03.28.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:26 pm by shanelkamara
To what extend does veronica mars offer an alternative representation of femininity? With specific reference to ‘Season 3 episodes 1′
This essay will present two distinct approaches to the portrayal of gender, deriving from influential theories such as Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory, and Butler’s ‘Queer Theory’. Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory provides the reader with an explanation of what Freud referred to as scopophilia; essentially the pleasure involved in observing other people’s bodies as ‘erotic objects’. It also focuses primarily on the way women are depicted in narrative cinema. Typically, women are portrayed as subordinate and objects or purely sex symbols, however Butler in Gender Trouble offers ‘Queer Theory’ the notion that ‘there is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender.’ Essentially Butler is arguing that gender is simply performance; it is not a universal ‘who you are.’ Broadly, I am arguing that the infrastructure of femininity has been transformed producing an alternative representation. An example I will be using to demonstrate this change is the character Veronica from the American series Veronica Mars. I will also use a more traditional representation of femininity, as opposed to a contemporary and modern depiction using the character Lois Lane from the series Smallville to showcase this.
‘Queer theory’ by Butler is a broader and a less redundant approach to femininity and gender, as the media constructs specific gender roles, as a consequence of societal values and ideas to differentiate males from females. For a long duration of time, sex and gender were perceived as one. In some cases this is still evident for example where surveys, questionnaires or application forms may ask what sex or gender you are providing the respondent with two options either ‘male’ or ‘female.’ These two options are identified as belonging to sex, but not gender which is a separate entity. Gender in Psychology refers to the behavior or personality traits an individual has because of their sex. Psychologist, Bem (1974) constructed an inventory to measure gender, and identified five main traits for masculinity and femininity. Individuals with the traits, aggression, ambition, being analytical, athleticism and self-sufficiency were recognized as being masculine, whilst individuals with the traits, compassion, shyness, warmth, sympathy and gullibility were identified as feminine. People who did not coincide with either of the gender categories were classed as androgynous, and were seen as being ‘psychologically healthier’. Society is responsible for the specified gender roles, often known ‘sex-role stereotypes’; which are culturally determined beliefs about what a particular sex’s gender role should be. Butler (1990) argued that gender is not fixed according to your sex; it is a fluent attribute of human identity. She also claims that gender is merely performance suggesting that both males and females can adopt either masculine or feminine roles. The renowned ‘We can do it’ poster printed for the War Production Coordinating Committee during world war two, was the first real attempt to promote manual labor as a job for women. This has affectively contributed to the redefinition of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ with iconic individuals such as Grace Jones, Madonna and Boy George all adopting subversive gender identities.
However, Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory takes a slightly different approach to gender specifically ‘femininity’ in cinema tics. Mulvey (1997, 27) argued that the viewing conditions facilitated ‘the voyeuristic process of ‘objectification’ of female characters, and also the narcissistic process of ‘identification’ with an ‘ideal ego’ seen on the screen.’ She also made the significant point that within patriarchal society ‘pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female.’ Her argument is simply that narrative cinema has made objectifying female characters in a voyeuristic way automatic and habitual, though this is only experienced by the male audience. Whereas the female audience will view the female persona, and experience what Freud called the ‘ego ideal’ the image of the self to which a person aspires. This ‘ego ideal’ coincides with the narcissistic process involved in reflecting onto oneself. Hollywood cinema positions audiences in the perspective of the male often by having a male protagonist. Male audiences identify with the protagonist and derive a sense of superiority and pleasure from adopting the ‘hero’ persona, with the female presented as a ‘victim’ or ‘object of desire.’ The popular ‘When I Grow Up’ music video by The Pussycat Dolls is an example of where the male gaze is evident, specifically when the girl band are climbing the building frame and a high angle is present showing the cleavage of the leader Nicole Scherzinger. The remaining members are rendered small creating the effect of audience power, as the ‘dolls’ are affectively perceived as desirable objects for the male audience to consume. It is clear that the females in this music video are objectified, and are perceived in a fetishistic and voyeuristic manner; the subliminal message conveyed through the song is targeted at young females, despite the provocative clothing and sultry movements. The lines ‘When I grow up I wanna be famous’ is only the beginning of the long list of dreams girls experience at a young age. There is another argument that opposes the male gaze theory, and that is provided by post feminism which argues that women have power over their sexuality and use their femininity to their advantage, their sexuality empowers them and relieves them of masculine dominion. There are many criticisms of this theory such as it is reductionist and ignores the fact that all genders – male and female want to be overwhelmed and dominated by the cinematic experience. It also ignores ‘metaphoric transvestism’ whereby men are able to view the film from the perspective of a woman, and the existence of the ‘female gaze’ whereby females derive gratification from viewing the male body.
In Richard Dyer’s typography he explains that within the media and narrative cinema there are types and stereotypes. Erwin Panfosky (1979) cited in Lacey () that types derived from the theatre and were used in early cinema. ‘The Vamp and the Straight Girl…, The Family Man, and The Villain, the latter marked by a black moustache and walking stick…A checkered tablecloth meant…a ‘poor but honest milieu.’ He explains that during early cinema types were employed to ‘establish character and setting’, and although perceived as crude types are still present in the twenty-first century. He continues to explain how ‘film noir’ characters have transformed, whereby the Vamp becomes the femme fatale ‘often in the pay of the Villain, who takes the Family Man away from the Straight Girl.’ Dyer defines types and stereotypes as being two separate matters; types ‘are characters who are defined by what they represent, rather than being ‘genuine’ individuals. Types are signified by an actor’s appearance and behaviour, and unlike a stereotype do not exist in the real world.’ Dyer than goes on to explain how types do not ‘conform to the bourgeois’ notion of character’; he claims that they are crude and unrefined in contrast to stereotypes. A prominent stereotype that has long existed in the media is the dumb ‘blonde’ stereotype. Hair colour has been acknowledged as not being linked to intellect, however for some reason as ‘blonde-ness’ is deemed attractive in British and North American society it has resulted in blondes being perceived as both ‘sexually attractive’ and dumb. The stereotype is both evident and absent in some television series today such as in Veronica Mars, where the female protagonist ‘Veronica’ is both blonde, highly skilled and intelligent, so it is here that this stereotype takes on ‘ideological overtones.’ A sexually appealing and perceptive woman is apparently more likely to be the more domineering partner in a relationship, ‘a role bourgeois ideology defines as male.’ In Veronica Mars Veronica is often portrayed as adroit and domineering over her fluctuating boyfriend Logan, who in the pilot episode of season three declares that he’s ruined her , ‘I didn’t think it was possible to make you more butch’ showing how traditional roles and stereotypes have been subverted producing countertypes.
