Identities and the Media: Feminism

Media Magazine reading

1) What are the two texts the article focuses on?

• HBO’s Pan Am
• Beyoncé’s music video for ‘Why Don’t You Love Me’,

2) What examples are provided from the two texts of the 'male gaze' (Mulvey)?

Pan Am:

• Laura having her weight and appearance checked
• ‘with a face like that you will find a husband in a couple of months’.
• glorious period detail of their uniforms and of course appreciate their perfectly coiffed hair and make up.

Beyonce:

• Beyoncé parodies the stereotype of the 1950s housewife, referencing the iconic 1950s pin up girl Betty Paige
• The dress codes are highly sexualised; the costumes include tight high-waisted knickers, a vintage style bra, Fifties pedal pushers with cats-eye-shaped glasses, suspenders and stockings which all allow the audiences to appreciate Beyoncé’s ‘credentials’
• openly rubbing her chest and body, whilst playfully looking down the camera,

3) Do texts such as these show there is no longer a need for feminism or are they simply sexism in a different form?

Texts such as these often portray women using their feminine aspects to their advantage and use it as a tool to empower themselves. Many people may consider these texts to be a form of sexism as the women are overly sexualised and objectified, however, as the women seem to hold control over men with their irresistible and desirable bodies, it may to be interpreted as sexism but rather an impacting way of empowering women.

4) Choose three words/phrases from the glossary of the article and write their definitions on your blog

Feminism – A movement aimed at defining, establishing, and defending women’s rights and equality to men. 

Post-feminism – An ideology in culture and society that society is somehow past needing feminism and that the attitudes and arguments of feminism are no longer needed. 

Third wave feminism – Was a movement that redefined and encouraged women to be dominant and sexually assertive.


No More Page 3

1) Research the No More Page 3 campaign. Who started it and why?

Lucy Anne Holmes started the campaign because she was shocked and disgusted that the most prominent  photograph of a woman in the widest circulation British newspaper is of a naked young woman

2) What are the six reasons the campaign gives for why Page 3 has to go?

• Men are shown as politicians, athletes, people who achieve things and are to be admired. Women, on the other hand, are represented as objects available purely to be looked at
• Page 3 contributes to a culture where men believe that women exist solely for their sexual gratification
• Objectifying a section of society is the first step towards dehumanising them, and this is where an environment is created where violence against them is seen as acceptable.
• there is a time and a place for boobs, and a national "family" newspaper is not it.
• To young boys, it promotes the idea that this is how you should see women
• Boobs are not news
• 
  

3) Read this debate in the Guardian regarding whether the campaign should be dropped. What are Barbara Ellen and Susan Boniface's contrasting opinions in the debate?

Susie Boniface:

• the campaign to stop Page 3 – it’s as outdated, pointless and past-it
• Page 3 girls considered they were sexually empowered and celebrating the female form. 
• there a lot of other far more serious, demeaning or damaging things in the world that women don’t consent to we could be campaigning about instead?

Barbara Ellen

• if Page 3 was dreary, dated, and offensive before, now it sits like a pathetic leering bare-breasted woolly mammoth amid modern enlightened sensibilities.
• The very passivity of Page 3 is offensive
• it does not matter that, compared to other pornography, the photos are “tame” or “lame” – women’s bodies are neither lame nor tame. 

4) How can the No More Page 3 campaign be linked to the idea of post-feminism?

The No More Page 3 campaign can be linked to the idea of post-feminism as many people, especially women,  were against ridding the revealing page. Those women believed that the topless women are doing it out of their own will and that it is their choice to make. By taking away page3, many models will maybe be stripped of an empowering factor of their lives. People have also argued that women are no longer objectified and oversexualised by men, meaning that by taking away pg 3, it is only a pointless pursuit.

5) What are your OWN views on the No More Page 3 campaign. Do you agree with the campaign's aims? Should the campaign continue?

In my opinion, I believe that the No More Page 3 campaign should have stopped and the page should not have been abolished. It is the female models who make their own decision whether they are going to model nude and it is not something that they are forced into. Furthermore, if campaigners believe that the page is manipulating young children's mind to believe that modelling while naked is women's purpose, I think that this concept is too abstract and unrealistic as schools teach children about equality.

6) Do you agree that we are in a post-feminist state or is there still a need for feminism?

To a certain extent, I do agree that we are in a post feminist state as women have a drastically different amount of power in society compared to what they once had several years ago. Also, women sometimes feel that despite being portrayed in a sexualised way, this is a form of empowerment as men are somewhat completely entranced by women. In terms of careers in the upper class and elite society, I think there needs to be more feminist concepts invoked into the men with power as it is clearly evident that women are made to be inferior in this aspect of society.