Monday 29 December 2008
Sheila's Wheels
This advert represents women in a different light as the women in this advert are not trying to attract men towards the product but are trying to attract more women then men as they make the females feel independent with their own car insurance and 'for ladies who insure their cars' obviously confirms that point.
The whole theme of the advert is all about the independence of women and the colours in the advert emphasizes the theme and the attitude of the women, which is independence and the pink, which is seen as a 'girly' colour is the main colour.
Dior - J'adore
This advert is a bit different to the other contemporary adverts chosen as their is one character in the advert and the only character in the advert in a celebrity, charlize theron and that adds a credibility factor to the product which will attract an audience of both female, who would want to buy the product because of the actress and males who would be gazing at the woman.
The actress in this advert is one of high recognition and it makes it even more eye catching in the advert when she takes her clothes off and is representing a pure woman with her body but also at the same time she could be seen to be representing the promiscuous and provocative woman, historical stereotypes are shining through in this advert, the male gaze.
Historical Text
Although this text is not too old, it still shows a major change from the way women were represented in professional wrestling compared to todays representations. This video clip is from a WWF show in 1986. Although the WWF and WWE are the same company, a major change has taken place throughout the years. This is likely due to changes in society which have taken place, for example before the 1950's, women were not even a part of professional wrestling, but now there are many entering this industry.
"The Fabulous Moohlah" is represented as a hard hitting aggressive wrestler, which is rarely seen on todays wrestling shows. She is shown as aggressive by saying to the interviewer that she could beat him up anytime she wanted which is different to todays shows as the women would perhaps flirt for a minute with the interviewer or another wrestler backstage. Moohlah doesnt appear to be wearing provocative clothing which indicates that she is not meant to be represented in a promiscuous way. Her wrestling attire was normally similar to a womans swimming costume, which covers the cleavage etc. This is obviously not the case with todays women in wrestling, as they often have boob jobs done and show their cleavage to the world. Her glasses are gold with '$' signs which could indicate that her character/gimmick is a wealthy one.
Not only has the representation of women changed in professional wrestling, but the representation of men had also changed rapidly. From the 50's -80's, wrestlers would need to have an outstanding figure with long locks. This was the common look for a wrestler - big and powerful. Examples of this are Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant and The Ultimate Warrior. Nowadays, there are all sorts of wrestlers -similar to boxing, they are divided into weights, i.e heavyweights, cruiserweights etc. A popular look for a wrestler in the past was to have long hair, however this is not the case anymore as about 1/2 of the roster has short or even no hair. This may be due to fashion changes in society or perhaps to give a certain look to a particular wrestler with a "gimmick"
Monday 15 December 2008
Diet Coke Break
The way in which the male comes down from up above could indicate that he is represented as a God like character to the women. The low angle shots of him coming down illustrates that he is a powerful figure in this advert. This also brings up the ideology of a patriarchal society as the male has this sexual power of this woman due to his perfect looks. The male is also the subject of the female gaze as he is placed there for all woman to look at.
Flake
This advert portrays women in a different light and represents them as a sex object. The woman in the advert is dressed a skirt and shes seen unwrapping the Flake Chocolate almost in a sexual manner. The fact that the women is holding the Flake in such a sexual way makes it a phallic symbol. The women her self is an object of the male gaze therefore, she is represented as a sex object.
Flash
The Flash commercial is very similar to the Shake and Vac commercial as they both represent the female in the advertisement as a stereotypical housewife. The female promoting the product is seen wearing a typical housewife outfit consisting of an apron, a skirt etc. This represents the woman as a housewife not only isit the outfit that represents the woman as a stereotypical housewife its the domestic household tasks she is carrying out such as cleaning cupboard, cleaning windows etc. This all reinforces the idea that during that time period society expected women to fulfill these roles and take up the responsibility of a housewife leaving the male to work and allowing him to chase his dream.
Shake and Vac
At the beginning of the advert you can see the woman is dressed in a typical housewife outfit which instantly represents her as the housewife. The advert itself is promoting a cleaning product and with a woman promoting this cleaning product it brings up the ideology of a patriarchy society as males are not seen once in this advert therefore, it is seen as the males are the ones who are placing their women in the household making them clean. The woman is also seen carrying out domestic household tasks such as hoover once again representing her as the stereotypical housewife. This shows that womens place in society during that time did not change and they were there to please their husband, look after their children and make sure the house was clean. Society now expects much more women and these stereotypes attached to women are disposed of as women are more likely to go out and get a job.
Sunday 14 December 2008
Three Ways The Number of Female Directors Could Improve
One of the ways which the number of female directors could improve is by the male sharing the household work with the female. There is the "new man" being formed and this needs to continue in order for the females to have more free time and chase their dreams of directing. Women are currently having to take care of their young children which means they have no time to direct hence the low number of female directors. Therefore, it is seen that one of the ways in which the number of female directors could improve is by the male sharing household tasks with the women and also men sharing child rearing.
Five Female Directors
Sofia Coppola:
Born on May 14, 1972 in New York. Sofia Coppola has been one of the rare female directors to get recognition for her productions. She has won an Academy Award for being a screenwriter and is to be nominated for another Academy Award for directing. She is the daughter Francis Ford Coppola who directed the well known Godfather. She started off as an actor and is mostly known for her role in The Godfather as Mary Corleone but she later went on to directing. Her three most recognisable films are Lick the Star(1998), Virgin Suicide (1999) and Lost in Translation (2003) which won a Academy Award.
Films she has made:
1996:Bed Bath and Beyond
1998:Lick the Star
1999:The Virgin Suicide
2003:Lost in Translation
2006:Mary Antoinette
Jane Campion:
Born on 30th of April, 1954 in Wellington, New Zealand, Jane Campion is a Academy Award winning screenwriter and has also been nominated for an Academy Award for directing. Jane Campion started off directing by making films at the Australian Film Telivision and Radio School. Her first short film, Peel won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. She later went on to direct many other films that won her international awards.
Films she had made:
1989:Sweetie
1990:An Angel at My Table
1993:The Piano
1996:The Portrait of a Lady
1999:Holy Smoke
2003:In the Cut
2006:The Water Diary
2008:8
Amy Heckerling:
Amy Heckerling was born on May 7 , 1954 in the Bronx. She ones of the few female directors to have multiple box office hits. Heckerling attended New York University where she studied film and then later went on to direct her first film, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. This movie was heavily praised and pathed a way for her success. She then produced another massive hit starring John Travolta titled Look Whos Talking. This movie was very successful that there was a sequel once again directed by Amy Heckerling titled Look Whos Talking Too. She then went on to produce another box office hit, Clueless. Her next few films were not as popular.
Films she had made:
1977: Getting it Over With
1982: Fast Time at Ridgemont High
1984: Johnny Dangerously
1985: National Lampoons European Vacation
1989: Look Whos Talking
1990: Look Whos Talking Too
1995: Clueless
2000: Loser
2007: I Could Never Be Your Woman
Gurinder Chadha:
Gurinder Chadha was born on January 10 , 1960 in Nairobi, Kenya. She then moved to Southall, England when she was 2. She started off as a BBC Radio reporter until she made a documentary for Channel 4. She then went on to film production in 1993. Her main hits are, Bend it Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging which is her latest film.
Films she has made:
1992: Acting Our Age
1993: Bhaji on the Beach
1994: What do you can an Indian women whos funny?
1994: Nice Arrangement
2000: Whats Cooking
2002: Bend it like Beckham
2004: Bride and Prejudice
2008: Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging
Nora Ephron:
Nora Ephron May 19, 1941 in New York . She graduated from Wellesley College and then went on to be a reporter for the New York Post. She then went on to be a successful writer for the womens issue of Esquire. She later went on to film and directed box office hits such as Bewitched and Sleepless in Seattle.
Films she had made:
1992:This is My Life
1993:Sleepless in Seattle
1994:Mixed Nuts
1996: Michael1
998: You've Got Mail
2005: Bewitched
Born on May 14, 1972 in New York. Sofia Coppola has been one of the rare female directors to get recognition for her productions. She has won an Academy Award for being a screenwriter and is to be nominated for another Academy Award for directing. She is the daughter Francis Ford Coppola who directed the well known Godfather. She started off as an actor and is mostly known for her role in The Godfather as Mary Corleone but she later went on to directing. Her three most recognisable films are Lick the Star(1998), Virgin Suicide (1999) and Lost in Translation (2003) which won a Academy Award.
Films she has made:
1996:Bed Bath and Beyond
1998:Lick the Star
1999:The Virgin Suicide
2003:Lost in Translation
2006:Mary Antoinette
Jane Campion:
Born on 30th of April, 1954 in Wellington, New Zealand, Jane Campion is a Academy Award winning screenwriter and has also been nominated for an Academy Award for directing. Jane Campion started off directing by making films at the Australian Film Telivision and Radio School. Her first short film, Peel won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. She later went on to direct many other films that won her international awards.
