Patriarchal ideology, gender and media

Résumé du document

In a study carried out in the mid-70s, B. Miles (1975: pg.un) found that the proportion of men and women in situation comedies was nearly similar. However, the author points out that ‘the gender roles and the humor could still be traditional and sexist'. Thus, what we need to study in order to decide whether gender representation is still differentiated in the contemporary media is the precise ideology that has forged the notion and arguably the hypothesis of male power in modern visual media. Therefore, in a first argument, we will depict in what ways can patriarchal ideology, that is a set of ideas that support the power of men, be perceived as no longer verified in the modern visual media. On the other hand, we will survey how the idea of male power is still perpetrated in the contemporary representations of gender.

Extraits

[...] In other words, as feminists describe it, a society where patriarchal ideology dominates is organized by men for the benefit of men. Thus, the visual media would be used to portray such influences in order to maintain the dominant values and norms. Stereotypes[1]such as the Victorian father or more recently the 50s housewife have shown that patriarchal ideology has established its place in what we consider fashioned' nowadays. It should be pointed out that women in the Western civilisation nowadays have access to the outside world, which includes the media. [...]

[...] http://media.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,7541,435625,00.html Enriques, E ‘Feminisms and feminist criticism: an overview of various feminist strategies for reconstructing knowledge' in Women in Action, Vol Fiske, J., Hartley, J., O'Sullivan, T., Saunders, D Key Concepts in Communication, London: Routledge, p.222. Gauntlett, D.2002. Media, Gender and Identity, an introduction. London: Routledge, p Geraghty, C ‘Representation and popular culture' in Curran, J and Gurevitch, M (editors) Mass Media and Society, Third edition, London: Arnold, p.371. Gunter, B Television and Gender Representation, London: John Libbey. Pg.un. Far From Heaven Todd Haynes (writer, director). Main Cast: Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid. Jhally, in Stuart Hall: Representation and the Media. [...]

[...] Kaplan, E.Ann. 1983.Women and Film: both sides of the camera, London: Methuen, pp Lacey, N.1998. Image and Representation: key concepts in media studies, London: Macmillan, p.131. Maio, K.1991. Popcorn and sexual politics, Santa Cruz, CA: Crossing Press, p.2. Meyrowitz, J.1999. sense of place: the impact of electronic media on social behaviour' in Mckay, H and O'Sullivan, The Media Reader: continuity and transformation, London: Sage p.104. Miles, B Channelling Children: Sex Stereotyping as Prime time TV, Princeton: Women on Words and Images. [...]

[...] Now, women and men are usually given equal time in TV shows. What is more, they work and have a life outside the household and in several cases, do not have a large household. This observation contrasts with studies made in the late 1970s and early 1980s where men were most often shown at work and women as housewives and mothers at home (Strinati, D. 1995:186). Therefore, television programmes such as soap operas have been forced to adapt to modern relationship trends between men and women, mainly that one out of four marriages end in divorce. [...]

[...] Attempts to dislocate the woman from familiar places have been made by photographer Cindy Sherman. In ‘Untitled Film Still No.21, 1978' she pictures herself in disguise in what seems to be a male, business district environment, as suggested by the buildings towering in the background. What is more, she gives the impression of being dominant and hostile, thus challenging our preferred reading of the photograph. In ‘Untitled Film Still No.58, 1980', the woman appears to be dominated by the building behind her. [...]