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Writer's pictureLily Newman

Gender in Art and Media

I think today was my favourite contextual lecture because it was a topic that I could have a lot of opinions on and is a topic that I think anyone would have a few opinions on and could even get people into debates.


In discussion two phrases came up and I have thought about them in more detail since the end of the lecture.


Body as Display - females

Body as Action - males

I do and don't agree with this statement that was made. In advertisement women are used as a display of the human female body by pretty much always being barely clothed but nobody is going to force the women to pose and dress like that if they don't want to so they do agree to it themselves. Again in advertisement men portray themselves as strong and powerful which I believe is how men are bought up but not all men may I add. Both genders are displayed differently.


We then looked at how both male and females are represented in perfume and magazine adverts.


Perfume adverts:

We spoke about how both male and females were portrayed and whether this was familiar to us which of course it is as all perfume ads look similar with half dressed men and women. Below are two examples:

Both male and females are portrayed in the same way in most perfume ads as they are both being sexualised. I have never really understood why every person that is advertising a perfume has to be half dressed as they're supposed to be showing the perfume not the human body.

How the women are dressed in these adverts attract the male gaze but also the way the male body is portrayed could still count towards the male gaze because the males are being sexualised.


Magazine adverts:

In magazine adverts men and women are portrayed in completely different ways. Below are two examples of magazines showing Michael Fassbender and Katy Perry.

On the left is Katy Perry not wearing very much being portrayed again as a women who is being sexualised and then on the right is Michael Fassbender who is pictured fully dressed with a woman's hand draped across his face. Again I would say I see this regularly but I also see men on the front cover of magazines with their top off as well it's not always women. The separate captions on the two magazine covers are similar to the images on the front but the picture of Fassbender on the front cover really do link to the captions. 'AMP UP YOUR SEX APPEAL LEARN FROM THIS GUY *MICHAEL FASSBENDER' is one of the captions on the front cover. So even though the picture shows Fassbender fully dressed he is being sexualised from the caption and the hand of the woman across his face. However the captions on the cover of Katy Perry say along the lines of 'KATY PERRY GOES PIN-UP IN OUR SPECIAL ISSUE' and 'THE BEST PLACES IN THE WORLD TO TAKE YOUR GIRLFRIEND (WE CHECKED WITH HER)' The only way that the picture of Perry links is the pin-up style but even then she doesn't look obviously dressed as a pin-up girl. Both magazines I would say are aimed more at men.


Who is Katy Perry?

Singer

Did she need to do the shoot?

We discussed that Katy Perry was a successful singer but did she really need to present herself in the way she did to promote herself? It's not got anything to do with singing career and even on the magazine cover nothing is mentioned about her sinning career so I reckon she was just doing it for a bit more attention and to earn a little extra money.


Who is Michael Fassbender?

Actor

Did he need to do the shoot?

Again the same as Katy Perry the magazine mentioned nothing about his acting career so I think again he was doing it for a bit more attention and to earn a little extra money but doesn't every celebrity?


Miley Cyrus vs Sinead O'Connor

In 2013 Miley Cyrus released a song called 'Wrecking Ball' where she was dressed very sexually and made various sexual references throughout the music video. O'Connor warned her to be careful as she was concerned about Cyrus but unfortunately it turned into a row. O'Connor also compared it to her music video of Nothing Compares 2 U as she shed a single tear to same as Cyrus did in her video.

When a status or picture/video pops into my social media feeds do I challenge it or leave it and accept it?

I thought a lot about this question because when I do see things that I think are controversial I always have an opinion in my head but would never say anything to the person who posted it as I don't like to be confrontational.


Miss Representation

Above is a clip from the documentary film Miss Representation that was bought out a few years ago showing facts and young teenagers and girls being affected from social media and media in general. Nowadays lots of girls have a lot of pressures to look like the stereotypical girl due to social media. Miss Representation is a really good example,e of this but is also very shocking as it shows all the facts of how much time teenage girls spend on social media.


The Mask you Live in

Again another documentary but this time about the representation and expectations on boys on the journey to becoming men. When boys are growing up they are normally taught by their dad to be a 'real man' but does that actually exist? I don't think anyone is the same so no there's not one definition of a 'real man'. I think men and women have the same pressure but handle it in different ways. During the clip words like 'Grow up', 'Be a man' and 'Grow some Balls' were said and I think these words are wrong to use as this could be why men don't show emotions so much because they have to be 'strong'. In the clip a lot of respect is linked to violence such as knife crime which is supposed to show you're being a man. I think this is where society is failing them, at their age they shouldn't have any pressures like this and shouldn't be able to find it on social media.


Snowflakes = people get told they're a snowflake when they get easily offended by things.


Gillette advert

The new Gillette advert has been under scrutiny recently because of how it portrays men during the advert. After watching the advert I didn't see anything wrong with it but some people have seen it in the way that every male has been put into the same category. I didn't think this at all and. really don't see why everyone is getting so wound up over it. Gillette have tried to make their own version of the #MeToo campaign. The only thing that I could see that is a little bit controversial is the title of the ad 'The Best a Man can Be'. There should be nothing that demeans a man and can see how men could feel more pressure from this title.

Toxic masculinity = Masculinity is the quality of manliness — habits and traits that society considers to be appropriate for a man.

https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/masculinity


Different types of newspaper:

  • Broadsheet which is factual and for people that are interested in business eg. The Guardian and The Times

  • Red Top which is more gossip and tabloids eg. The Sun and The Daily Star

Would I say these are credible sources?

Both have facts just different types of facts it just depends on what you as an individual are looking for.


Impact of social media on these discussions

Social media can be good and bad because it can make people talk about things like this but it can also make them research into things which could lead them to do things http resort to bad decisions .


Dancing on Ice - Gemma Collins' fall

On Sunday night Gemma Collins fell over during her performance on a live show which obviously hit the news straight away. Less than an hour after the accident happened 44,000 comments had been made online 95% of which were all comments fat shaming her and not asking if she was okay and sending her their love. Although she has put herself in the public eye deliberately she doesn't deserve to have these comments made towards her. People also don't think about who else will see the comments and how the comments will affect them. We all need to have responsibility on we and others say.


Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner

Caitlyn Jenner who is a transgender woman (used to be Bruce Jenner - the husband of Kris Jenner) has made a lot of awareness of transgender men and women and has helped a lot with the acceptance of the group to a lot of people. She has and still does use the media to highlight this.

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