Films she had made:
1989:Sweetie
1990:An Angel at My Table
1993:The Piano
1996:The Portrait of a Lady
1999:Holy Smoke
2003:In the Cut
2006:The Water Diary
2008:8
Amy Heckerling:
Amy Heckerling was born on May 7 , 1954 in the Bronx. She ones of the few female directors to have multiple box office hits. Heckerling attended New York University where she studied film and then later went on to direct her first film, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. This movie was heavily praised and pathed a way for her success. She then produced another massive hit starring John Travolta titled Look Whos Talking. This movie was very successful that there was a sequel once again directed by Amy Heckerling titled Look Whos Talking Too. She then went on to produce another box office hit, Clueless. Her next few films were not as popular.
Films she had made:
1977: Getting it Over With
1982: Fast Time at Ridgemont High
1984: Johnny Dangerously
1985: National Lampoons European Vacation
1989: Look Whos Talking
1990: Look Whos Talking Too
1995: Clueless
2000: Loser
2007: I Could Never Be Your Woman
Gurinder Chadha:
Gurinder Chadha was born on January 10 , 1960 in Nairobi, Kenya. She then moved to Southall, England when she was 2. She started off as a BBC Radio reporter until she made a documentary for Channel 4. She then went on to film production in 1993. Her main hits are, Bend it Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging which is her latest film.
Films she has made:
1992: Acting Our Age
1993: Bhaji on the Beach
1994: What do you can an Indian women whos funny?
1994: Nice Arrangement
2000: Whats Cooking
2002: Bend it like Beckham
2004: Bride and Prejudice
2008: Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging
Nora Ephron:
Nora Ephron May 19, 1941 in New York . She graduated from Wellesley College and then went on to be a reporter for the New York Post. She then went on to be a successful writer for the womens issue of Esquire. She later went on to film and directed box office hits such as Bewitched and Sleepless in Seattle.
Films she had made:
1992:This is My Life
1993:Sleepless in Seattle
1994:Mixed Nuts
1996: Michael1
998: You've Got Mail
2005: Bewitched
Why Female Directors Are a Rare Sight
The media in general is dominated by males so a lack of women directors is not much of a suprise. A variety of actors and (especially) actresses have wished to work with more women directors as it would be a change and the actresses feel as though men do not know how to represent women properly. The reasons behind the lack of women directors are...
One reason is because of the prehistoric times when the men used to carry the equipment because it was too heavy for women as men are physically stronger than women in most cases. The equipment would of needed around 100 to 150 large men to carry therefore, a hierachy was built upon this and females were seen as useless. Although this weight of equipment is no longer a problem the hierachy still exists and women still find it difficult to break into directing.
Another reason is womens role in a household. Women have to take care of their children while the men go off and work leaving women unable to direct. Although this is starting to change in society and males are sharing this role ("the new man") it has to continue in order for women to find the time to direct a film.
Film is such a male-dominated industry. There is alot of "who you know" in terms of how you get promoted. the whole way the business is constructed means there are just men at every level which makes it really hard for women to get into.
Having children also causes women to not succeed in the film industry and become directors. This is because directing asks for your all and expects you to sacrifice all of your time so that you can spend it on the project. Having a child makes it all the more difficult but this can also fixed by males taking on more a househusband role.
The last and the most obvious reason is that men control the money in the world. Therefore, they are going to decide who to give the money to and unfortunately it is not the women hence the lack of female directors.
One reason is because of the prehistoric times when the men used to carry the equipment because it was too heavy for women as men are physically stronger than women in most cases. The equipment would of needed around 100 to 150 large men to carry therefore, a hierachy was built upon this and females were seen as useless. Although this weight of equipment is no longer a problem the hierachy still exists and women still find it difficult to break into directing.
Another reason is womens role in a household. Women have to take care of their children while the men go off and work leaving women unable to direct. Although this is starting to change in society and males are sharing this role ("the new man") it has to continue in order for women to find the time to direct a film.
Film is such a male-dominated industry. There is alot of "who you know" in terms of how you get promoted. the whole way the business is constructed means there are just men at every level which makes it really hard for women to get into.
Having children also causes women to not succeed in the film industry and become directors. This is because directing asks for your all and expects you to sacrifice all of your time so that you can spend it on the project. Having a child makes it all the more difficult but this can also fixed by males taking on more a househusband role.
The last and the most obvious reason is that men control the money in the world. Therefore, they are going to decide who to give the money to and unfortunately it is not the women hence the lack of female directors.
'Gender in Advertising' Theorists
Gunter (1995) is a theorist who focuses on how gender (specifically women) are being represented in magazines, comparing their representations in different decades. He found out that women in magazines adverts prior to the 70's were hardly shown in paid work and if they were shown in paid work then they would be in jobs that would usually be associated with the female gender, for example a secretary or a hairdresser. Gunter also concludes that the 'housewife' image was in decline after the 50's but was still quite common in the 60's and 70's. Even though women were shown more as working women, Gunter still found that women were still assumed to be performing domestic duties.
Cumberbatch (1995) done a study of 500 prime time tv ads in the UK and found that advertisers had seemingly become wary of showing women doing housework, which was seen in 7% of the ad's, but also it was shown for the first time that men were shown in the kitchen doing the cooking more often than women. This could be described as one of the instances of the 'new man' coming into affect and men were introduced to more domesticated jobs and women were shown as more dominant than men with there being a role reversal.
Scheibe (1979) done a study of tv ad's and included an assessment of what male and female characters were shown to be concerned about. He concluded that women in ad's were shown to be more concerned about beauty, cleanliness, family and pleasing others, whereas men were only more concerned about achievements and having fun and even if both gender groups were ahown in unusual places or settings, these characteristics were seen to be shining through their role at the moment. This goes some way to show that once a group in the media has been placed in a catagory or has been given a 'label', that stereotype stays with them even when not in their 'mediated habitat'.
Macdonald (1995) was taking an oppositional view to the concept that groups in ad's were normally confirming to their stereotypes in other forms of the media and he noted that "advertisers generally lagged behind women's magazines in the cultivation of new modes of address, even when the evidence suggested that commercial advantages could be gained from modernising their approach", this is Macdonalds arguement that advertsiers were doing nothing to update and modernise womens stereotypes and how they were shown and the conclusion can be drawn that advertisers were the group of people who carried on with the stereotypes given to the women.
Greer- "every woman knows that she is a failure if she is not beautiful", this is one of the more noticable quotations from Greer as he sums up the representation of women both modernised and stereotypical, even in the news where all of the news readers are good looking and young as half of the hype about the news shows is if the news readers are good looking or not. This quotation is a reminder from Greer that the gender equality situation remains unchanged nowadays. "Thirty years ago it was enough to look beautiful now a woman has to have a tight, toned body, including her buttocks and thighs, so that she is in good touch all over", this quotations best describes what messages modelling agencies send out and what attitudes women have these days.
Natasha Walters (1998) quotes suggest that women nowadays are more or less happy with the way they look and instead of women being the unsatisfied with the way they look, it is actually the vast majority of the men who are left feeling unsatisfied with the way that they look, which can be co-insided with the new man and even further towards the metrosexual man who is alot more feminine. "If only 4% of men think that they are attractive, we should not be too quick to argue that only women feel cast down by the pressures of beautiful ideals" (1998). She then goes onto making the point about how more attractive people earn more money than their plain counterparts and this was more apparant for men then women. However, there have been statistics who disagree with walter as it was concluded from a survey that women are ten times more likely to be more unhappy with their body image than men.
Cortese, who wrote in a book called 'provocateur', argues that women are more or less shown to be the perfect provocateur as they are made to look provocative through editing and make up and clothing. " Displays youth, good looks, sexual seductivness and [beauty] perfection", and this is very illustrative of how various companies make women look for any type of commercial or tv advert and this is a common factor, for example in the 'male gaze' theory where mulveys argues that women are just sexual objects and have no purpose in the media, this is going some way as to why this is the case, as women are made to look sexy and seductive, therefore attracting the males attention.
Cumberbatch (1995) done a study of 500 prime time tv ads in the UK and found that advertisers had seemingly become wary of showing women doing housework, which was seen in 7% of the ad's, but also it was shown for the first time that men were shown in the kitchen doing the cooking more often than women. This could be described as one of the instances of the 'new man' coming into affect and men were introduced to more domesticated jobs and women were shown as more dominant than men with there being a role reversal.
