Feminist theory: blog tasks

 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 Beyoncé 

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

It shows that there is still a need for feminism however the texts like Beyoncé are almost inviting it in and much different to periods of time before 

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 

Nostalgia: A sentimental longing for the past, often only remembering the positives from the past 

Feminism: A movement aimed at defining, establishing and defending women’s rights to men and equality to men 

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?

Children are taught to perform their gender from early so that they align themselves with certain tastes and behaviours befitting their gender category 

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

Non binary refers to when u are not a specific gender and butler states gender is a performance and the media can influence this 

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

As the media still gives specific roles to gender for example, quality street, tide or old spice

Beyoncé music analysis 

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

as the repeated actions of a gender creates the performance and beyonce is recreating this


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

she might talk about the male gaze as this may gain the attention of males and that they are objectified 

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

I think that beyonce is reinforcing the stereotypes and the male gaze by the way she represents herself in this video

Will Jays music analysis 

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

as in recent years if men done this it would be seen as feminine and not manly however, it may now be seen as normal


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

that in the late 80s men may go away from traditional stereotypes

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 believe that young men are still pressure to act in a certain way from the media however it has changed from recent years and will most likely keep changing