"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"
Thursday 20 November 2008
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.
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