Scheibe (1979) done a study of tv ad's and included an assessment of what male and female characters were shown to be concerned about. He concluded that women in ad's were shown to be more concerned about beauty, cleanliness, family and pleasing others, whereas men were only more concerned about achievements and having fun and even if both gender groups were ahown in unusual places or settings, these characteristics were seen to be shining through their role at the moment. This goes some way to show that once a group in the media has been placed in a catagory or has been given a 'label', that stereotype stays with them even when not in their 'mediated habitat'.
Macdonald (1995) was taking an oppositional view to the concept that groups in ad's were normally confirming to their stereotypes in other forms of the media and he noted that "advertisers generally lagged behind women's magazines in the cultivation of new modes of address, even when the evidence suggested that commercial advantages could be gained from modernising their approach", this is Macdonalds arguement that advertsiers were doing nothing to update and modernise womens stereotypes and how they were shown and the conclusion can be drawn that advertisers were the group of people who carried on with the stereotypes given to the women.
Greer- "every woman knows that she is a failure if she is not beautiful", this is one of the more noticable quotations from Greer as he sums up the representation of women both modernised and stereotypical, even in the news where all of the news readers are good looking and young as half of the hype about the news shows is if the news readers are good looking or not. This quotation is a reminder from Greer that the gender equality situation remains unchanged nowadays. "Thirty years ago it was enough to look beautiful now a woman has to have a tight, toned body, including her buttocks and thighs, so that she is in good touch all over", this quotations best describes what messages modelling agencies send out and what attitudes women have these days.
Natasha Walters (1998) quotes suggest that women nowadays are more or less happy with the way they look and instead of women being the unsatisfied with the way they look, it is actually the vast majority of the men who are left feeling unsatisfied with the way that they look, which can be co-insided with the new man and even further towards the metrosexual man who is alot more feminine. "If only 4% of men think that they are attractive, we should not be too quick to argue that only women feel cast down by the pressures of beautiful ideals" (1998). She then goes onto making the point about how more attractive people earn more money than their plain counterparts and this was more apparant for men then women. However, there have been statistics who disagree with walter as it was concluded from a survey that women are ten times more likely to be more unhappy with their body image than men.
Cortese, who wrote in a book called 'provocateur', argues that women are more or less shown to be the perfect provocateur as they are made to look provocative through editing and make up and clothing. " Displays youth, good looks, sexual seductivness and [beauty] perfection", and this is very illustrative of how various companies make women look for any type of commercial or tv advert and this is a common factor, for example in the 'male gaze' theory where mulveys argues that women are just sexual objects and have no purpose in the media, this is going some way as to why this is the case, as women are made to look sexy and seductive, therefore attracting the males attention.
Monday 8 December 2008
Book Quotes
'AS Media Studies' - John Price, Joe Nicholas.
Rosalind Coward - Female Desire, 1984: "The perfect female body would be between 5'5" and 5'8", long-legged, tanned and vigorous looking
Hollows Joanne: Feminism, femininity and popular culture
"second-wave feminism is seen as a product of the past." pg1* "male character is presented as doing a favour for his wife by helping out in order to get in her good books, thereby confirming the nation that it is normal for women to be responsible for domestic labour." pg 23t above all without a spare inch of flesh. Brown, slim, lively and lovely...that's how we would all like to see ourselves on holiday."
pg.111
'Visual pleasure and narrative cinema' -Mulvey, Laura, 1975,- "The image of woman as (passive) raw material for the (active) gaze.....The arguement returns again to the psychoanalytic background that woman as representation signifies castration".
Riley Glenda:The Female Frontier
"domestic service attracted a wide variety of women." pg 126
Rosalind Coward - Female Desire, 1984: "The perfect female body would be between 5'5" and 5'8", long-legged, tanned and vigorous looking
Hollows Joanne: Feminism, femininity and popular culture
"second-wave feminism is seen as a product of the past." pg1* "male character is presented as doing a favour for his wife by helping out in order to get in her good books, thereby confirming the nation that it is normal for women to be responsible for domestic labour." pg 23t above all without a spare inch of flesh. Brown, slim, lively and lovely...that's how we would all like to see ourselves on holiday."
pg.111
'Visual pleasure and narrative cinema' -Mulvey, Laura, 1975,- "The image of woman as (passive) raw material for the (active) gaze.....The arguement returns again to the psychoanalytic background that woman as representation signifies castration".
Riley Glenda:The Female Frontier
"domestic service attracted a wide variety of women." pg 126
1990's - American Pie
This scene from American Pie represents the woman in the photograph as a sex object by refering to her as a "mum i'd like to f***".
1990's - Pulp Fiction
This scene from Pulp Fiction is one of the key scenes throughout the entire film.
1980's - Rocky III
The third installment in the Rocky series was released in the 80's. The training scene is famous within all Rocky movies with its very own theme tune.
1980's - Grease
Grease is one of the most sucessful musicals ever made and throughout the 80's, pop music was begining to grow popular.
1970's - The Excorcist
The slasher genre was rapidly growing in popularity throughout the 70's, especially with teenagers and one of the most sucessful horror films ever is The Exorcist.
1970's - Jaws
Jaws was one of many of the new violent films which were being released throughout the 70's. Others being Alien and other horror films such as The Exorcist.
1960's - Planet of the Apes
During the 60's, sci-fi films were being introduced and Planet of the Apes was one of the first made.
1960's - The Sound of Music
This is a very famous scene from the film "The Sound of Music" which is a musical.
1950's - High Noon
This film genre was very popular during the 50's. Western films rarely had women in them and only had men acting as cowboys.
1950's - Vertigo
Throughout this video clip, the male character follows the female character around which could support the conventions of how men and women were represented during the 50's. Men were shown as confident and dominant while women were shown as frightend and vunerable.
Thursday 4 December 2008
Representation of Women Today
Women and men are usually equal.Sexist rep in tv ads.
Women twice as likely to be in ads about domestic products.Women in ads are seen to be sexy, perfect and beautiful.
Postfeminism.
Unequal message as men arent expected to go to so much trouble.
Gender messages in advertising are singled out.
Media culture is quick to pick up out women for the smallest aberrations.Female prototype.
Examples of leading female characters are: charlies angles, and what women want.
Natasha Walter quotes surveys sugesst that today's women are more-or-less happy with they look, whereas a cast majority of men felt unsatisfied with thei own appearance.
Loaded- The truth is, it's women themeselves who see these freaks as the epitome of perfection.
Ibid- The exemplary female prototype in advertising, regardless of product or service, displays youth, good looks, sexual seductivesness and perfection.
Hollywood culture is offering in place of bold spectacle of male masculinity and violence, is a self effacing man, one who now, learns to live instead of fighting.
Women twice as likely to be in ads about domestic products.Women in ads are seen to be sexy, perfect and beautiful.
Postfeminism.
Unequal message as men arent expected to go to so much trouble.
Gender messages in advertising are singled out.
Media culture is quick to pick up out women for the smallest aberrations.Female prototype.
Examples of leading female characters are: charlies angles, and what women want.
Natasha Walter quotes surveys sugesst that today's women are more-or-less happy with they look, whereas a cast majority of men felt unsatisfied with thei own appearance.
Loaded- The truth is, it's women themeselves who see these freaks as the epitome of perfection.
Ibid- The exemplary female prototype in advertising, regardless of product or service, displays youth, good looks, sexual seductivesness and perfection.
Hollywood culture is offering in place of bold spectacle of male masculinity and violence, is a self effacing man, one who now, learns to live instead of fighting.
Representation of Women in the Past
In the 1950's to the 1970's there were only 25-30% female characters.Action adventure shows- 15 percent of the leading character were female.
Women's movement had been largely ignored by television.
Female charcters were unlikley to work.
Men to be the dominant character making all the decisions.
Men- assertive.
Females- passive.
The role of a women in a film almost always revolves around her physical attraction.
Women are given less screen time.
Male role films- Indian Jones
Female leading roles- Tomb raider.
Tuchman asserts that those women who were shown to be working were portrayed as "incompetents and inferiors" , as victimes, or having "trivial" intrests.
Dyer 1987- Womens issues have arrived on the media agenda- documentaries, discussion programmes and dramas on female topics such as infertility, cervical and breast cancer, rape etc.
Kathi Maio- observed that Hollywood's about gender were "often reprehensible."
E. Ann Kaplan- "women are ultimately refused a voice, a discourse and their desire is subjected to male desire. They live out silently.
Women's movement had been largely ignored by television.
Female charcters were unlikley to work.
Men to be the dominant character making all the decisions.
Men- assertive.
Females- passive.
The role of a women in a film almost always revolves around her physical attraction.
Women are given less screen time.
Male role films- Indian Jones
Female leading roles- Tomb raider.
