Advertising and Gay Consumers
The media are making progress in its depiction of gays and lesbians. Perhaps the most striking example of this is the active courting of gay and lesbian consumers through gay-positive advertising and marketing campaigns.
In 1994, IKEA aired a commercial that depicted two gay men shopping for a dining room set, making the store the first company to actively target gay consumers. Since that time, many companies have started to target gay and lesbian consumers with gay-positive marketing campaigns. These campaigns are directed to a specific market: gay men and lesbians who live in cities, are single and have a large amount of disposable income.
Advertising critic Michael Wilke questions whether this trend is actually an attempt to court gay consumers. He says that advertisers are capitalizing on the cultural cachet and perceived hipness of the gay lifestyle only as a way of selling their products—and are not specifically interested in attracting gay consumers.
Writer Michelle Moinier disagrees. In an article in Altema, a publication on consumer trends, Moinier maintains that certain products, though not actually conceived for the gay population, are nevertheless marketed that way, with messages and images clearly targeted at the lucrative gay market.
Critics argue that the visibility of gays and lesbians in advertising is not an indication of the increased social acceptance of gays and lesbians, but simply an attempt by advertisers and network executives to access an untapped market. They worry that after almost thirty years of political struggle, gay and lesbian rights have been reduced to increased consumer choice. An increase in positive representations of gays and lesbians in commercials, films, and television shows is an improvement, but such progress does not signal the achievement of social and political equality.
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Gay and Lesbian Depictions in Films Article
Representations of Gays and Lesbians in Film
"In a hundred years of movies, homosexuality has only rarely been depicted on the screen. When it did appear, it was there as something to laugh at—or something to pity—or even something to fear. These were fleeting images, but they were unforgettable, and they left a lasting legacy. Hollywood, that great maker of myths, taught straight people what to think about gay people … and gay people what to think about themselves."
Vito Russo
Recent controversies over Hollywood’s negative depiction of homosexuality have focused on how such portrayals marginalize and silence gays and lesbians. Organizations such as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) argue that films such as Basic Instinct and The Silence of the Lambs demonize gays and lesbians by portraying them as psychopaths.
In his book The Celluloid Closet, Vito Russo analyzes the representation of gays and lesbians in Hollywood films from the 1890s to the 1980s, and demonstrates a history of homophobia. He argues that Hollywood’s portrayal of lesbians and gay men has often been cruel and homophobic. Gay and lesbian characters have been defined by their sexual orientation, and lacked any complex character development.
During Hollywood’s early years, from the 1890s to the 1930s, homosexuality was often presented as an object of ridicule and laughter. The character of the sissy was popular at this time, and Russo asserts that such a character was a source of amusement and reassurance for the audience. The sissy was not a threatening representation of homosexuality because he occupied a middle ground between masculinity and femininity.
From the 1930s to the 1950s, religious and women’s groups criticized Hollywood films for contributing to immorality. As a result, the industry introduced a self-censorship code that affected the portrayal of homosexuality. During these years, films could not feature overtly homosexual characters—so homosexuality was suggested through a character’s mannerisms and behaviour.
This strict code was loosened in the 1960s and 1970s, which also saw the dawn of the women’s movement and the gay rights movement. While gays and lesbians were becoming more visible and vocal in public life, their representation in films was becoming even more homophobic. At this time, gay characters were often represented as dangerous, violent, or murderous.
Since the 1990s, Hollywood has improved its portrayal of gay and lesbian characters. The popularity of films such as The Birdcage, Philadelphia, To Wong Foo, Flawless and In & Out demonstrates that audiences can and do enjoy films with gay and lesbian characters. But despite these advances, critics say that the industry is still too cautious in its portrayals of gay themes, characters, and experiences. Hollywood films are designed to appeal to as large an audience as possible; and producers fear that focusing on gay and lesbian themes risks offending a large portion of the audience, as well as potential investors.
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/gays_and_lesbians/gay_film.cfm
"In a hundred years of movies, homosexuality has only rarely been depicted on the screen. When it did appear, it was there as something to laugh at—or something to pity—or even something to fear. These were fleeting images, but they were unforgettable, and they left a lasting legacy. Hollywood, that great maker of myths, taught straight people what to think about gay people … and gay people what to think about themselves."