The Male Gaze, Queer theory and Dyers Types and Stereotypes are present in contemporary television series. We see the queer theory specifically in the neo-noir detective series Veronica Mars. Episode 2 season three is an example of gender performance, where Veronica plays the ‘blonde stereotype’ whilst using her adroit nature to get the better of her counterparts, who are conveyed as more typical ‘college’ students. Costume in this episode signifies gender and is essential to the character Veronica’s covert investigation into the serial number of ‘rape’ incidents, occurring at Hearst University. We acknowledge the irony in this scene when the protagonist wears a white floral dress with white heels to suggest ‘femininity’ in order to be accepted into the college’s renown sorority, essentially she is ‘performing’ a conventional gender role. In normality, she wears jeans, waistcoats, t-shirts and denim skirts connoting androgyny and masculinity. This example of ‘gender performance’ makes society’s attitudes towards gender appear traditionally limited as the ideology conveyed is that sex and gender should correspond with one another, ‘females should be feminine and males should be masculine.’ This idea surrounding the issue of gender is first encountered in the opening sequence of the pilot episode of season three. Veronica is first distinguished wearing a light blue t-shirt with an eagle, faded jeans and black boots sitting on a green bench with her boyfriend on the other side of the bench. Veronica though not shown in the scene immediately, is first to speak giving her control over the conservation. Her body language replicates that of her boyfriend Logan, her legs are spread open exposing her ‘crotch’ area, which is traditionally viewed as a masculine position hence why the character Logan assumes this position. This ‘phallic display’ is an emulation of masculinity affectively saying ‘I am a strong man’ or in the protagonist’s case ‘I am a strong women.’ We see in both these scenes the protagonist adopting a traditional ‘feminine’ persona and a ‘masculine’ persona overall ensuing and producing an alternative androgynous character.
However, in contrast to this alternative representation the character Lois Lane from the series Smallville offers a more traditional presentation of femininity. The Smallville series showcases scopophilia through the use of the femme fatale ‘Lois Lane’ specifically episode four also titled ‘Aqua’. In this episode Lois encounters a conventional masculine character on the beach. Lois is used to embody the fetishistic form of femininity through the process of voyeuristic looking and narcissistic reflecting. We see her first in a red and black-bottomed bikini commenting on Clark and Lana’s intimacy, and then view her profile, as she exits the frame. She then reappears in the following scene whereby we view her getting out of the lake, preparing to jump of the diving board. In this scene, mise-en-scene is significant to the sexual connotations and objectification of women. The scene begins with Lois pulling herself out of the lake; a pan is used showing her breast, stomach, and legs and as she moves away from the lake a total shot is employed ‘emphasising’ her body. A low angle shot normally used to show the characters importance and dominance is than utilized to alternatively show Lois’s vulnerability, reinforcing Mulveys argument regarding women being either victimized or sexualized. In the Smallville series it is apparent that females are regarded as both objects of desire, and ‘damsels in distress’, with the exception of the character Chloe who is identified as the ‘brains’ behind the protagonist Clark Kent. The character continues to be portrayed as a victim specifically when her back is turned supporting the voyeuristic process of looking offered by Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory. The character is unaware and essentially oblivious that something tragic is about to occur, her lack of control over her body amplifies her absent authority over her sexuality. The subsequent events are predictable; Lois assumes the role of the victim in need of a ‘mans’ help, however before she receives aid, a close-up is emplaced lingering on her bottom until the ‘hero’ arrives shortly after. She is than carried by the ‘Adonis’ like character Arthur Curry than lay onto the beach by him again supporting the notion that women are dependent on the ‘strong’ and ‘chivalrous’ nature of men.
The season three of the series Veronica Mars presents an alternative representation of femininity through the use of semiotics in episode fourteen ‘Mars, Bars.’ In this scene we see the protagonist Veronica detained whilst adopting stereotypical behaviours of a convict. The semiotics and behaviours in this scene include the (fake) tattoo on her right arm, rolled up sleeves exposing her arms, cornrow hair styling on the right side of her head, push-ups and boxing. Her body language is also dominant and masculine with her legs spread open, and her shoulders hunched with her hands covering ‘crotch’ area. To conclude, however, the character Veronica from Veronica Mars proposes a truly androgynous presentation of femininity. She often opposes the traditional presentation, through adopting both feminine and masculine personas when necessary, in contrast to the character Lois from Smallville. Although, despite how evident the male gaze is in Smallville there is a hint of female gaze shown also in the ‘Aqua’ episode. Arthur Curry is objectified by a pan showing his face but concentrating on his abdominals, suggesting that women are not merely objects for male gratification but that men are also sources of gratification for women.
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12.16.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:09 am by shanelkamara
Scopophilia
Season 5 episode 4: Lois wearing red bikini getting out of a lake
The Smallville series showcases scopophilia through the use of the femme fatale ‘Lois Lane’ specifically in Aqua (episode 4) where the hero ‘Aquaman’ is first introduced to the series. In this episode Lois encounters this conventionally masculine male at the beach, which is also potentially the cliché location for ‘lovers’ to meet.
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12.14.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:08 pm by shanelkamara
To what extend does veronica mars offer an alternative representation of femininity? With specific reference to ‘Season 3 episodes 1′
This essay will present two distinct approaches to the portrayal of gender, deriving from influential theories such as Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory, and Butler’s ‘Queer Theory’. Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory provides the reader with an explanation of what Freud referred to as scopophilia; essentially the pleasure involved in observing other people’s bodies as ‘erotic objects’. It also focuses primarily on the way women are depicted in narrative cinema. Typically, women are portrayed as subordinate and objects or purely sex symbols, however Butler in Gender Trouble offers ‘Queer Theory’ the notion that ‘there is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender.’ Essentially Butler is arguing that gender is simply performance; it is not a universal ‘who you are.’ Broadly, I am arguing that the infrastructure of femininity has been transformed producing an alternative representation. An example I will be using to demonstrate this change is the character Veronica from the American series Veronica Mars. I will also use a more traditional representation of femininity, as opposed to a contemporary and modern depiction using the character Lois Lane from the series Smallville to showcase this.
