the stereotypically domestic woman is presented when shes is cooking and he looks like a bit like the 'rough lad' with his tattoos promoting his masculinity. Furthermore when she cries he goes to console her and this presents women as the more emotional weaker sex.

When she arrives to the military grounds we first assume that he is going as there is a shot with another couple and the women hugging the man goodbye but here she is the one going and this subverts stereotypes as in the past an army would not be a place for a women the home would. So we sense she is the more masculine one as he is left holding the baby.The continuous fade to black (more softer to compliment the mood) clips of the shots him waiting/caressing the bed is an alternative view as a women would be more likely to be waiting for her partner to come back home. Female viewers could almost think that this guy is too good to be true he plays the doting dad/patient husband which is why a lot of people have said this video to be sad as they can emphasise with the different roles.

He is presented as more maternal looking after his daughter whilst her wife is roaming around with guns and when she looks directly at the camera and then the doorbell is pressed we are left wondering could it really be that shes died fighting (something which a man would be more capable of doing leaving his children fighting for the greater good). Even when he starts to cry we see that he is an emotional man and females would sympathise more because he is presented as the guy 'your lucky to have' therefore translating into 'the women you'd be lucky to have' hinting that men take women for granted and one day it could all be gone. The montage of their 'happy' times is done to create more sympathy and get the audience to connect on an emotional level as the end is their daughter hand with the mothers chain in her hand...

MediaMagazine Conference

Chewing gum for the brain? -David Buckingham

people see media as a 'soft' subject compared to other 'hard' subjects like chemistry or physics and some call it a 'Mickey Mouse' subject.


angry parents accuse schools of 'dumbing down' subjects such as English by showing them Simpsons instead of Shakespearian work and complain that media is the 'equivalent to x factor!'


Concerned parents want to protect their children against the media as it brainwashes them into accepting certain ideologies like 'size 0' is the norm in celebrity culture. Also the pre-occupation with violence, sex which is uncensored and constantly in the media.

Questions raised were:

• is it a serious subject?
• is it a 'soft' option?
• can you get a job in the media in the future? ( although theres evidence that 2/3 people that leave university find themselves job within the media industry in roughly 6 months)

Online media, Cleggmania, and the Cowell Factor - Julian McDougall

David Gauntlett- media 2.0 a more interactive form of emedia where people express themselves thorugh social netowrking sites, download songs from..thus leading to the end of traditional methods of doing things the longer the way. he argues that the media plays a role in construction of identitiy, but not that big in relation to other aspects of social experience.

even the younger generation are on 'Club Penguin' :O


Simon Cowell has the power to change peoples lives. (hegemony)


Perfecting your production work

• when looking at research look at real examples think about conventions, audience and institutions

• when planning show the process of the 'journey' and prepare yourself for anything that could go wrong

• keep a record of your blogging of pics/clips linked to your text

• keep ideas simple and get feedback

• be organised and prepare the practical stuff eg costumes/props

• always shoot extra footage starting with the bigger bigger picture then you can edit it later

Mulvey Reading Essay

Bridget Jone's Diary

In this film the protagonist Bridget (Renee Zelweger) is the opposite of of the ideal women who is depressed with her life and goes on the search for Mr right as she is fed up of being lonely. She has two different choices one guy called Daniel (Hugh Grant) and another Mark ( Colin forth) and they both are complete opposite so we see her trying to please both as she struggles to keep up with Marks humble and reserved manner and Daniels as the wild hunk.