Vito Russo
Recent controversies over Hollywood’s negative depiction of homosexuality have focused on how such portrayals marginalize and silence gays and lesbians. Organizations such as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) argue that films such as Basic Instinct and The Silence of the Lambs demonize gays and lesbians by portraying them as psychopaths.
In his book The Celluloid Closet, Vito Russo analyzes the representation of gays and lesbians in Hollywood films from the 1890s to the 1980s, and demonstrates a history of homophobia. He argues that Hollywood’s portrayal of lesbians and gay men has often been cruel and homophobic. Gay and lesbian characters have been defined by their sexual orientation, and lacked any complex character development.
During Hollywood’s early years, from the 1890s to the 1930s, homosexuality was often presented as an object of ridicule and laughter. The character of the sissy was popular at this time, and Russo asserts that such a character was a source of amusement and reassurance for the audience. The sissy was not a threatening representation of homosexuality because he occupied a middle ground between masculinity and femininity.
From the 1930s to the 1950s, religious and women’s groups criticized Hollywood films for contributing to immorality. As a result, the industry introduced a self-censorship code that affected the portrayal of homosexuality. During these years, films could not feature overtly homosexual characters—so homosexuality was suggested through a character’s mannerisms and behaviour.
This strict code was loosened in the 1960s and 1970s, which also saw the dawn of the women’s movement and the gay rights movement. While gays and lesbians were becoming more visible and vocal in public life, their representation in films was becoming even more homophobic. At this time, gay characters were often represented as dangerous, violent, or murderous.
Since the 1990s, Hollywood has improved its portrayal of gay and lesbian characters. The popularity of films such as The Birdcage, Philadelphia, To Wong Foo, Flawless and In & Out demonstrates that audiences can and do enjoy films with gay and lesbian characters. But despite these advances, critics say that the industry is still too cautious in its portrayals of gay themes, characters, and experiences. Hollywood films are designed to appeal to as large an audience as possible; and producers fear that focusing on gay and lesbian themes risks offending a large portion of the audience, as well as potential investors.
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/gays_and_lesbians/gay_film.cfm
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
Booklet Questions
1. How is your group of people represented typically in the media? Use detailed examples from your primary sources. Explore how the representations are constructed.
Homosexuals in the media are stereotypically represented as camp, foppish- fashionable and concerned with their appearance; an example of this is the character of ‘’Kurt’’ in the hit US show Glee, who is excessively indulged in his appearance; in one episode it is reveal that he has night-time routines where he does a number of face cleansing procedures before who goes to bed to maintain his flawless skin. Another example is the character of ‘Mark’ in Ugly Betty, who is fashionable and works in a fashion magazine, who is very camp, also in 'Ugly betty 'Justin' who aspires to be like 'Mark'.
The relationships between homosexual had proven to be represented very differently to a Heterosexual relationship. Homosexual relations seem to be more complicated and un-acceptable in society whilst heterosexual relationships can be complicated however not deemed by society.
Homosexuals are sometimes represented as weak and somewhat freaks of nature- especially young homosexuals, for example in glee, the character of ‘Kurt’, is seen to be bullied and thrown into trash cans, and it is evident that he cannot defend himself and is therefore represented as weak and useless, someone who cannot stand up to himself.
The representation of young homosexuals in contemporary US texts are all somewhat similar, the young gay character is usually someone that is abused and bullied in a stereotypical high school setting by the character of the ‘Jock’ and even sometimes the ‘Princess’. An example of this could be ‘Glee’ who contains the gay character of ‘Kurt’ that is tormented by bullies which are in the Football team. The male gay characters in Us contemporary texts seems to be more brave in terms of ‘coming out the closet’, they seem to proud and loud of the fact however lesbians in US contemporary texts seem to be more covert about it, for example 90210’s Adrianna.
2. What institutions are responsible for the production of your media texts? Production Company and channel of broadcast
Ugly Betty- series was produced by Silent H, Ventanarosa and Reveille Productions partnered with ABC Studios
Glee- The series airs on Fox
90210- The first series produced by CBS Productions
All my American teen drama texts broadcast onE4- a channel well known for its youth cultured programmes, aimed specifically at teenagers and young adults. The channel attracts its youth audience with texts that are solely for entertainment purposes that are comical or dramatic.
3. What other reasons might there be for why your group of people is represented the way it is? Consider the role of politics and the media e.g. hegemonic structure and why it might be in the interest of the media society to represent them in this way.