Tuchman asserts that those women who were shown to be working were portrayed as "incompetents and inferiors" , as victimes, or having "trivial" intrests.
Dyer 1987- Womens issues have arrived on the media agenda- documentaries, discussion programmes and dramas on female topics such as infertility, cervical and breast cancer, rape etc.
Kathi Maio- observed that Hollywood's about gender were "often reprehensible."
E. Ann Kaplan- "women are ultimately refused a voice, a discourse and their desire is subjected to male desire. They live out silently.
Thursday 20 November 2008
5 Key Points From A Grade Essay
"Titles such as Loaded, FHM and Maim distinguish themselves from pornographic publications today"
"Full of women posing naked... similar to those in Playboy, a top shelf publication"
"Modern magazine follow the conventions of Playboy, in which women are depicted as objects for men's contemplation and enjoyment"
"hold an overriding emphasis on penetrative sex and repeatedly represent women as the weaker gender who were made only to make men's life more enjoyable and entertaining"
"The scantily dressed females represent women as sex objects and exhibit an overpowering masculinity to the audience and therefore re-enforce negative stereotypes in the media"
"Full of women posing naked... similar to those in Playboy, a top shelf publication"
"Modern magazine follow the conventions of Playboy, in which women are depicted as objects for men's contemplation and enjoyment"
"hold an overriding emphasis on penetrative sex and repeatedly represent women as the weaker gender who were made only to make men's life more enjoyable and entertaining"
"The scantily dressed females represent women as sex objects and exhibit an overpowering masculinity to the audience and therefore re-enforce negative stereotypes in the media"
The Pluralistic Model vs The Hegemony Model
The pluralistic model lets the audience are in an active role, which means that they respond to texts with their own perspective and are not so gullable to believe everything they are told by the media. The Hegemony model puts the audience in a passive role. It is a biased view on the media which is seen by the audience. It controls how the audience respond to a text. I feel as though these two models are equally significant due to the fact that I can be both active and passive depeding on the media text that I am viewing. For example, I would be a passive with a newspaper or news show, however I would be active with any fictional television shows.
Sunday 16 November 2008
Analysis of Video Clip
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iRpJ7XvxgTE
The scene which I have chosen to analyse is a backstage segment between one of WWE's "couples", Beth Pheonix and Santino Marella.
Throughout this scene, there is no music played. The only sound other than the two characters speaking is the non diegetic sound from the audience in the arena. The lighting used within this scene is high key. This clip has not had anything edited to it as it was originally played live on television.
The institution which produce this text is World Wrestling Entertainment,inc, therefore meaning it has no connections with Hollywood. This show in which this scene was showed on is WWE Raw (WWE Monday Night Raw). WWE promote this show with regular advertisements on television channels such as Sky Sports and Sky One which indicates that it is a commercial television show. WWE is a mainstream distribution. WWE shows are aired on prime time. WWE Raw is their "flagship show" and is shown live at 2AM from the United States on Tuesday Mornings on Sky Sports 3 in the UK. The majority of UK viewers watch it when it is repeated on Thursday nights at 9PM on Sky Sports 3. WWE Smackdown is shown on Friday nights at 10PM on Sky Sports 3.
WWE often refer to themselves as "Sports Entertainment". They are most certainlly a hybrid genre as their shows contain elements from a variety of genres which would be in soap operas or dramas. Due to the fact that WWE is "fixed/scripted", it is clear that it is a broadcast fiction. WWE shows do contain the majority of elements in which a broadcast fiction does, for example both have a title sequence, theme tune and a tragedy.
Santino Marella, a young Itallian man and Beth Pheonix, a young American woman are one of WWE's "couples". It is often asked, "who wears the trousers in this relationship?". This is due to the fact that Santino often ends up being defeated in matches and is the "underdog" while Beth is a dominant woman who is often victorious. Their characteristics are illustrated strongly throughout this clip (last weeks episode of Raw). Beth Pheonix, the number 1 female villian in WWE, is represented in two ways. She is represented as a promiscuous sex object as well as a dominant tough unstoppable force. The clothing she is wearing is provocative as it is leather and shows her cleavage. The fact that it is black and red connotes evil, blood and danger. Unlike the other women in WWE, Beth Pheonix is quite muscular which also illustrates that she is strong and powerful. Her blonde curly locks and black leather provacative costume represents her as a sex object, in a similar way to Catwoman. From the way she shouts at Santino and destroys his mobile phone shows that "she is the man in the relationship". Santino Marella is also a villian in WWE, however is slowly gaining fans from his comic character. He is represented in a vunerable way in this scene from his girlish scream to his facial expression as the scene closes as it looks as though he is about to cry. As this scene opens it looks as though Beth cares about Santino as he is complaining about his loss, however as he breaks the bad news to her the stereotypes of men and women reverse and makes Santino look physically weak while Beth looks physically strong. Both of these representations are not fair however could in some ways reflect society.
WWE's primary audience are children, in particulary males aged 6- 15. WWE's secondary audience is males aged 15- 20, however WWE do intend to appeal to everybody. WWE is extremelly popular in the United States which is where the majority of the fans are. However WWE is aired worldwide, therefore is popular amongst many different countries. Not only do males watch WWE, but females do so aswell. This is due to the "female gaze".
A message which may be given from this text is that men and women are equal, therefore the days were a man could push around his woman are over (feminism). Also the audience may be sympathetic to Santino when he is about to cry even though it is done for comedy.
The narrative structure begins with an equilibrium while Santino complains about his loss to Beth, however a disequalibrium begins once Santino breaks the bad news to Beth. A new equalibrium does not occur.
The scene which I have chosen to analyse is a backstage segment between one of WWE's "couples", Beth Pheonix and Santino Marella.
Throughout this scene, there is no music played. The only sound other than the two characters speaking is the non diegetic sound from the audience in the arena. The lighting used within this scene is high key. This clip has not had anything edited to it as it was originally played live on television.
The institution which produce this text is World Wrestling Entertainment,inc, therefore meaning it has no connections with Hollywood. This show in which this scene was showed on is WWE Raw (WWE Monday Night Raw). WWE promote this show with regular advertisements on television channels such as Sky Sports and Sky One which indicates that it is a commercial television show. WWE is a mainstream distribution. WWE shows are aired on prime time. WWE Raw is their "flagship show" and is shown live at 2AM from the United States on Tuesday Mornings on Sky Sports 3 in the UK. The majority of UK viewers watch it when it is repeated on Thursday nights at 9PM on Sky Sports 3. WWE Smackdown is shown on Friday nights at 10PM on Sky Sports 3.
WWE often refer to themselves as "Sports Entertainment". They are most certainlly a hybrid genre as their shows contain elements from a variety of genres which would be in soap operas or dramas. Due to the fact that WWE is "fixed/scripted", it is clear that it is a broadcast fiction. WWE shows do contain the majority of elements in which a broadcast fiction does, for example both have a title sequence, theme tune and a tragedy.
Santino Marella, a young Itallian man and Beth Pheonix, a young American woman are one of WWE's "couples". It is often asked, "who wears the trousers in this relationship?". This is due to the fact that Santino often ends up being defeated in matches and is the "underdog" while Beth is a dominant woman who is often victorious. Their characteristics are illustrated strongly throughout this clip (last weeks episode of Raw). Beth Pheonix, the number 1 female villian in WWE, is represented in two ways. She is represented as a promiscuous sex object as well as a dominant tough unstoppable force. The clothing she is wearing is provocative as it is leather and shows her cleavage. The fact that it is black and red connotes evil, blood and danger. Unlike the other women in WWE, Beth Pheonix is quite muscular which also illustrates that she is strong and powerful. Her blonde curly locks and black leather provacative costume represents her as a sex object, in a similar way to Catwoman. From the way she shouts at Santino and destroys his mobile phone shows that "she is the man in the relationship". Santino Marella is also a villian in WWE, however is slowly gaining fans from his comic character. He is represented in a vunerable way in this scene from his girlish scream to his facial expression as the scene closes as it looks as though he is about to cry. As this scene opens it looks as though Beth cares about Santino as he is complaining about his loss, however as he breaks the bad news to her the stereotypes of men and women reverse and makes Santino look physically weak while Beth looks physically strong. Both of these representations are not fair however could in some ways reflect society.
WWE's primary audience are children, in particulary males aged 6- 15. WWE's secondary audience is males aged 15- 20, however WWE do intend to appeal to everybody. WWE is extremelly popular in the United States which is where the majority of the fans are. However WWE is aired worldwide, therefore is popular amongst many different countries. Not only do males watch WWE, but females do so aswell. This is due to the "female gaze".
A message which may be given from this text is that men and women are equal, therefore the days were a man could push around his woman are over (feminism). Also the audience may be sympathetic to Santino when he is about to cry even though it is done for comedy.