Bridget come across as bit of a spinster who doesn't take care in appearance and always looks miserable so challenges the male gaze as shes someone you wouldn't really notice. She reinforces the dependent female as she is lonely and her biological clock is ticking so in that sense you need a man. When she puts on her granny underpants shes is not fetishized and we can tell that she is not the ideal person to be sexually obejectfied and she has confidence issues and she says ' I shall not be paranoid with weight' as that is her lazy way of dealing with her weight issues. This reinforces that women are too into their appearance and think they should look a certain way to find a man so it injects into the females audiences head that this is what we should aspire to and they also come across as shallow and vain so could be seen as narcissist. When the scene of her and Daniel comes up, the audience take part in scopophilia and staring at each other is intra diegetic although most of it is the spectators gaze. The scene where she arrives at the party dressed up in the black bunny outfit would appeal to men' fantasy's so reinforces the need to please them therefore we live in a patriarchal society as they play up to the expectations of being a woman. Furthermore this could assume that the audience is male as the woman is self degrading herself and the male gaze is on Bridget. However the female gaze is also on Daniel when there is a scene of them together in bed but suggests that the male gaze is more imporant as Bridget is in the foreground and Daniel is in the background. Female audiences can have personal identification as well as escapisim.

Post Feminism Reading Questions...

http://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/site/human/women/students/biblio/historiog/McRobbie%20-%20postfeminism.pdf

in this shot of the advert for Wonderbra Eva Herzingova looks admiringly down at her breasts and was shown on highstreets billboard. This advert takes feminism into account by showing it to be a thing of the past, by provocatively 'enacting sexism' while at the same time playing with those debates in film theory about women as the object of the male gaze and even with female desire.




this advert appears to suggest that this a self consciously ' sexist ad', feminists critique of it are deliberately evoked. The shadow of disapproval is introduced through striptease as site of female exploitation , only instant to be dismissed as belonging to the past to a time where feminists used to object such imagery.




J'adore-Charlize Theron it could be argued shes self objectifying herself when she takes her dress off but the way in which she does so she looks confident and her body is hidden with the dark so it could argues that shes controlling the male gaze.

'lads mags' could be used to argue that women are the object of the male gaze as it also maybe that they are pinup icons for younger girls as the amount of girls taking part in pageants and modeling is increasing and parents are criticised for letting them do what they want as they're too young to know what they want. Jordan was criticised for admitting that she'd let her daughter Princess Tiami to pursue modeling when shes older.However you could say that women are now confident with their body and don't necessarily always show their bits as they may playfully tease the male audience by placing their hands over the area/s.


Feminism has intervened now to constrain conventional desires like marriage. The women of toady's generation are more capable of earning their own living and the degree of suffering or shame they anticipate in the absence of finding a husband is countered by sexual confidence so being without a husband doesn't necessarily mean they will go without men.

Four concepts of Post Feminism

the four clarifying concepts in my opinion:

A more positive look at post-feminism-1

as it marks a time period of change where women are now on a more equal wavelength than men but still not completly there yet.

Post-feminism as backlash to feminism- 2

women are now in control of their lives but it could be causing them unhappiness in the long run as they could end up lonely, unfeminine childless and bitter just to avoid being closely associated to men.


The ambiguity of the prefix “post -3

most people do tend to think that it means the end of feminism and that we are now living in a completely equal society.

Post-feminism as a colloquialism-4

people see post feminism as women who cant stand the sight of men and its proved to be challenging for women as they have to prove people wrong.

Biancas Essay-What are the different representations of women in adverts and how are they signified?

The representation of women can be positive: challenging the roles and expectations of women or negative: reinforcing a patriarchal society. This essay questions how and why these representations are constructed in an advert for Gucci Guilty Perfume and Stella Artois beer.

Firstly the Gucci advert is in widescreen which connotes a dramatic cinematic experience to engage its audience. More attention is gained by the female character first seen in the text and her protagonist is signified through this. The protagonist has female dominance which is signified through the use of colour- everything is in black and white while her hair is gold/blonde. This colour connotes gold, power and divinity signifying her importance in the text.

The use of intertextuality in this text will appeal to a particular audience. The film references a great deal to the neo film noir Sin City, with the use of colour and the female dominant femme fatale character. Sin City appeals to a male audience due to the action genre, this trailer could also appeal to the same audience due to the intertextuality. In terms of the Uses and Gratifications theory, a female audience might realise and accept the protagonist in the text is a form of escapism and also a male gaze, by theorist Mulvey, and therefore might aspire, from Young and Rubicam's 4Cs, to be the object of male gaze too.