‘Queer theory’ by Butler is a broader and a less redundant approach to femininity and gender, as the media constructs specific gender roles, as a consequence of societal values and ideas to differentiate males from females. For a long duration of time, sex and gender were perceived as one. In some cases this is still evident; for example where surveys, questionnaires or application forms may ask what sex or gender you are providing the respondent with two options either ‘male’ or ‘female.’ These two options are now identified as belonging to sex, but not gender which is a separate entity. Gender in Psychology refers to the behavior or personality traits an individual has because of their sex. Psychologist, Bem (1974) constructed an inventory to measure gender, and identified five main traits for masculinity and femininity. Individuals with the traits, aggression, ambition, being analytical, athleticism and self-sufficiency were recognized as being masculine, whilst individuals with the traits, compassion, shyness, warmth, sympathy and gullibility were identified as feminine. People who did not coincide with either of the gender categories were classed as androgynous, and were seen as being ‘psychologically healthier’. Society is responsible for the specified gender roles, often known ‘sex-role stereotypes’; which are culturally determined beliefs about what a particular sex’s gender role should be. Butler (1990) argued that gender is not fixed according to your sex; it is a fluent attribute of human identity. She also claims that gender is merely performance suggesting that both males and females can adopt either masculine or feminine roles. The renowned ‘We can do it’ poster printed for the War Production Coordinating Committee during world war two, was the first real attempt to promote manual labor as a job for women. This has affectively contributed to the redefinition of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ with iconic individuals such as Grace Jones, Madonna and Boy George all adopting subversive gender identities.
However, Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory takes a slightly different approach to gender specifically ‘femininity’ in cinema tics. Mulvey (1997, 27) argued that the viewing conditions facilitated ‘the voyeuristic process of ‘objectification’ of female characters, and also the narcissistic process of ‘identification’ with an ‘ideal ego’ seen on the screen.’ She also made the significant point that within patriarchal society ‘pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female.’ Her argument is simply that narrative cinema has made objectifying female characters in a voyeuristic way automatic and habitual, though this is only experienced by the male audience. Whereas the female audience will view the female persona, and experience what Freud called the ‘ego ideal’ the image of the self to which a person aspires. This ‘ego ideal’ coincides with the narcissistic process involved in reflecting onto oneself. Hollywood cinema positions audiences in the perspective of the male often by having a male protagonist. Male audiences identify with the protagonist and derive a sense of superiority and pleasure from adopting the ‘hero’ persona, with the female presented as a ‘victim’ or ‘object of desire.’ The popular ‘When I Grow Up’ music video by The Pussycat Dolls is an example of where the male gaze is evident, specifically when the girl band are climbing the building frame and a high angle is present showing the cleavage of the leader Nicole Scherzinger. The remaining members are rendered small creating the effect of audience power, as the ‘dolls’ are affectively perceived as desirable objects for the male audience to consume. It is clear that the females in this music video are objectified, and are perceived in a fetishistic and voyeuristic manner; the subliminal message conveyed through the song is targeted at young females, despite the provocative clothing and sultry movements. The lines ‘When I grow up I wanna be famous’ is only the beginning of the long list of dreams girls experience at a young age. There is another argument that opposes the male gaze theory, and that is provided by post feminism which argues that women have power over their sexuality and use their femininity to their advantage, their sexuality empowers them and relieves them of masculine dominion. There are many criticisms of this theory such as it is reductionist and ignores the fact that all genders – male and female want to be overwhelmed and dominated by the cinematic experience. It also ignores ‘metaphoric transvestism’ whereby men are able to view the film from the perspective of a woman, and the existence of the ‘female gaze’ whereby females derive gratification from viewing the male body.
In Richard Dyer’s typography he explains that within the media and narrative cinema there are types and stereotypes. Erwin Panfosky (1979) cited in Image and Representation Key concepts in Media Studies describing the types derived from the theatre and used in early cinema. ‘The Vamp and the Straight Girl…, The Family Man, and The Villain, the latter marked by a black moustache and walking stick…A checkered tablecloth meant…a ‘poor but honest milieu.’ He explains that during early cinema types were employed to ‘establish character and setting’, and although perceived as crude types are still present in the twenty-first century. He continues to explain how ‘film noir’ characters have transformed, whereby the Vamp becomes the femme fatale ‘often in the pay of the Villain, who takes the Family Man away from the Straight Girl.’ Dyer defines types and stereotypes as being two separate matters; types ‘are characters who are defined by what they represent, rather than being ‘genuine’ individual. Types are signified by an actor’s appearance and behavior, and unlike a stereotype do not exist in the real world.’ Dyer than goes on to explain how types do not ‘conform to the bourgeois’ notion of character’; he claims that they are crude and unrefined in contrast to stereotypes. A prominent stereotype that has long existed in the media is the dumb ‘blonde’ stereotype. Hair colour has been acknowledged as not being linked to intellect, however for some reason as ‘blonde-ness’ is deemed attractive in British and North American society it has resulted in prejudice that blondes are both ‘sexually attractive’ as well as dumb. The stereotype is both evident and absent in some television series today such as in Veronica Mars, where the female protagonist ‘Veronica’ is both blonde, highly skilled and intelligent, so it is here that this stereotype takes on ‘ideological overtones.’ A sexually appealing and perceptive woman is apparently more likely to be the more domineering partner in a relationship, ‘a role bourgeois ideology defines as male.’ In Veronica Mars Veronica is often portrayed as adroit and domineering over her fluctuating boyfriend Logan, who in the pilot episode of season three declares that he’s ruined her ‘I didn’t think it was possible to make you more butch’ showing how traditional roles and stereotypes have been subverted producing countertypes.
The pilot episode of season three Veronica Mars
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12.10.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:02 am by shanelkamara
Critical Investigation – to what extent does veronica mars offer an alternative representation of femininity? With specific reference to ‘Season 3 episodes 1′.
Queer theory quotes – veronica mars
Butler says ‘There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender…identity is per formatively constituted by the very “expressions” that are said to be it’s results’. In other words, gender is a performance; it’s what you do at particular times, rather than a universal who you are.’
Butler argues that ‘we all put on a gender performance, whether traditional or not, anyway, and do it is not a question of whether to do a gender performance, but what form that performance will take. By choosing to be different about it, we might work to change gender norms and the binary understanding of masculinity and femininity.’