Homosexuality has been something that is not accepted society for a very long time ever since the topic was brought up historically and in contemporary times, due to the long history of homosexuality many stereotypes and ideologies have been distinguished. The common ideologies include young homosexual guys being ‘foppish’, a stereotypical little fashionsto who is also usually camp. Gays are normally represented as being feminine and essentially behaving like a woman. The question is why are they represented that way; well if you consider the hegemonic structure it could be that the hegemonic society will want to represent them like somewhat of a ‘woman’ and stereotypically women are weaker both physically and in terms of their positions in society and therefore this representation will consequently put homosexuals in their place in society.
Another representation which is not particularly common yet apparent is when homosexuals are represented as proud and loud about their sexuality and do not seem hesitant on acting the way ‘they’d like too, for example Kurt from Glee. This representation is apparent possibly due to the media wanting to put homosexuality as something that is ‘normal’ and something that should be accepted in society. An example of homosexual character that puts himself forward as proud and loud is ‘Kurt’ from ‘Glee.
4. Is there evidence of any alternative representations of this group in the media, perhaps in different genre? If not, why do you think this is the case?
In the media there are alternative representations of homosexuals especially through different genres, as their representations vary from one genre to another. For example in drama texts the representations of homosexuals generally includes homophobic abuse and the storyline of the text allows the audience to feely sympathy towards them for example in ‘Glee’ the character o ‘Kurt’ suffers from homophobic abuse at school and also his father has a hard time to accept his sexuality.
However in representation of homosexuals in comedy texts differ, because usually the homosexual characters in comedies are the comic relief. As I mentioned before the stereotypes of a homosexual guys is generally that they’re camp. And being camp can evoke comedic performances by a character, for example ‘Justin’ and ‘Mark’ from the US hit series ‘Ugly Betty’.
5. Using the above as an example consider if your group of people have always been represented the same way or has it changed over time
In the 1960s Hollywood allows the depiction of homosexuals in their productions.
Illinois becomes first state to abolish its sodomy laws.
In 1973 The American Psychiatric Association declares that homosexuality is not a psychiatric disorder.
In 1979 the national march of Washington for Lesbian and Gay rights with over 100,00 thousand people taking place.
In 1981 doctors indentify first cases of what they termed ‘gay-related immune deficiency (GRID) soon to be named AIDS
1990s President Bill Clinton adjust bans on gay in the military
2000s California abolish their bans on same-sex marriages
6. Who are the primary target audience for each of your three media text and how do you know?
Ugly Betty- I believe the target audience for this text is 16 to 40 year old. The range is quite big because I think the younger audience will be attracted to show because of maybe the character of ‘Justin’, or ‘Betty’, who are the younger characters of the cast that people can identify with. The older audience will be attracted to the text because of the storylines with the older cast who career orientated.
Gender wise there will be a female majority because generally females will be attracted to the fashion industries and the fact that the show centres around a fashion magazine, that mostly women consume could maybe suggest that more females watch the show. There also be a big gay fan base because typically there are a lot of gay people in the fashion industry and the gay fan base may identify themselves with that.
Glee- I believe the target audience for this text is from about 13 to 35. The reason for that is because the younger audience of the show will be attracted to show because of its ideologies and the entertainment values such as the song and dance as well the adult audience perhaps who are the secondary audience. Also the younger audience can identify themselves with the characters within the text that go to school and might face problems such as themselves.
90210- I believe the target audience for this text is 14 to 22. The reason is because of the school setting once again where the audiences can identify themselves
with the characters.
7. How might the target audience respond to and be affected representation of your group in your chosen texts?
In ‘Ugly Betty’ the intended reading of homosexuals is that they are normal human beings that are equal to heterosexuals. They can be successful and live a normal however with struggles due to their sexuality represented through the characters of ‘Justin’ and ‘Mark’.
In Glee the intended reading of homosexuals is that they are normal human beings that are equal to heterosexuals. They can be successful or talented and live a normal however with a lot struggles due to their sexuality represented through the character of ‘Kurt’.
In 90210 the intended reading
8. Now consider the issues of consumption by an audience and production. Other than political reasons why might it be that such representation exist.
9. Does the representation of you group vary from different cultures and from different institutions in different countries (do they perhaps offer an alternative and oppositional reading) If so why.