Though the protagonist is an object of male gaze, it could be suggested that she sexually objectifies herself to tease the audience. The protagonist puts her leg into the frame of the shot. As she puts into the frame, it signifies self objectification, allowing the audience to fetishise her body. Another shot, a high angle, of their sexual activities signifies CCTV and spying which is voyeuristic. The fact she is on top signifies her control of the situation for both the male character and the audience.

Not only does the protagonist exert her femininity through self objectification she also presents herself as an anarchic character signified by adopting male stereotypes. The advert begins with a long shot of an unknown character speeding down the motorway, which stereotypically would be expected to be a male character. However, the audience's expectations are challenged when a medium shot of the driver shows to be a female.

In contrast, women are negatively represented in the Stella Artois text. The most obvious editing technique used in the advert is the split screen: one side shows the female getting dressed and the other side is of the beer getting "prepared". This use of split screen signifies that neither the beer nor the woman know they have been placed side by side. This puts the audience in position of control as they can voyeur the woman, in a socially acceptable way. Audiences may identify this control as patriarchy, and also identify with the unknown male character whose presence is felt within the text. This text then reinforces the idea of a patriarchal society and that women are subordinated by men.

Not only does the female share the screen with the beer, but the screen is split equally between the two "objects" which connotes the woman is equally objectified to the status of beer. It is suggested the audience is male due to the female and beer subject. Though the advert is targeted at men, it also negatively stereotypes men as people who have little respect for women which however is a dominant representation.

A range of close up shots of the female are used to fetishise her body. There is a close up shot of the womans leg slowly and elegantly rising from the bath tub. On one hand this could signify femininity and her control over it which is the oppositional reading. However, the more dominant reading is that her legs are an important part of the female body and connotes a male audience who can voyeur her body.

The text near the beginning of the trailer says "the preparation" which is an enigma code as the audience question "what event is the preparation for?". It is signified through the shots that the woman and beer preparation is for the male through the use of action codes. Action codes of both the preparation of the woman and the glass of beer are the same.

Women are represented as people who prioritise their looks and appearance, and this ad reinforces this ideology. Action codes including close ups of her: brushing her hair, doing her make up and putting on heels strongly represent women as image conscious. It could be said that the advert reinforces this representation, which is always seen in the media. Funnily enough, it could also be said that the media itself is the cause of this representation as this ideal, perfect woman is always represented in the media, and women feel they have to aspire to it.

In conclusion, both texts females are the protagonists and are sexually objectified for male audiences to fetishise and voyeur their bodies. However, while Gucci’s advert’s protagonist controls her sexuality through self objectification, the Stella Artois’ protagonist is objectified by an unknown but present male character.

In the Gucci’s ad, there are many examples in the text that signify the protagonist’s female dominance, but it is arguable whether this could be seen as a positive representation. The dominant reading is that the protagonist exerts her female dominance over the male challenging the historical patriarchal society and even subordinating males as easily manipulated and easily tempted by women and sex and this would favour feminism. However the oppositional reading which would favour the ideologies of the Stella Artois advert, might be that females can control their sexuality, but it is still for the male gaze and male dominant society.

Gender and advertising questions

1. What sort of images of women and men dominated advertising pre-1970s? Why was this the case?
Images of women were typically in the home environment as housewives and men at work but even if the women were on the job front they'd be subservient to men

2. How did the advertising of the 1970’s continue to perpetuate the stereotype of women, despite depicting women in a greater range of roles?
the content analyses of advertisng featuring women were three quarters for kitchen and bathrrom products.Women in ads were found to concerned about about beauty , cleanliness, family and pleasing others whereas men were concerned about achievement and having fun.

3. Can Gaye Tuchman’s quote regarding under-representation and the ‘symbolic annihilation of women’ still be applied in 21st Century advertising? If so, how?
advertisng now is less gender sterotyped but i think its pertty much equal except for the fact that women are stil sexually objectifed a lot more than men suggesting women aer still concerned with beauty and pleasing others eg page 3 in the Sun.