David Halperin has said, ‘Queer is by definition whatever is at odds with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant. There is nothing in particular to which it necessarily refers. It is an identity without an essence’
Male Gaze theory – Smallville
‘Mulvey notes that Freud has referred to (infantile) scopophilia – the pleasure involved in looking at other people’s bodies as (particularly erotic) objects.
Mulvey argues that ‘various features of cinema viewing conditions facilitate from the viewer both the voyeuristic process of ‘objectification’ of female characters and also the narcissistic process of ‘identification’ with an ‘ideal ego’ seen on the screen. She declares that in patriarchal society pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female’ (Mulvey 1997, 27)
‘Conventional narrative films in the ‘classical’ Hollywood tradition not only typically focus on a male protagonist in the narrative but also assume a male spectator. As the spectator identifies with the main male protagonist, he projects his look onto that of his like, his screen surrogate, so that the power of the male protagonist as he controls events coincides with the active power of the erotic looks, both giving a satisfying sense of omnipotence. Traditional films present men as active, controlling subjects and treat women as passive objects of desire for men in both the story and in the audience, and do not allow women to be desiring sexual objects in their own right.’
Representation, Types and Stereotypes – semiotic study veronica mars
‘Certain objects and individuals, carry specific connotations. We learn to associate signs with particular meanings; for example a feather alongside a bow and arrow is likely to connote the native North American. In Pierce’s terms, these objects are an index of the ‘Indians.’ Individuals, too, have associations with most people of a particularly culture. The president of the USA, for example, possesses connotations used to signify a genre (the western’s ten-gallon hat, revolver, saloons, sheriffs, badges and so on. Certain actors can become associated with a particular genre, just as John Wayne and Clint Eastwood have become icons of the western. ‘
‘Types – are characters who are defined by what they present rather than being ‘genuine’ individuals. The type is signified by an actor’s appearance and behaviour and, unlike the stereotype does not exist in the real world.
Erwin Panofsky (1979) described the types derived from the theatre, which were used in early cinema:
The Vamp and the Straight Girl…the Family Man, and the Villain, the latter marked by a black moustache and walking stick…A checked table cloth meant … a ‘poor but honest’ milieu.
Types were particularly useful in early cinema, which could not use dialogue to establish character and setting. However the types the described above are still recognisable today (although we could perceive the early representations as being crude.) in film noir, for example the Vamp becomes femme fatale, often in the pay of the Villain, who takes the Family Man away from the Straight Girl. Types do not conform to the bourgeois notion of character they are too simplistic. Stereotypes, on the other hand, offer a more sophisticated shorthand about characters and people in the world.
The ‘dumb blonde’ stereotype is an interesting construct and has gained a wide currency in the media. Clearly hair colour is not related to intelligence; so where does this stereotypes come from? Blondeness may be deemed attractive in British and North American society because of its comparitative rarity (compromise by the sale of blond hair dyes) in Scandinavia; dark hair is accorded the same exoticism probably because it’s unusual. A blonde is often thought of as being sexually attractive, but why should she be dumb? It is here that this stereotype reference to the world takes on ideological overtones. If a women was sexually attractive and intelligent then there is a likelihood that she would be the dominant partner in any relationship, a role that bourgeois ideology defines as male.
Guillian Swanson (in lusted, 1991) described the constituent (basic) elements of the dumb blonde type they possess:
- A strange logic
- Innocence and naivety
- Manipulativeness
- Humour
- A body which is emphasised
- A childlike nature
- Adult ‘knowingness’ and seductiveness
Scenes – Veronica Mars Queer Theory
- Veronica dressed in floral pattern dress, looking feminine in season 3 episode 2
- Veronica adopts male performance behind jail bars in season 3 episode 14
- Veronica presented as vulnerable and emotional after toughing it out ‘like a man’ in episode 12.
- Focus on episode 19 Veronica Mars ‘I’m a girl’ relationship between ‘Stosh’ and veronica – queer theory
Draft 1
To what extend does veronica mars offer an alternative representation of femininity? With specific reference to ‘Season 3 episodes 1′
This essay will present two distinct approaches to the portrayal of gender deriving from influential theories such as Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory and Butler’s ‘Queer Theory’. Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory provides the reader with an explanation of what Freud referred to as scopophilia; essentially the pleasure involved in observing other people’s bodies as ‘erotic objects,’ and focuses primarily on the way women are depicted in narrative cinema. Typically women are portrayed as subordinate and passive objects or purely sex symbols. Butler, however, in ‘Gender Trouble’ offers ‘Queer Theory’ the notion that ‘there is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender…identity is per formatively constituted by the very “expressions” that are laid to be it’s results.’ Essentially Butler is arguing that gender is simply performance; it is not a universal ‘who you are’. (Chandler)
Broadly I am arguing that the infrastructure of femininity has transformed affecting female characters today. An example I will be using to demonstrate this change is the character Veronica from the hit US series ‘Veronica Mars.’ According to the Internet Movie Database (imdb) the character Veronica is described as
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11.18.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:00 am by shanelkamara
Possible Questions
In the hit US series ‘Smallville’ to what extent do you agree that the show incorporates traditional and conventional feminine and masculine roles?
Are women purely subjective objects of desire for the masculine audience to view
To what extent do women conform to the traditional female stereotypes often shown in American cinema with reference to the movie ‘Taken’?
To what extent are female characters portrayed as objects of desire for the masculine audience? With reference to the hit series ‘Veronica Mars’
Text – Veronica Mars, Series 3
Area of study – The representation of young feminity. Considering Gender Trouble and Post -Feminism
Permalink
11.08.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:52 am by shanelkamara
“Media Institutions are right to feel threatened by new/digital media.”
Consider this statement and show how media institutions are reacting to technological developments.
Plan
Lawrence Lessig – 2 types of creativity make up culture. Lessig explains how traditional broadcast media treated audiences like consumers and recievers of creativity which is controlled and dominated by big house media businesses. According to Lessig media and digital technologies are changing the distrubution of power and control between big media companies and individuals, offering audineces the chance to not just be consumers, but creators and sharers. Copyrigh Law, however, threatens the creativity of grassroots media in order to protect old traditional media. The marxist model of social power and control can be used to show how big businesses still try to limit and control the everyday creativity of people. Lessig has helped established the creative commons licence which is alternative to the conventional Copyright law. Free culture VS intellectual property. “Common sense revolts the idea”
Eric Raymond – Raymond talks intensively about the development of a new ‘open source’ software and the creation of the Linux. He explains how the the introduiction to a more open style internet changes the structure of society from the ‘cathedral’ top – down structure where consumers are strictly passive recievers to a ‘bazaar’ structure whereby audiences have more choice and options. This ‘bazaar’ structure is evidence that collective intellence works. Raymonds explains this all in his paper ‘The Cathedral and the Bazaar.’
