Identities and the Media: Feminism

1)      Read Playing With The Past: Post-feminism and the Media (MM40, page 64 - ourMedia Magazine archive is here).

2) What are the two texts the article focuses on?

Pan Am, Beyonce

3) What examples are provided from the two texts of the 'male gaze' (Mulvey)?

pan am- stewardess are used and these are considered to be looked up to and aspired; this is an official example of the male gaze.

beyonce- In her video, there is her wearing an outfit that exposes her as well as her winking. This causes Beyonce to be objectified and be seen as a sexual objectified which highlights the male gaze that was mentioned by Mulvey

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 this it’s hard to hold a view against that point. One could argue that the job of feminism is completed as women are now freely doing things they wouldn’t have done years ago. However, one could argue that with more rights, women are just ruining their images and becoming victims to men. It is hard to hold a view as both arguments are debateble, in some sense they have done a lot for women and in other sense, there is still a long way to go as there is still is unfairness that till this takes place, there is still sexism and victimization going on.

5) Choose three words/phrases from the glossary of the article and write their definitions on your blog.

Feminism- the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.

Post-feminism – is a reaction against some perceived contradictions and absences of second-wave feminism. The term post-feminism is ill-defined and is used in inconsistent ways. It was historically used to pose a contrast with a prevailing or preceding feminism.

Third wave feminism – Proponents of third-wave feminism claim that it allows women to define feminism for themselves by incorporating their own identities into the belief system of what feminism is and what it can become through one's own perspective.

Patriarchy – a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.

Male Gaze – is a term discussed by Laura Mulvey in her essay, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (1975). It is used to describe when the audience is put into the perspective of a (heterosexual) man. Female characters are sexualized, and the camera may zero in on female body parts considered sexual.