4. Do you agree that adverts, such as those for the 1990’s Boots No. 7, ‘It’s not make-up. It’s ammunition.’ campaign, are post-feminist (thereby representing women as better than men?). Explain your answer.
Ikind of agree as ammunition is working against the men and the tagline suggests that the women are in control.

5. Is the representation of women by the media accountable for the results of a survey in which ‘women were up to ten times more likely than men to be unhappy with their body image’?
the campaign was criticised and they thought its just the idea of the women needing a man once again although it could be argues that its unnatural for women to wear makeup to feel confident about themselves so its an unequal message compared to men as they don't have to go to so much trouble.

6. Is the contemporary representation of men in advertising perhaps also a negative one where they too are treated as sex objects?
not that much as women are seen as the primary sex objects and even if they do have men the women is more or less naked but more men are becoming interested in their appearance and theres no stigma to do so because if they did it in the past they'd be casted out and maybe seen as too feminine.

More Adverts..

Lifebuoy Mint Refresher Soap Commercial

Its not that negative compared to adverts which are contemporary as the content can be more explicit but this advert hints at the 'devil' within a woman which is revealed at the end of the advert to persuade men to purchase the soap. But the beginning of the advert the mise en scene is very stereotypical of the olden days and as the man is in a suit implying hes the breadwinner and you can tell the woman is a housewife who puts her husband first, but as the man is sitting down and the woman comes down to him to go to his level it could show that its the beginning of women becoming more dominant as she is presented as the erotically charged person.

a variety of 15 different adverts but a few interesting ones..

2nd advert in this is different because it about bras but the way in which is done so it to not expose women as they have cardboard cutouts of women and the lady keeps moving to different ones but in adverts that show lingerie now they are less reserved.

The Avon for men advert is the start of men taking pride in their appearance and subverts the gender expectations and the saying at the end ' it has a masculine ring' it there to make the men feel like its okay to be interested in their appearance it doesn't de-masculinise them.

The snickers advert is for men as its got men running around and the chocolate is like a fuel of energy for them another chocolate which is advertised for men is Yorkie as is the saying is 'its not for girls' which demeans women so it could be seen as misogynistic.

Specsaver advert is a parody of the Lynx effect

the man is in the middle and the centre of attention and with the women coming at him from all directions hinting hes irresistible with the spray but it all clicks into place when he puts horrendous red glasses on at the end which puts the women off and this wold be where the famous ' you should of gone to Specsavers' saying comes in. This subverts the gendered assumption that men are the predators and women are the prey as the man is clearly alluring them.

Vaseline ad has both sexes which are exploited and the audience takes voyeuristic pleasure and the whole advert seems to be naturalised as everyone is stripped down so its kind of like when you were born therefore the advert doesn't hint at any patriarchy or misogyny because the humans are gathered in their natural state.

portrayl of women in adverts

Negative representation - Secret Obsession

Women are portrayed as really sexual and the voiceover is sultry as is the editing style it looks like she awoke from sleep naked and the actual advert was banned due to the uncensored sexual content. The primary audience I would say are males due this provacative nature of the advert where the women is self objectifying herself so the male audience take voyeuristic pleasure in looking at her and they may buy this perfume for their partners. The secondary audience I would say would be females as the perfume is for women but the male gaze is dominant so it could be argued that the woman is presented as a femme fatale who allures the audience with her body. Feminists would not approve of this as it reinforces that females are seen as sexual objects by men so therefore the patriarchal society is reinforced.




postive representation of women- Jean Paul GaultierLe boudoir

The amount of women gathered together shows unity which feminists would approve of and its not a negative representation but no so much positive either as they could be seen as vain, but overall they are conforming to their gendered stereotype in the advert of being womanly and the mise en scene is light and fresh with the women wearing dresses so that the male gaze would be on them.