Henry Jenkins – Jenkins is interested in something called ‘Media convergence’ which is the which is where new and old media have created a world where media forms converge e.g. Iphone. More importantly though he is interested in ‘Convergence Culture’ which is about how we the consumer are more involved in the production of media, and where grassroots media have converged and overlapped with big media, such as the ‘Bert is Evil’ story. He also explains how this convergence has allowed ‘collective intelligence’ to be formed where members of the audience can produce their own media as to cater for their interests – a more ‘niche’ market, which is more representative, opposes hegemonic values and ideology, democratically pluralistic and allow everyone to have a voice . Media consumers and becoming prosumers. Paradign shift. Participatory culture.
Response to Question
Due to technological developments, media institiutions are threatened by the overriding wave of new digital technologies. The reaction of many institiutions to this revolution of ‘open source’ content and culture is to respond immediently with online papers, downloadable tracks and audiobooks, this response has derived from the recent generation of Web 2.0 that unlike web 1.0 offers not only read-only culture, but re-write allowing consumers to become active participators of the media they indulge. Jenkin’s convergence culture shows the paradign shift from old, traditional broadcast to narrowcast or a niche market; he also shows the affects of new digital media on audiences, and offers the argument that the divide once between grassroots media and big media is no longer present, he points out that the two at times overlapp and contribute to one another as demonstrated by the ’Bert is Evil’ fad. This initiated from a boys bedroom to being found, scanned and printed by a bangladesh-based publisher, onto anti-american signs, posters and t-shirts, then to CNN reporters finding the content and making a news report. Jenkins claims that a consquence of culture convergence is collective intelligence, whereby individuals are able to cater for their own unique interests thus creating a more niche market and opposing the conventional hegonomic values and ideology conveyed by old media. Collective intelligence allows democatic pluralism and the nature of media allows everyone to have a voice.
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10.06.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:58 am by shanelkamara
Cyberculture is the culture that has emerged, or is emerging, from the use of computer networks for communication, entertainment and business
Several subcultures have been inspired by cyberpunk fiction. These include the Cyberdelic counter culture of the late 80s and early 90s. Cyberdelic, whose adherents referred to themselves as “cyberpunks”, attempted to blend the psychedelic art and drug movementwith the technology of cyberculture.
Cyberpunk Ideology
We are the ELECTRONIC MINDS, a group of free-minded rebels. Cyberpunks.
We live in Cyberspace, we are everywhere, we know no boundaries.
This is our manifest. The Cyberpunks’ Manifest.
We fight for freedom of speech and press. For the freedom to express our thoughts freely, without being persecuted by the system.
We are interested in what happens now, but what in what’s gonna happen tomorow as well. 6/ We look in the net, and the net is growing wide and wider. 7/ Soon everything in this world will be swallowed by the net: from the military systems to the PC at home. 8/ But the net is a house of anarchy. 9/ It cannot be controlled and in this is its power. 10/ Every man will be dependent on the net. 11/ The whole information will be there, locked in the abysses of zeros and ones. 12/ Who controls the net, controls the information. 13/ We will live in a mixture of past and present. 14/ The bad come from the man, and the good comes from technology. 15/ The net will control the little man, and we will control the net. 16/ For is you do not control, you will be controlled. 17/ The Information is POWER!
The Net, with no boundaries and information limit 7/ Ours is yours, yours is ours. 8/ Everyone can share information, no restrictions. 9/ Encrypting of informattion is our weapon. Thus the words of revolution can spread uninterrupted, and the government can only guess. 10/ The Net is our realm, in the Net we are Kings.11/ Laws. The world is changing, but the laws remain the same. The System is not changing, only a few details get redressed for the new time, but everything in the concept remains the same. 12/ We need new laws.
What are they rebelling against?
The so called reforms which our governments so adeptly use to boast, are nothing else but a little step forward, when a whole jump can be done. 3/ People fear the new and unknown. They prefer the old, the known and checked truths. They are afraid of what the new can bring to them. They are afraid that they can lose what they have. 4/ Their fear is so strong that it has proclaimed the revolutional a foe and a the free idea – its weapon. That’s their fault. 5/ People must leave this fear behind and go ahead. What’s the sense to stick to the little you have now when you can have more tomorrow. Everything they must do is stretch their hands and feel for the new; give freedom to thoughts, ideas, to words: 6/ For centuries each generation has been brought up is a same pattern. Ideals is what everybody follows. Individuality is forgotten. People think in a same way, following the clichc drilled in them in childhood, the clichc-education for all children: And, when someone dares defy authority, he is punished and given as a bad example. “Here is what happens to you when you express your own opinion and deny your teacher’s one”. 7/ Our society is sick and need to be healed. The cure is a change in the system…
Do they have any distinctive fashions/music/lifestyle choices?
Music relevent to Cyberpunk
frontline assembly album cover
How are they/have they been represented in the media? Give examples across the platforms
Primary exponents of the cyberpunk field include William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, Bruce Sterling, Pat Cadigan, Rudy Rucker, and John Shirley.[10]
Many influential films, such as Blade Runner and the Matrix trilogy can be seen as prominent examples of the cyberpunk style and theme.[6] Computer games, board games, and role-playing games, such as Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadowrun, often feature storylines that are heavily influenced by cyberpunk writing and movies. Beginning in the early 1990s, some trends in fashion and music were also labeled as cyberpunk. Cyberpunk is also featured prominently in anime,[11] Akira and Ghost in the Shell being among the most notable
Society and government
Cyberpunk can be intended to disquiet readers and call them to action. It often expresses a sense of rebellion, suggesting that one could describe it as a type of culture revolution in science fiction. In the words of author and critic David Brin:
…a closer look [at cyberpunk authors] reveals that they nearly always portray future societies in which governments have become wimpy and pathetic …Popular science fiction tales by Gibson, Williams, Cadigan and others do depict Orwellian accumulations of power in the next century, but nearly always clutched in the secretive hands of a wealthy or corporate elite.[
Cyberpunk is a science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life".[1] The name is a blend of cybernetics and punk
Examples of Cyberpunk representations within media:
Ghost in the shell
Matrix
Permalink
09.20.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:50 am by shanelkamara
David Gauntlett
David Gauntlett is interested in two key terms he refers to in his explanation, which are ‘sit-back-and-watch culture’ and ‘making-and-doing culture.’ He refers to this when talking about the exchange of power from large corporations to amateurs in their bedrooms; this participatory culture offers audiences to size control and to have some say on the media content they consume and to even produce their own content. Web 2.0 is an intrinsic tool that enables audiences to move out of ‘read-only culture’ and into ’re-write culture.’ The ‘read-only culture’ inhibited audiences from being active and participating with their media content, an example of ‘read-only culture’ is the site Encyclopedia Britainnica, that has no participatory functionality, it was followed the creation of the prime site world wide web project produced by Tim Berners lee. The Encyclopedia Britainnica was very similar to accessing archive files from a library, so similar that due to the use of dial-up Internet took about the same out of time to visit the library, to visit the site.