The narrative structure begins with an equilibrium while Santino complains about his loss to Beth, however a disequalibrium begins once Santino breaks the bad news to Beth. A new equalibrium does not occur.
Sunday 2 November 2008
TNA - Total Nonstop Action
TNA is WWE's primary rival. They are rapidly growing and are competing well with WWE. Many people will remember WCW from the 80's and 90's, (now owned by WWE) a company which grew so fast, began to beat WWE in ratings. TNA appears to be the new WCW as they are very similar. Many WWE employees go to TNA if they are released from their contracts in WWE (fired). Due to the fact that TNA is also "sports entertainment", it has many similar elements to WWE. They both represent women in similar ways, such as promiscuousity so that men are attracted, however, TNA does this less as they also make alot of their women look tough, powerful and dominant in the ring.
On the left is 'Awesome Kong', which clearly has some reference to King Kong due to her size and strength. She is the biggest, strongest and most dominant woman in TNA. 
On the right is Christy Hemme (former WWE employee). She does often wrestle, however she is used as a sex object. This is obvious from her pose on the right, as it will appeal to men. She is also wearing provactive clothing which represents her in a promiscous way.
Also the fact that Awesome Kong is wearing black connotes evil, while Christy Hemme is wearing white connotes good and purity.
UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship
Unlike WWE, UFC, is a real sport. The fighting in UFC is not scripted at all and is real just like professional boxing. There are very few women employed by UFC which appear on camera. In total, there are only 3! They are known as "The Octogan Girls". This is due to the fact that the ring in UFC, is an octogan (8 sides) surrounded by a steel cage. The Octogan Girls never compete in fights, they just show signs to the audience informing them on what round it is. They also shoot t-shirts into the crowd during commercial breaks. Although they do not have bikini contests etc in UFC, they do wear provocative clothing to represent them in a promiscous way. They often wear mini skirts along with a sports bra. This supports Mulveys theory of "the male gaze", especially due to the fact that UFC's primary target audience is males aged 15 and above.
Saturday 1 November 2008
10 Keywords Which Are Relevant To My Study
1.) Binary opposition - a term used by Claude Levi-Strauss as part of his arguement that narratives are structured around oppositional elements in human culture, for example good and evil, life and death, night and day, raw and cooked. Within many media narratives, common binary oppositions are cowboys and Indians and also gangsters and police.
This is relevent to my study due to the fact that WWE wrestlers are divided into 2 areas, good and evil. WWE wrestlers are actors just like in movies, therefore heroes and villians are required so that rivalries can begin.
2.) Censorship - the practice, exercised by elite groups in authority, of monitoring and controlling media content by removing, supressing or classifying elements deemed offensive or subversive for moral, political, economic, social or religious reasons.
WWE shows shown before 9PM often have content removed as it would be inappropriate for children to watch. Shows after 9PM often include strong language, blood, and some soft sexual content.
3.) Feminism - political movement to advance the status of women by challenging values, social constructiosn and socioeconomic practices which disadvantage women and favor men.
Women were introduced into professional wrestling during the 50's, which is shortly before feminism began (60's).
4.) Low budget film -a film made with limited funds, without the backing of a major production company.
in 2006, WWE Films opened and made a horror film called See No Evil. Although this was very successful within the United States Cinema's, WWE films are not doing very well now. Their most recent film went straight to DVD. None of the WWE films (4) have featured a woman from WWE yet.
5.) Male gaze - term used by Laura Mulvey in her essay "Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema" to describe what she saw as the male point of view adopted by the camera for the benefit of an assumed male audience.
WWE is targeted at males more than females which is why women are represented in such a promiscuous way in WWE.
6.) Merchandising - the selling of goods associated with the release of a particular film.
WWE sells merchansdise worldwide online, www.wweshop.com, www.wweeuroshop.com.
7.) Narrator - an individual who tells the story in film and television productions, sometimes as a voice over.
Within WWE, each show has two commentators which are very similar to narrators. During the womens matches, they would normally comment on how "beautiful" and "sexy" they are.
8.) New ladism - term applied to the male backlash against feminism and girl power, as exemplified by the values represented in magazines such as Loaded, FHM and Maxim.
Some of the women in WWE pose for magazines such as FHM and Playboy, however some refuse to, especially those who are in WWE solely to wrestle.
9.) New man -a term used to describe a new type of masculinity identified and developed by advertising media in the 1980's in line with lifestyle marketing strategies.
Back in the day, male wrestlers were definately not represented like the new man. For example, Hulk Hogan, had long blonde hair with a bald patch and his infamous mustache. He would also always wear red and yellow clothing, however the popular wrestlers today such as Randy Orton, are represented like the new man. This is as he has a clean shave with a smart haircut and usually wears a suit when backstage or something smart. He has a huge female fan base.
10.) Uses and gratifications theory - an active audience theory, developed by Jay Blumer and Elihu Katz that focuses on 'what people do with the media' rather than what the media does to people, arguing that audiences are free to pick and choose from a range of media products to satisfy their own needs.
Children often immitate what they see in WWE, which is very dangerous. This is why WWE show "Dont try this at home" commercials every 30 minutes on their shows.
This is relevent to my study due to the fact that WWE wrestlers are divided into 2 areas, good and evil. WWE wrestlers are actors just like in movies, therefore heroes and villians are required so that rivalries can begin.
2.) Censorship - the practice, exercised by elite groups in authority, of monitoring and controlling media content by removing, supressing or classifying elements deemed offensive or subversive for moral, political, economic, social or religious reasons.
WWE shows shown before 9PM often have content removed as it would be inappropriate for children to watch. Shows after 9PM often include strong language, blood, and some soft sexual content.
3.) Feminism - political movement to advance the status of women by challenging values, social constructiosn and socioeconomic practices which disadvantage women and favor men.
Women were introduced into professional wrestling during the 50's, which is shortly before feminism began (60's).
4.) Low budget film -a film made with limited funds, without the backing of a major production company.
in 2006, WWE Films opened and made a horror film called See No Evil. Although this was very successful within the United States Cinema's, WWE films are not doing very well now. Their most recent film went straight to DVD. None of the WWE films (4) have featured a woman from WWE yet.
5.) Male gaze - term used by Laura Mulvey in her essay "Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema" to describe what she saw as the male point of view adopted by the camera for the benefit of an assumed male audience.
WWE is targeted at males more than females which is why women are represented in such a promiscuous way in WWE.
6.) Merchandising - the selling of goods associated with the release of a particular film.
WWE sells merchansdise worldwide online, www.wweshop.com, www.wweeuroshop.com.
7.) Narrator - an individual who tells the story in film and television productions, sometimes as a voice over.
Within WWE, each show has two commentators which are very similar to narrators. During the womens matches, they would normally comment on how "beautiful" and "sexy" they are.
8.) New ladism - term applied to the male backlash against feminism and girl power, as exemplified by the values represented in magazines such as Loaded, FHM and Maxim.
Some of the women in WWE pose for magazines such as FHM and Playboy, however some refuse to, especially those who are in WWE solely to wrestle.
9.) New man -a term used to describe a new type of masculinity identified and developed by advertising media in the 1980's in line with lifestyle marketing strategies.
Back in the day, male wrestlers were definately not represented like the new man. For example, Hulk Hogan, had long blonde hair with a bald patch and his infamous mustache. He would also always wear red and yellow clothing, however the popular wrestlers today such as Randy Orton, are represented like the new man. This is as he has a clean shave with a smart haircut and usually wears a suit when backstage or something smart. He has a huge female fan base.
10.) Uses and gratifications theory - an active audience theory, developed by Jay Blumer and Elihu Katz that focuses on 'what people do with the media' rather than what the media does to people, arguing that audiences are free to pick and choose from a range of media products to satisfy their own needs.
Children often immitate what they see in WWE, which is very dangerous. This is why WWE show "Dont try this at home" commercials every 30 minutes on their shows.
Thursday 23 October 2008
Self Evaluation
Attainment - 2 - My level of work and achievement has been quite good, however can still be better.
Effort - 2 - I put effort into the work that i do on this course, however I feel as though it is still not enough.
Punctuality- 2- I always turn up to lessons, however on some occasions I am late (AM lessons).
Homework - 3 -My homework has been quite good and I have handed my work in on the majority of the deadlines set.
Independent working - 2 -I am capable of working by myself, however i need to work with more resources.
Media folder - 1- I have all of my notes organised well, with both modules divided.
Class contributions - 3 - I contribute in class once or twice in a lesson, which is average.
Med 5 blog - 2 - Up to date with all of the work, standard of the blog has been quite high.
Med 6 blog - 3 - It is average as work is rarely set for the blog in med 6.