The two different cultures I will be exploring is the American culture and British culture, looking into how they represent homosexual characters within their texts. The British text that I have in mind is ‘Eastenders’. The show seems to have more serious storylines to do with sexuality such as abuse and homosexuality and religion, with the ‘Christian and Syed’ storyline. In British texts that include homosexual characters the homosexual is rarely the comic relief and never really has light hearted storylines unlike American text that consist of homosexual characters such as ‘Ugly betty’ and ‘Glee’, where the homosexual characters are sometimes the comic relief with light hearted storyline, in particularly for example ‘Kurt’ who takes part in song and dance routines.
10. Do the institutions promote these representations globally and why might this be important. E.g., consider the representation of the family in ‘The Simpsons’ and how the distribution of this text and its ideologies may present an issue for other countries or ethnic groups outside of the US.
Ugly Betty has had a cultural impact in the United States. In January 17, 2007 California congresswoman Hilda Solis saluted America Ferrera for bringing a positive profile to the Latin and Hispanic communities. In addition to that recognition, on May 8, 2007, star America Ferrera was honored by TIME on the magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people. The actress was recognized for defying stereotypes with the show.
Glee is distributed over 25 countries globally; therefore some of its ideologies will be promoted in countries such as South Africa, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Latin America. Ideologies such as pre-marital sex and homosexuality are more controversial in Muslim countries such as Malaysia.
11. What values and ideologies lie behind the representation of your group? Explore the hegemonic power structures and dominance including Marxists/Pluralists theories. How might each of these approaches be used to comment on the representation of you group?
Homosexuals in the media have many ideologies and values that lie behind them because they are group that have been apparent in the media for just over 30 years. Some of the ideologies that lie behind them are, that they are un-Christian and that homosexuals have no religious values, also that homosexuals are victims and subordinated due to the homophobia apparent in every society in the world. Another Ideology is that homosexuals can be a symbol of liberty and freedom because they are free to live their life the way they’d like too, even though homosexuality isn’t fully accepted.
The hegemonic power structures and dominance of Marxists and Pluralists theories have affected the representation and depiction of Homosexuals.
12. Apply the relevant theory to the areas that you have explored. How might each of the theorist’s approached comments be used to comment on the representations of you group?
Richard Dyer
Queer theory
Homosexuals in the media are stereotypically represented as camp, foppish- fashionable and concerned with their appearance; an example of this is the character of ‘’Kurt’’ in the hit US show Glee, who is excessively indulged in his appearance; in one episode it is reveal that he has night-time routines where he does a number of face cleansing procedures before who goes to bed to maintain his flawless skin. Another example is the character of ‘Mark’ in Ugly Betty, who is fashionable and works in a fashion magazine, who is very camp, also in 'Ugly betty 'Justin' who aspires to be like 'Mark'.
The relationships between homosexual had proven to be represented very differently to a Heterosexual relationship. Homosexual relations seem to be more complicated and un-acceptable in society whilst heterosexual relationships can be complicated however not deemed by society.
Homosexuals are sometimes represented as weak and somewhat freaks of nature- especially young homosexuals, for example in glee, the character of ‘Kurt’, is seen to be bullied and thrown into trash cans, and it is evident that he cannot defend himself and is therefore represented as weak and useless, someone who cannot stand up to himself.
The representation of young homosexuals in contemporary US texts are all somewhat similar, the young gay character is usually someone that is abused and bullied in a stereotypical high school setting by the character of the ‘Jock’ and even sometimes the ‘Princess’. An example of this could be ‘Glee’ who contains the gay character of ‘Kurt’ that is tormented by bullies which are in the Football team. The male gay characters in Us contemporary texts seems to be more brave in terms of ‘coming out the closet’, they seem to proud and loud of the fact however lesbians in US contemporary texts seem to be more covert about it, for example 90210’s Adrianna.
2. What institutions are responsible for the production of your media texts? Production Company and channel of broadcast
Ugly Betty- series was produced by Silent H, Ventanarosa and Reveille Productions partnered with ABC Studios
Glee- The series airs on Fox
90210- The first series produced by CBS Productions
All my American teen drama texts broadcast onE4- a channel well known for its youth cultured programmes, aimed specifically at teenagers and young adults. The channel attracts its youth audience with texts that are solely for entertainment purposes that are comical or dramatic.