In response to David’s video concerning:
audiences utilizing the creative tools I personally believe that creative tools have been made available to us to find creative solutions for national and perhaps even universal problems. In retrospect I’ve made an attempt to defy the sit-back-and-be-told culture and partake in the making-a-doing-something culture. One of the ways in which Ive made my imprint on the world is through making an effort to make my views – on certain topics and affairs – known throughout the broadcast platform. Representation has been my prime focus, and I have used the function of comment entries to express my views.
Ivan Illich
Henry jenkins
Technologically Media Convrgence refers to the sense some theorist have had that media forms and devices are combining in ways that will culminate in a single device.
http://www.extrememediastudies.org/extreme_media/1_navigating/pdf/navigating_jenkins_convergence.pdf
http://www.vodafone.com/flash/receiver/12/articles/pdf/12_01.pdf
http://eng1131adaptations.pbworks.com/f/Jenkins,+Henry++-+The+Cultural+Logic+of+Media+Convergence.pdf
Permalink
07.02.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:02 am by shanelkamara
“Laura Mulvey’s theory of the ‘male gaze’ is important; she contends that scopophilia (the basic human sexual drive to look at other human beings) has been ‘organised’ by society’s patriarchal definition of looking as a male activity, and being look at as a female ‘passivity’. Male power means that any social representation of women is constructed either as a fetishist (fantasise or fantasy) spectacle or as a spectacle for the purpose of male voyeuristic pleasure (perverse)”
Gaunlett’s summary of the Mulvey’s theory of the ‘male gaze’ is an exact explanation and understanding of the concept. He states that according to the theory scopophilia (the basic human drive to look at other human beings) has been formed by societies patriarch, a society in which the father or rather male dominates and assumes the role as the head, withholding the position as the ‘elite’ in the hierarchy. Females or rather women in contrast are portrayed by ‘male dominance’ as weak and unintuitive,reliant on the archetypal hero to rescue her. Consequently women are frequently represented in either a fetishist manner or a subservient to the male voyeuristic pleasures.
‘Party in USA’ Representation dissertation
In regards to who is being represented, young women are represented, perhaps more specifically the teenage demographic through a rather sexual embodiment by teenage singer Miley Cyrus. Within the video our lead star or protagonist (if you can really call her that) Miley Cyrus is portrayed wearing a skin tight boob tube type vest, accompanied with short ripped denim shorts, the background cast encompasses of both white, black and Chinese females all of whom are wearing similar type clothing again being portrayed in a sexually appealing manner.
Subsequent to the protagonist’s arrival the camera lingers on the protagonist legs placing the audience (or rather female viewers) in the male perspective. Female viewers are not accounted for and are forced to experience the narrative secondarily, this in particular is one of the key features of the ‘male gaze’ theory. Patriotism is represented through the use of the American flag which more specifically relates to the song title, however, America is portrayed as rather rustic due to the mise-en-scene encompassing of a warm, orange colours and lighting creating a relaxed and fun atmosphere.
The association of cars and men or women and cars prompts the viewer of a similar scene Transformers Megan Fox as she walks home with whilst Sam tails her attempting to get her into his car. This video has a similar feel and reinforces the fetishes female being prone to fix cars and look good while doing so. In addition straight cuts are employed to create narrative continuity, so as to follow a linear structure, change the scene and vary the point of view, an example of this would be when the protagonist looks to a male she has recognised, in that moment the audience is put into the female perspective or rather the ‘female gaze,’ as the male is tanned and fairly appealing to the eye, however this advocates Naomi Wolf’s belief that ‘the quality called “beauty” objectively and universally exists. Women must want to embody it and men must want to possess women who embody it. This embodiment is imperative to women but not for men.’
There are a number of camera shots employed to convey these theories and representations, mid shots in particular are used to focus on the females bust, face and torso, the use of this shot enables audiences to view the characters expressions. Both high angle and low angle shots are essentially employed to objectify all females within each shot; in some scenes such as when the protagonist and her comrades are parading on top of a car there is a high angle revealing and focusing on the protagonist bust. The dominant ideology being conveyed is that young women who dress in tight, form fitting clothing will evidently have more fun, and more significantly attract more males.
Three examples of where laura mulvey’s theory applies across media platforms:
Transformers Megan Fox is an example of where the ‘male gaze’ theory can be applied as she is the fetishised women placed to serve the male perspective. As shown in the image below megan is portrayed looking rough, dirty and sexually appealing to the male eye. Her cheeks are flushed, and her mouth is a rosy red conveying passion and youth.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-499729/How-Spice-Girls-killed-feminism-subverted-morality-embarassed-all.html#ixzz100A3RhMy
Fay Weldon On How the Spice Girls have killed feminism offers poignant views supporting the notion that the Spice Girls have caused problems for contemporary audiences. She makes a point to express how disconcerted she feels toward the Spice Girls, amongst how due to their past wild, and philandering behaviour young girls or women are growing with the impression that sexual intimacy and external fidelity is the norm and more importantly acceptable. Due to Geri’s particular choice in dress, the Spice Girls have subsequently represented the United Kingdom; they were iconic and admired by thousands of young girls (including myself).
To some extent Fay Weldon is correct in saying that the Spice Girls set up a standard and endeavour for young girls to reach, sportie spice’s tomboy and athletic nature, baby spice’s am ore for lollipops, but we must consider Fay Weldon’s point acutely especially when she says ‘They are the ones who are fuelling a rise in sexual diseases the like of which we haven’t seen for generations’ their is some truth in this as some costumes, dances and lyrics conveyed a sexual allure which consequently influenced the generation in retrospect, thus affecting the present generation. In addition she points out how because of Geri’s representation of size some girls and women have follewd her in persuit ‘Those little girls who first listened to the Spice Girls ten years ago are the ones who are now running up vast credit card bills on designer shopping they can’t afford. They are the ones who are anorexic (just like Geri was)‘. I do however believe that the Spice Girls are not to be completely blamed for the mas acre of feminism.