Effort - 2 - I put effort into the work that i do on this course, however I feel as though it is still not enough.
Punctuality- 2- I always turn up to lessons, however on some occasions I am late (AM lessons).
Homework - 3 -My homework has been quite good and I have handed my work in on the majority of the deadlines set.
Independent working - 2 -I am capable of working by myself, however i need to work with more resources.
Media folder - 1- I have all of my notes organised well, with both modules divided.
Class contributions - 3 - I contribute in class once or twice in a lesson, which is average.
Med 5 blog - 2 - Up to date with all of the work, standard of the blog has been quite high.
Med 6 blog - 3 - It is average as work is rarely set for the blog in med 6.
Action Plan Timetable
Tuesday 21st October- Research on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)
Wednesday 22nd October- Learn and memorise all of the assessment objectives and what each of them require.
Thursday 23rd October- Review mind map and write key points for what it takes to get an A.
Friday 24th October- Ask people to review my title. I am looking to see if my title is debatable and not too vague.
Saturday 25th October- Gather research on the professional wrestling industry. Research on TNA.
Sunday 26th October- Ask people to view some video clips about WWE and ask for their views and opinions so I can incorporate it in my study.
Monday 27th October- Buy a variety of books which relate to my study.
Tuesday 28th October- Do a detailed SHEP analysis on my text as I need reference to other texts so that I meet my assessment objectives.
Wednesdays 29th October- Create a bibliography on blog.
Thursday 30th October- Look at previous studies from past students and look what aspects of theirs I could include.
Wednesday 22nd October- Learn and memorise all of the assessment objectives and what each of them require.
Thursday 23rd October- Review mind map and write key points for what it takes to get an A.
Friday 24th October- Ask people to review my title. I am looking to see if my title is debatable and not too vague.
Saturday 25th October- Gather research on the professional wrestling industry. Research on TNA.
Sunday 26th October- Ask people to view some video clips about WWE and ask for their views and opinions so I can incorporate it in my study.
Monday 27th October- Buy a variety of books which relate to my study.
Tuesday 28th October- Do a detailed SHEP analysis on my text as I need reference to other texts so that I meet my assessment objectives.
Wednesdays 29th October- Create a bibliography on blog.
Thursday 30th October- Look at previous studies from past students and look what aspects of theirs I could include.
Sunday 19 October 2008
Presentation Overview
To begin with, I feel as though I was lacking confidence, however this gradually changed throughout the presentation. I think it was good that I did not include alot of text on each slide and that I bullet pointed it, however I think I should have included a few more slides. I believe that my layout was quite good on both the powerpoint and on myblog as they have a simple colour scheme with images and video clips. I need to include more wider contexts, SEP (historical was included) and also some theory. Feminist critiques need to be looked at. Alot of my research is looked at in a "fans" point of view, therefore I need to find some academic research. Overall I believe my presentation was decent as I kept the audience entertained throughout it.
Sunday 5 October 2008
Self Assessment
A01 - Demonstrate knowledge and application of the Key Concepts employed within Media Studies and the evaluation of texts and ideas using the key concepts.
I feel as though I have analysed my topic with the key concepts quite well, especially when analyising specific clips from Youtube. The key concept which i have covered most is obviously representation, as my entire independant study is based on the representation of women. I have also looked at audience and media language in detail.
A02 - Demonstrate knowledge and application of the wider contexts (historical, social, political, economic) relevant to Media Studies.
This is the assessment objective which I need to work on as I have not focused on it in much detail at all. The wider contexts which I have covered are social and historical, however they have not been covered in much detail. I also need to cover political and economical.
A05 - Demonstrate the ability to use appropriate investigative and research techniques in carrying out an independent study of a media text, topic or issue.
The majority of the research I have done has been online using the internet. I need to begin to use books. Online I have researched reviews and quotes for my text, however using books is essential so that I have a variety of sources which will help me when writing my essay. Although my question is not too detailed, it ensures that I will need to talk about both the past and present representations of women in WWE.
Synoptic Ability - Draw together understanding of Key Concepts, from different parts of the specification in order to make effective textual readings.
- Draw upon knowledge and application of a wide range of possible relevant contexts, in order to account for the characteristics of media texts.
I havent done this much at all yet, however I do intend to. I have related my topic to theories and theorists and I have also done alot of work on genre and representation (med 4).
Critical Autonomy - Apply critical ideas and principles to new situations and demonstrate media literacy in responses to media texts.
I am thinking for myself and comming up with my own ideas. This is easy for me as I am really interested in my topic which I think is quite important, as it makes it fun and motivates me to complete my work.
Quality of Written Work - Select and use forms and styles of writing appropriate to purpose and complex subject matter
ave done alot of textual analysis, such as analysing video clips from Youtube etc.
- Organise relevant information clearly and coherently, using specialist vocabulary when appropriate.
- Ensure text is legible, and spelling, grammar and punctuation are accurate, so that meaning is clear.
So far I think that my work is presented quite well. I spelling, grammer and punctuation all seem to be accurate, however my work could be better by highlighting key words etc.
I feel as though I have analysed my topic with the key concepts quite well, especially when analyising specific clips from Youtube. The key concept which i have covered most is obviously representation, as my entire independant study is based on the representation of women. I have also looked at audience and media language in detail.
A02 - Demonstrate knowledge and application of the wider contexts (historical, social, political, economic) relevant to Media Studies.
This is the assessment objective which I need to work on as I have not focused on it in much detail at all. The wider contexts which I have covered are social and historical, however they have not been covered in much detail. I also need to cover political and economical.
A05 - Demonstrate the ability to use appropriate investigative and research techniques in carrying out an independent study of a media text, topic or issue.
The majority of the research I have done has been online using the internet. I need to begin to use books. Online I have researched reviews and quotes for my text, however using books is essential so that I have a variety of sources which will help me when writing my essay. Although my question is not too detailed, it ensures that I will need to talk about both the past and present representations of women in WWE.
Synoptic Ability - Draw together understanding of Key Concepts, from different parts of the specification in order to make effective textual readings.
- Draw upon knowledge and application of a wide range of possible relevant contexts, in order to account for the characteristics of media texts.
I havent done this much at all yet, however I do intend to. I have related my topic to theories and theorists and I have also done alot of work on genre and representation (med 4).
Critical Autonomy - Apply critical ideas and principles to new situations and demonstrate media literacy in responses to media texts.
I am thinking for myself and comming up with my own ideas. This is easy for me as I am really interested in my topic which I think is quite important, as it makes it fun and motivates me to complete my work.
Quality of Written Work - Select and use forms and styles of writing appropriate to purpose and complex subject matter
ave done alot of textual analysis, such as analysing video clips from Youtube etc.
- Organise relevant information clearly and coherently, using specialist vocabulary when appropriate.
- Ensure text is legible, and spelling, grammar and punctuation are accurate, so that meaning is clear.
So far I think that my work is presented quite well. I spelling, grammer and punctuation all seem to be accurate, however my work could be better by highlighting key words etc.
Saturday 27 September 2008
DVD Reviews
WrestleMania 24 (2008) - 9.5/10
"Wrestlemania is also known as the time of year WWE and “mainstream” celebrities mix and this year was no exception. Kim Kardashian and Raven Symone (more on her later) looked uncomfortable, but Snoop Dogg truly respects wrestling and seemed to have a ball."
I agree with this, as Kim Kardashian and Raven Symone looked as though they didn't know what they were talking about. It seems as though they participated in the event just to promote their own names with a different audience. On the other hand, Snoop Dogg seemed confident in what he was doing and is a fan of WWE himself. He is also good friends with John Cena.
http://www.wrestling101.com/101/article/WWEVD/1082/
Viva Las Divas - 4/10
"One thing which is always good on divas DVD’s are the extras and this years are no exception as they have some of the top diva matches of the year, interviews, behind the scenes footage and much more that will keep you entertained for hours. Many fans are disappointed the first women’s cage match between Lita and Victoria didn’t make it in to the extras but like I say there are more than enough extras to keep you happy."
I disagree with this as i strongly feel that the womens cage match should definately have been included in the extras of this DVD as this is the only womens cage match which has ever taken place in WWE which means its quite a big match.
http://www.wrestling101.com/101/article/WWEVD/615/
WWE Divas, Tropical Pleasure - 5/10
"Well I’m not sure what I was expecting when I got this DVD, I knew it would be full of half naked divas lying around on a hot sunny paradise Island, but I never knew it would be as interesting as it was. Don’t mistake me, it is no documentary, but it does have some good interviews and opinions, and it has made me think a bit more about certain divas."
I chose this quote as it clearly shows how women are represented in a promiscous way in WWE. This is due to the fact that they have DVD's which just show them lying around in provacative clothing.