3. What other reasons might there be for why your group of people is represented the way it is? Consider the role of politics and the media e.g. hegemonic structure and why it might be in the interest of the media society to represent them in this way.
Homosexuality has been something that is not accepted society for a very long time ever since the topic was brought up historically and in contemporary times, due to the long history of homosexuality many stereotypes and ideologies have been distinguished. The common ideologies include young homosexual guys being ‘foppish’, a stereotypical little fashionsto who is also usually camp. Gays are normally represented as being feminine and essentially behaving like a woman. The question is why are they represented that way; well if you consider the hegemonic structure it could be that the hegemonic society will want to represent them like somewhat of a ‘woman’ and stereotypically women are weaker both physically and in terms of their positions in society and therefore this representation will consequently put homosexuals in their place in society.
Another representation which is not particularly common yet apparent is when homosexuals are represented as proud and loud about their sexuality and do not seem hesitant on acting the way ‘they’d like too, for example Kurt from Glee. This representation is apparent possibly due to the media wanting to put homosexuality as something that is ‘normal’ and something that should be accepted in society. An example of homosexual character that puts himself forward as proud and loud is ‘Kurt’ from ‘Glee.
4. Is there evidence of any alternative representations of this group in the media, perhaps in different genre? If not, why do you think this is the case?
In the media there are alternative representations of homosexuals especially through different genres, as their representations vary from one genre to another. For example in drama texts the representations of homosexuals generally includes homophobic abuse and the storyline of the text allows the audience to feely sympathy towards them for example in ‘Glee’ the character o ‘Kurt’ suffers from homophobic abuse at school and also his father has a hard time to accept his sexuality.
However in representation of homosexuals in comedy texts differ, because usually the homosexual characters in comedies are the comic relief. As I mentioned before the stereotypes of a homosexual guys is generally that they’re camp. And being camp can evoke comedic performances by a character, for example ‘Justin’ and ‘Mark’ from the US hit series ‘Ugly Betty’.
5. Using the above as an example consider if your group of people have always been represented the same way or has it changed over time
In the 1960s Hollywood allows the depiction of homosexuals in their productions.
Illinois becomes first state to abolish its sodomy laws.
In 1973 The American Psychiatric Association declares that homosexuality is not a psychiatric disorder.
In 1979 the national march of Washington for Lesbian and Gay rights with over 100,00 thousand people taking place.
In 1981 doctors indentify first cases of what they termed ‘gay-related immune deficiency (GRID) soon to be named AIDS
1990s President Bill Clinton adjust bans on gay in the military
2000s California abolish their bans on same-sex marriages
6. Who are the primary target audience for each of your three media text and how do you know?
Ugly Betty- I believe the target audience for this text is 16 to 40 year old. The range is quite big because I think the younger audience will be attracted to show because of maybe the character of ‘Justin’, or ‘Betty’, who are the younger characters of the cast that people can identify with. The older audience will be attracted to the text because of the storylines with the older cast who career orientated.
Gender wise there will be a female majority because generally females will be attracted to the fashion industries and the fact that the show centres around a fashion magazine, that mostly women consume could maybe suggest that more females watch the show. There also be a big gay fan base because typically there are a lot of gay people in the fashion industry and the gay fan base may identify themselves with that.
Glee- I believe the target audience for this text is from about 13 to 35. The reason for that is because the younger audience of the show will be attracted to show because of its ideologies and the entertainment values such as the song and dance as well the adult audience perhaps who are the secondary audience. Also the younger audience can identify themselves with the characters within the text that go to school and might face problems such as themselves.
90210- I believe the target audience for this text is 14 to 22. The reason is because of the school setting once again where the audiences can identify themselves
with the characters.
7. How might the target audience respond to and be affected representation of your group in your chosen texts?
In ‘Ugly Betty’ the intended reading of homosexuals is that they are normal human beings that are equal to heterosexuals. They can be successful and live a normal however with struggles due to their sexuality represented through the characters of ‘Justin’ and ‘Mark’.
In Glee the intended reading of homosexuals is that they are normal human beings that are equal to heterosexuals. They can be successful or talented and live a normal however with a lot struggles due to their sexuality represented through the character of ‘Kurt’.
In 90210 the intended reading
8. Now consider the issues of consumption by an audience and production. Other than political reasons why might it be that such representation exist.