Western Commodity such as the barbie doll and other marketed girl groups are to blamed, despite Fay Weldon’s argument I still believe, disregarding the Spice Girls current situations that they truly stood for girl power, song titles such as ‘Mu ma I love you’ and other empowering songs did more good than harm, the Spice Girls were young, naive and oblivious to what the music industry would present for them, and even following the dismissal of their manager they still had some level of innocence.
Judith Butler
Judith Butler a philosopher and professor of comparative literature is a theorist of power, sexuality and identity. http://www.theory.org.uk/ctr-butl.htm
Examples of neutral non-gender characters: Judge J. Alexander from America next top model
Judith Butler
This page gives an introduction to Judith Butler and the arguments put forward in her 1990 book Gender Trouble. Her subsequent publications (see bibliography at the bottom of this page) are covered here less. There are also links to a good student essay on Butler, and some interview extracts (both on this site), as well as web resources on other sites. Our queer theory pages have also expanded — now featuring reviews and discussion of criticisms of queer theory.
Who is Judith Butler?
Judith Butler (1956-) is Professor of Comparative Literature and Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley, and is well known as a theorist of power, gender, sexuality and identity. Indeed, she is described in alt.culture as “one of the superstars of ’90s academia, with a devoted following of grad students nationwide”. (A fanzine, Judy!, was published in 1993).
What has she said?
In her most influential book Gender Trouble (1990), Butler argued that feminism had made a mistake by trying to assert that ‘women’ were a group with common characteristics and interests. That approach, Butler said, performed ‘an unwitting regulation and reification of gender relations’ — reinforcing a binary view of gender relations in which human beings are divided into two clear-cut groups, women and men. Rather than opening up possibilities for a person to form and choose their own individual identity, therefore, feminism had closed the options down.
Butler notes that feminists rejected the idea that biology is destiny, but then developed an account of patriarchal culture which assumed that masculine and feminine genders would inevitably be built, by culture, upon ‘male’ and ‘female’ bodies, making the same destiny just as inescapable. That argument allows no room for choice, difference or resistance.
Butler prefers ‘those historical and anthropological positions that understand gender as a relation among socially constituted subjects in specifiable contexts’. In other words, rather than being a fixed attribute in a person, gender should be seen as a fluid variable which shifts and changes in different contexts and at different times.
The very fact that women and men can say that they feel more or less ‘like a woman’ or ‘like a man’ shows, Butler points out, that ‘the experience of a gendered… cultural identity is considered an achievement.’
Butler argues that sex (male, female) is seen to cause gender (masculine, feminine) which is seen to cause desire (towards the other gender). This is seen as a kind of continuum. Butler’s approach — inspired in part by Foucault — is basically to smash the supposed links between these, so that gender and desire are flexible, free-floating and not ’caused’ by other stable factors.
Butler says: ‘There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender; … identity is performatively constituted by the very “expressions” that are said to be its results.’ (Gender Trouble, p. 25). In other words, gender is a performance; it’s what you do at particular times, rather than a universal who you are.
Butler suggests that certain cultural configurations of gender have seized a hegemonic hold (i.e. they have come to seem natural in our culture as it presently is) — but, she suggests, it doesn’t have to be that way. Rather than proposing some utopian vision, with no idea of how we might get to such a state, Butler calls for subversive action in the present: ‘gender trouble’ — the mobilization, subversive confusion, and proliferation of genders — and therefore identity.
Butler argues that we all put on a gender performance, whether traditional or not, anyway, and so it is not a question of whether to do a gender performance, but what form that performance will take. By choosing to be different about it, we might work to change gender norms and the binary understanding of masculinity and femininity.
This idea of identity as free-floating, as not connected to an ‘essence’, but instead a performance, is one of the key ideas in queer theory. Seen in this way, our identities, gendered and otherwise, do not express some authentic inner “core” self but are the dramatic effect (rather than the cause) of our performances.
David Halperin has said, ‘Queer is by definition whatever is at odds with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant. There is nothing in particular to which it necessarily refers. It is an identity without an essence.’
It’s not (necessarily) just a view on sexuality, or gender. It also suggests that the confines of any identity can potentially be reinvented by its owner…
And finally — what has this got to do with media and communications studies? Well, the call for gender trouble has obvious media implications, since the mass media is the primary means for alternative images to be disseminated. The media is therefore the site upon which this ‘semiotic war’ (a war of symbols, of how things are represented) would take place. Madonna is one media icon who can be seen to have brought queer theory to the masses.
Permalink
06.24.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:01 am by shanelkamara
Introduction
There are many different theories that can be applied when looking at society and the effects of the media on the masses. One theory or rather idea is marxism; “Marxism is a particular political philosophy, economic and sociological worldview based upon a materialist interpretation of history, a Marxist analysis of capitalism, a theory of social change, and an atheist view of human liberation derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.”
Marxism can be split into three components: The dialectical and materialist concept of history – this is essentially the struggle between social classes. The segment of society that holds the majority of the productivity is enabled to send ideological, legal and political views to the conciousness of the individuals of which society is composed. The critique of capitalism - Marx argues that within a capitalist society, an economic minority (the bourgeoisie) dominate and expoit the working class. He argued that whiled the production process was socialised, ownership and power belongs to the bourgeoisie (a social class characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture) thus society is unable to reach their productive potential. Advocacy of proletarian revolution – In order to override the fetters of private property the masses must seize political power and control internationlly through a social revolution and place productive capacities into one collective ownership, hense abolishing all forms of inequality amongst individuals.
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was a German[2] philosopher, political economist, historian, political theorist, sociologist, communist, and revolutionary, whose ideas played a significant role in the development of modern communism. Marx summarized his approach in the first line of chapter one of The Communist Manifesto, published in 1848: “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
We see then: the means of production and of exchange, on whose foundation the bourgeoisie built itself up, were generated in feudal society. At a certain stage in the development of these means of production and of exchange, the conditions under which feudal society produced and exchanged…the feudal relations of property became no longer compatible with the already developed productive forces; they became so many fetters. They had to be burst asunder; they were burst asunder. Into their place stepped free competition, accompanied by a social and political constitution adapted in it, and the economic and political sway of the bourgeois class. A similar movement is going on before our own eyes…. The productive forces at the disposal of society no longer tend to further the development of the conditions of bourgeois property; on the contrary, they have become too powerful for these conditions, by which they are fettered, and so soon as they overcome these fetters, they bring order into the whole of bourgeois society, endanger the existence of bourgeois property.