MIGRAIN Analysis
Form and function - Advertisement for a WWE event, which is coming up. Its purpose is to inform and entertain.
M - A variety of shots are used within this particular video clip. Close ups used to show facial expressions, medium shots used to show both the face and their cleavage while long shots are used to show everyone as well as their surroundings.
- Connotations of summer – bright, sunlight, hot etc, which is why they have chosen to make this particular advertisement for an event called ‘SummerSlam’ as a car wash in hot weather. It is usually a summer chore.
- The majority of the women in the advert are wearing pink and white. Pink as it is a very feminine/girly colour (stereotypical) and white as it will be more revealing once it is wet (will appeal to men).
- Very quick cuts are used for each shot, many are close ups of the women’s cleavage and bottom which will appeal to men.
I - World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) who aims solely to entertain. This is an advertisement for their annual PPV event, SummerSlam 2005.
G - ‘Sports Entertainment’ – professional wrestling. Conventions consist of: women’s roles are simply to entertain men by wearing provocative clothing (sex objects – Laura Mulvey’s “male gaze”).
R - Within the WWE, women are represented in one of two ways. Either as a sex object who tends to participate in bikini contests, water fights and photo shoots and the other is simply as a wrestler who wants to compete for the championship. In this particular video, all of the women are represented in a promiscuous way. They are shown as passive sex objects from the provocative clothing they are wearing and the fact that they are washing themselves, rather than the car. They are all wearing small white t shirts or sports bras which will reveal a lot more flesh as the water will soak it. There is 1 shot, in which 1 women is using the hose pipe to soak her cleavage which not only looks very sexy, but very passive.
A - It is targeted to everybody as it’s a family show however professional wrestling appeals mostly to younger audiences, especially males. Some may argue that it is inappropriate for them to watch as it contains too much violence and sexual content. This particular advert would appeal to slightly older males (teens and above).
I - SummerSlam is coming up and will be hot like this, but even better so watch it.
N - All of the women in WWE who do not wrestle are in this video. They are washing a car which is usually seen as a chore especially during the summer, however they make it look very sexy. They putting more water on themselves rather than the car which makes them all look very passive and promiscuous.
Theories/Theorists - This video clip fully supports Laura Mulvey’s theory of the “male-gaze”.
M - A variety of shots are used within this particular video clip. Close ups used to show facial expressions, medium shots used to show both the face and their cleavage while long shots are used to show everyone as well as their surroundings.
- Connotations of summer – bright, sunlight, hot etc, which is why they have chosen to make this particular advertisement for an event called ‘SummerSlam’ as a car wash in hot weather. It is usually a summer chore.
- The majority of the women in the advert are wearing pink and white. Pink as it is a very feminine/girly colour (stereotypical) and white as it will be more revealing once it is wet (will appeal to men).
- Very quick cuts are used for each shot, many are close ups of the women’s cleavage and bottom which will appeal to men.
I - World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) who aims solely to entertain. This is an advertisement for their annual PPV event, SummerSlam 2005.
G - ‘Sports Entertainment’ – professional wrestling. Conventions consist of: women’s roles are simply to entertain men by wearing provocative clothing (sex objects – Laura Mulvey’s “male gaze”).
R - Within the WWE, women are represented in one of two ways. Either as a sex object who tends to participate in bikini contests, water fights and photo shoots and the other is simply as a wrestler who wants to compete for the championship. In this particular video, all of the women are represented in a promiscuous way. They are shown as passive sex objects from the provocative clothing they are wearing and the fact that they are washing themselves, rather than the car. They are all wearing small white t shirts or sports bras which will reveal a lot more flesh as the water will soak it. There is 1 shot, in which 1 women is using the hose pipe to soak her cleavage which not only looks very sexy, but very passive.
A - It is targeted to everybody as it’s a family show however professional wrestling appeals mostly to younger audiences, especially males. Some may argue that it is inappropriate for them to watch as it contains too much violence and sexual content. This particular advert would appeal to slightly older males (teens and above).
I - SummerSlam is coming up and will be hot like this, but even better so watch it.
N - All of the women in WWE who do not wrestle are in this video. They are washing a car which is usually seen as a chore especially during the summer, however they make it look very sexy. They putting more water on themselves rather than the car which makes them all look very passive and promiscuous.
Theories/Theorists - This video clip fully supports Laura Mulvey’s theory of the “male-gaze”.
Tuesday 23 September 2008
My Targets
A01 - I know of all the key concepts, however, when looking at a text and relating the key concepts to this text I need to look at the key concepts in more depth and explain my points in alot more detail. I also need to focus on idelogies/values alot more, as I feel as though I dont ever put much detail into this particular key concept.
A02 - I need to work on this assessment objective as I find it difficult to relate the SHEP concept to my text. I know this is a key assessment objective and would like to relate it to my text and look at this in depth too.
A05 - I feel as though the amount of research I have done is rather broad, however my knowledge on my text is quite high. I need to get alot more delicious tags which relate to my text. I also need to use more books for my research, as I have only been relying on the internet so far.
A02 - I need to work on this assessment objective as I find it difficult to relate the SHEP concept to my text. I know this is a key assessment objective and would like to relate it to my text and look at this in depth too.
A05 - I feel as though the amount of research I have done is rather broad, however my knowledge on my text is quite high. I need to get alot more delicious tags which relate to my text. I also need to use more books for my research, as I have only been relying on the internet so far.
Tuesday 16 September 2008
Narrative
WWE shows often begin with an opening sequence like most tv shows which then leads to a heavy firework display on stage. Shortly after, a top star would enter and begin speaking in the ring about an upcoming match (this is known as a promo). His opponent would then enter and argue to build up tension between two.
After this, the first match of the night would begin, which is usually with the less popular wrestlers. The more popular the wrestler is, the later there match would be. The most popular wrestlers, i.e world champions are usually in the main events.
During the night there is 1-2 matches/contests with females competing. There are also a number of backstage segments such as interviews and "brawls".
All rivalries within WWE consist of a hero and villian. Villians are usually made villians by cursing at fans, cheating in matches, using weapons, betraying partners, attacking the most popular hero and breaking the rules. Heros are usually created from impressing the fans with high risk moves, never cheating, appreciating the support from fans etc.
Sunday 14 September 2008
Genre
WWE often refers to itself as "Sports Entertainment". WWE could fit under a variety of genres such as action (The wrestling itself) and drama (The storylines). It also has elements of other genres such as romance which is featured in some storylines and horror within some characters such as 'The Undertaker'.
Media Institutions
The institutional source of WWE shows is WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment. inc). WWE is obviously a commercial institution. WWE is owned by Vince McMahon who plays the character of Mr Vince McMahon on his shows. In 2008, Vince McMahon was given a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. He has delegated some authority to his children, Shane and Stephanie McMahon who also often play roles within the shows.
Tuesday 9 September 2008
Media Audiences
WWE's primary target audience are children (mostly males) aged approximately between 5-12. WWE's secondary target is everyone else as they do not exclude anyone from watching their shows. WWE is aired worldwide in more than 100 countries! This means that their audience is huge, especially within the United States. WWE is incredabily popular worldwide.Sometimes WWE have very childish storylines and characters ("gimmicks") for their wrestlers, which clearly shows that it is targeted to children, or they want this particular wrestler to be popular with younger audiences. WWE can also have very explicit storylines which are not suitable for children as they include issues such as sex. WWE matches can also be very violent containing the use of weapons andn rapid blood loss. This would obviously not be appropriate for young children.
In the UK, WWE shows Raw & Smackdown are shown on Sky Sports, which is a channel which is normally watched by men, and little women. WWE shows usually come on after 9PM as they sometimes contain adult material. Before the show begins, Sky Sports remind viewers everytime that it contains adult material and may not be suitable for younger viewers. WWE does come on during the day aswel, however the shows are edited and do not show inappropriate material. All WWE DVD's which are released are usually certificate 15 or 18.
During commercial breaks, WWE air advertisements featuring wrestlers informing children on the hazards of wrestling and not to try it at home or school. This adverts would obviously not be targeted to adults, therefore this indicates that alot of children watch WWE and mimic their favorate wrestlers which is dangerous.
Monday 8 September 2008
Media Languages & Forms
Conventions of a WWE show: The main convention of a WWE show is to feature good vs evil storylines between the wrestlers (both males and males). Another convention of a WWE show is to include a match/contest which represents females in a promiscuous way, for example a bikini contest or a water fights during the summer.