9. Does the representation of you group vary from different cultures and from different institutions in different countries (do they perhaps offer an alternative and oppositional reading) If so why.
The two different cultures I will be exploring is the American culture and British culture, looking into how they represent homosexual characters within their texts. The British text that I have in mind is ‘Eastenders’. The show seems to have more serious storylines to do with sexuality such as abuse and homosexuality and religion, with the ‘Christian and Syed’ storyline. In British texts that include homosexual characters the homosexual is rarely the comic relief and never really has light hearted storylines unlike American text that consist of homosexual characters such as ‘Ugly betty’ and ‘Glee’, where the homosexual characters are sometimes the comic relief with light hearted storyline, in particularly for example ‘Kurt’ who takes part in song and dance routines.
10. Do the institutions promote these representations globally and why might this be important. E.g., consider the representation of the family in ‘The Simpsons’ and how the distribution of this text and its ideologies may present an issue for other countries or ethnic groups outside of the US.
Ugly Betty has had a cultural impact in the United States. In January 17, 2007 California congresswoman Hilda Solis saluted America Ferrera for bringing a positive profile to the Latin and Hispanic communities. In addition to that recognition, on May 8, 2007, star America Ferrera was honored by TIME on the magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people. The actress was recognized for defying stereotypes with the show.
Glee is distributed over 25 countries globally; therefore some of its ideologies will be promoted in countries such as South Africa, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Latin America. Ideologies such as pre-marital sex and homosexuality are more controversial in Muslim countries such as Malaysia.
11. What values and ideologies lie behind the representation of your group? Explore the hegemonic power structures and dominance including Marxists/Pluralists theories. How might each of these approaches be used to comment on the representation of you group?
Homosexuals in the media have many ideologies and values that lie behind them because they are group that have been apparent in the media for just over 30 years. Some of the ideologies that lie behind them are, that they are un-Christian and that homosexuals have no religious values, also that homosexuals are victims and subordinated due to the homophobia apparent in every society in the world. Another Ideology is that homosexuals can be a symbol of liberty and freedom because they are free to live their life the way they’d like too, even though homosexuality isn’t fully accepted.
The hegemonic power structures and dominance of Marxists and Pluralists theories have affected the representation and depiction of Homosexuals.
12. Apply the relevant theory to the areas that you have explored. How might each of the theorist’s approached comments be used to comment on the representations of you group?
Richard Dyer
Queer theory
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Identifying Relevent Theorists
Theodor Adorno
He covered topics such as Popular Culture, talking about how it made t
he population passive, docile and content; no matter how terrible their economic circumstances.
Books
The culture industry: selected essays on mass culture (1991) Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason' (2001).
Key Quote
"the same thing is offered to everybody by the standardised production of consumption goods".
Marshall McLuhan
McLuhan's The Mechanical Bride:Folklore of Industrial Man (1951) is a pioneering study in the field now known as popular culture.Each essay begins with a newspaper or magazine article or an advertisement, followed by McLuhan's analysis . The analyses bear on aesthetic considerations as well as on the implications behind the imagery and text.
McLuhan also is the theorist behind the idea of The Global Village. McLuhan described how the globe has been contracted into a village by electric technology and the instantaneous movement of information from every quarter to every point at the same time.
Books
The Gutenberg Galaxy- Global Village (1962)
The Mechanical Bride (1951)
Key Quoate
''Print is the technology of individualism. If men decided to modify this visual technology by an electric technology, individualism would also be modified''.
Richard Dyer
Dyer has a wide interest in culture and in the way that people are categorised. In his 2001 book The Culture of Queers was a general history of the culture of gay men. Specifically, he uses "queer culture" to indicate the values of that grouping before "gay culture".
Books
The Culture of Queers
Key Quoate
"Time and again, we are not told why Westerns are exciting, why horror films horrify, why weepies make us cry, but instead are told that, while they are exciting, horrifying and tear-jerking, the films also deal with history, society, psychology, gender roles, indeed the meaning of life."
(Book- Only Entertainment)
Stuart Hall
He covered the representation of Black people and talked about hegemony and cultral studies.
Book
Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices
Gaye Tuchman
She with involved with the theory of ''Symbollic Annillation of women
“Representation in the fictional world signifies social existence; absence means symbolic annihilation.”
