gender representation in media texts

gender representation in media texts

Introduction

The media is one of the most powerful forms of manipulation towards social control. Gender in the media has always been the biggest influence towards media advertising, viewing and many more. Over times, the presentation of gender in the media has improved, however a majority of women are still often portrayed in different ways to men in certain medias. In around the 1900s, the portayal of women was still very stereotypical, meaning women was often shown to be weaker than men and that men were always the most powerful in the household and workplaces. When television was first invented, the media began to produce television shows to entertain people from the comfort of their own homes. In some of these early shows, women are often shown as sex symbols, weak housewives and sometimes gold diggers too. The women were usually put in this position to give pleasure to the male eye, which could also be known as Laura Mulveys Male gaze theory. This theory argued that women were often put in position in the media where they would be viewed through the eyes of a heterosexual man. They would be represented as passive objects of male desire, becoming the gaze to the eye of the man. During the 1900s, society accepted that these were the social norms of society and women were expected to be like this throughout the media. However, over time society has began to challenge these female stereotypes.

The hunger games, catching fire movie poster, 2013.

The first example of this is the hunger games catching fire movie poster. This product is a movie poster. Movie posters come with the intention to make an audience based around an upcoming film. wanting people to watch it. Usually film and movie posters will have one main image to catch the audiences attention. The main image in this case, is the female star Jennifer Lawrence, who plays Katniss Everdeen. In this film poster, Katniss Everdeen is shown as a strong protagonist woman, holding a bow and arrow. This makes Katniss come across as a very powerful women character. This image of Katniss is very different to a stereotypical image of a women in the media, where women are usually viewed from the eyes of men. Moreover, as much as the men might enjoy watching the film or might like the movie poster, Katniss is not put in position to please them and be a pleasure to their eyes. This tells us that the poster and film has a very feminist ideology. It promotes in such a subtle way, that equality matters, which they have done this by placing a strong female lead on the centre of the poster, promoting power and independence. This could be an attraction to the audience as this isn't a very social norm due to female stereotypes being challenged. People may find seeing an independent and forceful women on the centre of this poster as an inspiration and could attract peoples attention towards this movie. The target audience for this movie poster is particually based at young teens/adults, which are usually females. Young females might enjoy this movie poster as they could look up to Katniss as an aspirational figure, finding her inspiring. Her position on the poster is central, looking directly into the lens of the camera. This implies she is directly looking at the audience meaning people would be drawn into the poster quickly and it can give the audience a sense of disbelief.

The Katy Perry music video, Roar, 2013.

Another example of gender representation in the media is Katy Perry, Roar music video. At the beginning of the music video, we are introduced to 2 characters, who are the only 2 human characters in this music video. The first person we are introduced to is the male, who is taking pictures of himself. This is a very stereotypical image of a female which the media has made us believe that self obsession and love are the domain of females in our society. This unusual representation challenges this stereotype and makes us an audience reconsider how men can also show vanity and self obsession. The second character we are introduced too is Katy herself. At first she comes across as weaker to the man, however the man ends up getting eaten by a tiger which from there shows Katy growing stronger and finding an inner sense of empowerment she didn't know she possessed. However, as much as Katy is finding this sense of empowerment, her image as a whole is being sexually objectified. The clothes she wears are revealing as she shows most of her body throughout the video. Some may argue Katy isn't presenting a good empowering image on women as she should be just as strong without having to reveal her body. Alot of the angles however, as much as it shows her being sexually objectified, which is probably for the male pleasure, the angles are taking from a low angle showing dominance and that she has become 'the leader of the jungle.' The lyrics throughout are also very empowering and shows a feminist ideology.

The GQ magazine, Dwayne Johnson, 2016.

Another example of gender representation in the media is the GQ magazine from 2016. This magazine shows successful star, Dwayne Johnson as the cover star. Having a well known cover star automatically draws the attention from the audience in and makes them look up to him as an aspirational figure, seeing as he has 'star power.' Dwayne Johnson is shown to be put in the audiences eyeline, where he is looking directing at the audience and showing his muscles. This automatically is a typical stereotype of men, who are meant to come across as a strong, masculine figure. One of the coverlines also reads, 'how to be a man' which is very masculine and stereotypically what a male would say. Dwayne Johnson is also exploring the idea of how to look his physical best which could be a stereotype for women, however in this case can connote male attraction and that the importance of body image and consumerism doesn't change because of gender. The colour pallet on the magazine is also very masculine and shows power. For example, Red can be associated with strength and the black is also a strong bold colour, giving a strong bold statement. Overall, this magazine is subverting the stereotypes of men in the media.

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, men and women are both used in the media in different ways, wether that is challenging their stereotypes or reinforcing them, they are both represented in a way the audience can understand the narrative of the text.