The Setting: The setting of a WWE show varies every week. The WWE travels worldwide to perform shows in arenas. The set is usually similar as it would include a ring, announcing tables an entrance ramp and a large screen. Photo shoots which women pose for are often done in places such as Hawiai
Soundtrack/Language: The soundtrack for WWE's main shows Raw and Smackdown are heavy rock songs performed by the bands Papa Roach and Drowning Pool. WWE shows always have commentary during matches. During bikini contests or water fights, the commentators would usualy mention how "beautiful" or "gorjoeus" the females competing are, especially as they would be wearing provocative clothing.
The Setting: The setting of a WWE show varies every week. The WWE travels worldwide to perform shows in arenas. The set is usually similar as it would include a ring, announcing tables an entrance ramp and a large screen. Photo shoots which women pose for are often done in places such as Hawiai
Soundtrack/Language: The soundtrack for WWE's main shows Raw and Smackdown are heavy rock songs performed by the bands Papa Roach and Drowning Pool. WWE shows always have commentary during matches. During bikini contests or water fights, the commentators would usualy mention how "beautiful" or "gorjoeus" the females competing are, especially as they would be wearing provocative clothing.
Media Representations
Candice Michelle was primarily brought into WWE to participate in bikini conntests and water fights soley to entertain men. Recently she has began to train and develop her in ring skills and has become a full time wrestler. Although she is a wrestler now, she is still represented in a promiscuous way by appearing in adult magazines such as 'Playboy' to promote WWE's biggest event, WrestleMania. As the photograph clearly shows, she wears provocative clothing as it will appeal to men.
Melina was introduced to WWE as a manager of two male wrestlers to begin with however shortly parted ways with them to become a wrestler herself. Like Candice Michelle, she was originally used as a sex object however since she began to wrestle, she is represented in a promiscuous less often. She once stated that she would never pose for an adult magazine as the women who pose for them are "sluts".
Since day one, Torrie Wilson has been in WWE to participate in bikini contests and photo shoots. She very rarely participates in wrestling matches. Whether she is posing for a photograph or wrestling in a match, she will wear provocative clothing. Like Candice Michelle, she has also appeared in adult magazines to promote the WWE's biggest event, WrestleMania.
Since her debut, Mickey James has been a wrestler within WWE and rarely participates in bikini contests, however she still appears in the WWE's Summer photoshoot. Unlike a variety of the women in WWE, Mickey James can wrestle. Although WWE is "fixed" a lot of training is essential for moves to be done safely and Mickey James does this well.
Kelly Kelly has not been with the WWE for long, however since she has arrived her popularity has increased rapidly with fans. This is not as she is a great in ring performer, but as she wears the most provocative bikini's during contests. She is one of the youngest women to ever be in WWE as she is only 20 yrs old.
Although this is a sample of the women within WWE, its clear that a large amount of them cannot even wrestle and are on the shows purely to show off the bodies to men. This means they are being represented as sex objects and supports Mulveys Theory of the "Male Gaze"
Monday 7 July 2008
Wednesday 2 July 2008
Independant Study Proposal
Independent Study Proposal
Title:
How and why have the representations of women changed in ‘WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment)’?
Hypothesis:
The representations of Women have developed and changed over time due to the changes in society. However WWE still conveys traditional stereotypical views of women – sex objects. On the other hand, there are some females within the WWE who are solely there to wrestle.
MIGRAIN:
M:
1.) Medium / long shot used to show the majority of her body.
2.) She is wearing provocative clothing to attract men – male gaze (seen from the three male wrestlers watching her)
3.) The female is wearing gold which connotes wealth and perfection. She is being represented as someone who is almost perfect.
I: World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) who aims solely to entertain.
G: ‘Sports Entertainment’ – professional wrestling. Conventions consist of: women’s roles are simply to entertain men by wearing provocative clothing (sex objects – male gaze).
R: Within the WWE, women are represented in one of two ways. Either as a sex object who tends to participate in bikini contests, water fights and photo shoots rather than wrestling and the other way is simply being a wrestler and nothing more. In present day wrestling, its a lot more common for the majority of the female wrestlers to appear in photo shoots and participate in bikini contests as well as wrestle, however some do not wrestle at all. They are usually represented in a promiscuous way.
A: It is targeted to everybody – family show however professional wrestling appeals mostly to younger audiences, especially males. Some may argue that it is inappropriate for them to watch as it contains too much violence and sexual content.
I: She is who every man wants.
N: After losing in a match, Matt Hardy wishes his brother, Jeff, luck in his upcoming match. They then notice the beautiful; Candice Michelle enters very hot after competing in a match. She then cools off by soaking herself in cold water. The Hardy brothers watch in disbelief and then Ron Simmons enters and says “damn!”. There are narrative roles e.g. Hero (often referred to as a “goody”) and Villain (often referred to as a “baddy”), Narratives often have a cliff hanger until the next episode where they are resolved. The storylines within WWE are quite similar to what you would see within a drama or soap opera.
Wider Contexts:
In order to look at why and how the representations of women have changed I would be studying things such as: Feminism, the Women’s Movement of the 1960s, the War and the impact on Women, women gaining the vote, communities, suffragettes, the education of girls and women, domestic life, birth control, women’s service in world war 2,equal pay, education of girls and women, women and human rights, marriage, motherhood and divorce, women and work 1900-1939,women’s work in the post-war era, women’s fashion statements, women’s rights into the 21st century. I will also briefly look at the history of women within professional wrestling.
Theories/theorists:
I will be making reference to some of the theorists I already know such as Laura Mulvey and Propp. However I will also be researching some new theories and theorists that would relate specifically to my topic.
Other texts relevant:
I will also be relating WWE to other sports such as UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and professional boxing, in order to help develop my arguments.
Where to and what to research:
In terms of research I will be mainly looking at books to do with the representation of Women, internet websites, and watching other sports in order to build my argument up. I would also be researching things such as the changing roles of Women, theorists relating to my topic, professional wrestling in general, facts and figures about pro wrestling etc.
Title:
How and why have the representations of women changed in ‘WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment)’?
Hypothesis:
The representations of Women have developed and changed over time due to the changes in society. However WWE still conveys traditional stereotypical views of women – sex objects. On the other hand, there are some females within the WWE who are solely there to wrestle.
MIGRAIN:
M:
1.) Medium / long shot used to show the majority of her body.
2.) She is wearing provocative clothing to attract men – male gaze (seen from the three male wrestlers watching her)
3.) The female is wearing gold which connotes wealth and perfection. She is being represented as someone who is almost perfect.
I: World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) who aims solely to entertain.
G: ‘Sports Entertainment’ – professional wrestling. Conventions consist of: women’s roles are simply to entertain men by wearing provocative clothing (sex objects – male gaze).
R: Within the WWE, women are represented in one of two ways. Either as a sex object who tends to participate in bikini contests, water fights and photo shoots rather than wrestling and the other way is simply being a wrestler and nothing more. In present day wrestling, its a lot more common for the majority of the female wrestlers to appear in photo shoots and participate in bikini contests as well as wrestle, however some do not wrestle at all. They are usually represented in a promiscuous way.
A: It is targeted to everybody – family show however professional wrestling appeals mostly to younger audiences, especially males. Some may argue that it is inappropriate for them to watch as it contains too much violence and sexual content.
I: She is who every man wants.
N: After losing in a match, Matt Hardy wishes his brother, Jeff, luck in his upcoming match. They then notice the beautiful; Candice Michelle enters very hot after competing in a match. She then cools off by soaking herself in cold water. The Hardy brothers watch in disbelief and then Ron Simmons enters and says “damn!”. There are narrative roles e.g. Hero (often referred to as a “goody”) and Villain (often referred to as a “baddy”), Narratives often have a cliff hanger until the next episode where they are resolved. The storylines within WWE are quite similar to what you would see within a drama or soap opera.
Wider Contexts:
In order to look at why and how the representations of women have changed I would be studying things such as: Feminism, the Women’s Movement of the 1960s, the War and the impact on Women, women gaining the vote, communities, suffragettes, the education of girls and women, domestic life, birth control, women’s service in world war 2,equal pay, education of girls and women, women and human rights, marriage, motherhood and divorce, women and work 1900-1939,women’s work in the post-war era, women’s fashion statements, women’s rights into the 21st century. I will also briefly look at the history of women within professional wrestling.
Theories/theorists:
I will be making reference to some of the theorists I already know such as Laura Mulvey and Propp. However I will also be researching some new theories and theorists that would relate specifically to my topic.
Other texts relevant:
I will also be relating WWE to other sports such as UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and professional boxing, in order to help develop my arguments.
Where to and what to research:
In terms of research I will be mainly looking at books to do with the representation of Women, internet websites, and watching other sports in order to build my argument up. I would also be researching things such as the changing roles of Women, theorists relating to my topic, professional wrestling in general, facts and figures about pro wrestling etc.
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