Book- Gerbner & Gross
David Gauntlet 
He covered topics to do with gender and identity
Laura Mulvey
She covered topics such as the Male Gaze and Fetishism in her famous Essay ''Visual pleasure and narrative cinema''.
Antonia Gramsci
He covered the topic of Hegemony. He developed the initial concept of Hegemony that was previously used by Marxists.
Gramsci suggested, maintained control not just through violence and political and economic coercion, but also ideologically.
''Hergemony is a more sensitive and therefore a more useful critical term that "domination" which fails to acknowledge the active role of subordinate people in the operation of power"
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=PULFz85FDMYC&dq=antonio+gramsci+hegemony&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Judith Butler
She covered topics such as the queer theory, and gender representation.
Book- Gender Trouble 1990
"When the relevant "culture" that "constructs" gender is understod in terms of such a law or set of laws, then it seems that gender is determined and fixed as it was under the biology-is-destiny formulation"
Friday, 5 November 2010
Representation Case Study
Half Term HW
- For my representation case study I would like to study the representation of Homosexuals in TV
- I have chosen this because the representation of homosexuals differs quite dramatically in different media texts and it will be interesting to explore how and why homosexuals are represented in such ways. I think this will be a rich area of study because homosexuality as been heavily addressed in the contemporary media landscape and therefore I will have a variety of case studies from the media that will be relevant and worth exploring.
- The three media texts that I will use as my primary sources are 'Family Guy', 'Glee' and 'EastEnders'
- Theorists that are relevant to my study are...
- Some of my chosen theorists have written something to do with my study, including...
Monday, 1 November 2010
Alternative Representation of Women
The Hip Hop genre is predominantly dominated my male artists who create music vi
deos that represent woman as decoration, objects for sexual gratification and are essentially subordinated. The women in these Hip Hop music videos are nameless talentless woman that are only seen as sexual objects and are mostly commodified. Their bodies are fetishized with close-ups and sometimes the face can never be seen to accompany the body at times. On the other hand, the odd majority of female hip hop artist that produce music video represent themselves alternatively to the music videos of male artists.Eve in the music video ‘Tambourine’ is represented as a woman that is talented due to the obvious fact that she is the star if the music video. She also seems to not acknowledge the male gaze in the music video because it is not apparent that a man is lusting over her body or touching her, and she doesn’t seem to be engaging intimately with the opposite sex, which can show that she is not dependent on a man and she is powerful and successful without a man in her life. Also her body is not actually being fetishized in close-ups or medium close-ups. The only close-ups that are used are usually for her face and lips. Furthermore Eve is also being served in the music video which is the absolute opposite to what a woman would be stereotypically doing in a hip hop music video of a male artist.
However Eve is not representing herself as a feminist or post-feminist, because s
he seems to be taking the role of the male representation in hip hop in music videos; surrounded by beautiful women and materialistic things such as cars- as if Eve would like to be a man rather than a post-feminist. If Eve was representing herself as feminist or post-feminist she would have had good looking men dancing around her and serving her drinks, evidently showing that she is challenging gender roles in hip hop music videos, however the fact that she is being served by women and the women around her self-objectifying themselves shows that maybe women will always have their place in hip hop music videos as decoration or as a mans or even a women’s status of power and wealth. 
Another example of an alternative representation of women in hip hop is Ciara’s ‘Like a Boy’ music video. In this music video the female artist is dressed as a man and the opening line of the video is ‘Ladies I think its time to switch roles’. This music video is obviously addressing gender roles in society. The female artist in the music video is playing both the male and female in the music video which suggests that men and women are equal and that women are fed up with conforming to their stereotypical perception and roles in society. Ciara is not the only woman that is alternatively represented; the female back-up dancers are also switching their roles, overtly presenting this by dressing up as men. Ciara has many looks in this video and one of them is very androgynous rather than the obvious male/female look she has. Androgynous looking women are hardly ever seen in Hip Hop music videos and this is a very alternative representation of women in Hip Hop music videos.
Also in ‘Like a Boy’ the women in the music video are not used as decoration, are not used to serve men or for the purpose of the male gaze, which are again very alternative representation of women in Hip Hop music videos. Moreover the only male in the music video who seems to be the female artists love interests seems passive, powerless and talentless, compared to the women in the video who either sing or dance, which shows that maybe Ciara is a feminist who believes that women shouldn’t be subordinated.
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