Hegonomy
Hegemony is the political, economic, ideological or cultural power exerted by a dominant group over other groups, regardless of the explicit consent of the latter. While initially referring to the political dominance of certain ancient Greek city-states over their neighbors, the term has come to be used in a variety of other contexts, in particular Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci‘s theory of cultural hegemony. The term is often mistakenly used to suggest brute power or dominance, when it is better defined as emphasizing how control is achieved through consensus not force.
Marxist Media Theory
Daniel Chandler
Introduction
In Britain and Europe, neo-Marxist approaches were common amongst media theorists from the late ’60s until around the early ’80s, and Marxist influences, though less dominant, remain widespread. So it is important to be aware of key Marxist concepts in analysing the mass media. However, there is no single Marxist school of thought, and the jargon often seems impenetrable to the uninitiated. These notes are intended to provide a guide to some key concepts.
Marxist theorists tend to emphasize the role of the mass media in the reproduction of the status quo, in contrast to liberal pluralists who emphasize the role of the media in promoting freedom of speech.
The rise of neo-Marxism in social science represented in part a reaction against ‘functionalist’ models of society. Functionalists seek to explain social institutions in terms of their cohesive functions within an inter-connected, socio-cultural system. Functionalism did not account for social conflict, whereas Marxism offered useful insights into class conflict.
As the time of the European ascendancy of neo-Marxism in media theory (primarily in the 1970s and early 1980s), the main non-Marxist tradition was that of liberal pluralism (which had been the dominant perspective in the United States since the 1940s) (see Hall 1982: 56-65). As Gurevitch et al. put it:
Pluralists see society as a complex of competing groups and interests, none of them predominant all of the time. Media organizations are seen as bounded organizational systems, enjoying an important degree of autonomy from the state, political parties and institutionalized pressure groups. Control of the media is said to be in the hands of an autonomous managerial elite who allow a considerable degree of flexibility to media professionals. A basic symmetry is seen to exist between media institutions and their audiences, since in McQuail’s words the ‘relationship is generally entered into voluntarily and on apparently equal terms’… and audiences are seen as capable of manipulating the media in an infinite variety of ways according to their prior needs and dispositions, and as having access to what Halloran calls ‘the plural values of society’ enabling them to ‘conform, accommodate, challenge or reject’. (Gurevitch et al. 1982: 1)
In contrast, they continue:
Marxists view capitalist society as being one of class domination; the media are seen as part of an ideological arena in which various class views are fought out, although within the context of the dominance of certain classes; ultimate control is increasingly concentrated in monopoly capital; media professionals, while enjoying the illusion of autonomy, are socialized into and internalize the norms of the dominant culture; the media taken as a whole, relay interpretive frameworks consonant with the interests of the dominant classes, and media audiences, while sometimes negotiating and contesting these frameworks, lack ready access to alternative meaning systems that would enable them to reject the definitions offered by the media in favour of consistently oppositional definitions.
Base and superstructure
Economism (also called ‘vulgar Marxism‘) is a key feature of ‘classical Marxism’ (orthodox or fundamentalist Marxism). In economism, the economic base of society is seen as determining everything else in the superstructure, including social, political and intellectual consciousness. Theories positing economic relations as the basic cause of social phenomena are also called materialist theories, and Marx’s version is also known as ‘historical materialism‘. Economism is related to technological determinism. Marx is often interpreted as a technological determinist on the basis of such isolated quotations as: ‘The windmill gives you society with the feudal lord: the steam-mill, society with the industrial capitalist’ (‘The Poverty of Philosophy’, 1847).
Mass media research in this fundamentalist tradition interprets the ‘culture industries’ in terms of their economic determination. According to this view, ‘the contents of the media and the meanings carried by their messages are… primarily determined by the economic base of the organizations in which they are produced’ (Curran et al. 1982: 18). Consequently, ‘commercial media organizations must cater to the needs of advertisers and produce audience-maximizing products (hence the heavy doses of sex-and-violence content) while those media institutions whose revenues are controlled by the dominant political institutions or by the state gravitate towards a middle ground, or towards the heartland of the prevailing consensus’ (ibid.). Marxists of the ‘political economy’ variety (such as Graham Murdock) still see ideology as subordinate to the economic base. The base/superstructure model as applied to the mass media is associated with a concern with the ownership and control of the media.
Critics regard economism as reductionist, failing to account for diversity. Althusserian Marxists propose ‘the relative autonomy of the superstructure with respect to the base… [and] the reciprocal action of the superstructure on the base’ (Althusser, cited in Lapsley & Westlake 1988: 5; my emphasis). According to this view ideological practices such as the mass media are relatively autonomous from economic determination (see Stevenson 1995: 15-16). The notion of ‘relative autonomy’ has been subject to criticism (e.g. by Paul Hirst in 1977: see Lapsley & Westlake 1988: 13-14; Curran et al. 1982: 25).
Under the influence of Althusser, Stuart Hall and other ‘culturalist’ Marxists reject the base/superstructure formulation, arguing that there is a dialectic between what Marx termed ‘social being’ and ‘social consciousness’ (Curran et al. 1982: 27).
Ideology
A central feature of Marxist theory is the ‘materialist‘ stance that social being determines consciousness. According to this stance, ideological positions are a function of class positions, and the dominant ideology in society is the ideology of its dominant class. This is in contrast to the ‘idealist‘ stance that grants priority to consciousness (as in Hegelian philosophy). Marxists differ with regard to this issue: some interpret the relationship between social being and consciousness as one of direct determination; others stress a dialectical relationship.
In fundamentalist Marxism, ideology is ‘false consciousness‘, which results from the emulation of the dominant ideology by those whose interests it does not reflect. From this perspective the mass media disseminate the dominant ideology: the values of the class which owns and controls the media. According to adherents of Marxist political economy the mass media conceal the economic basis of class struggle; ‘ideology becomes the route through which struggle is obliterated rather than the site of struggle’ (Curran et al. 1982: 26).
Althusser rejected the notion of false consciousness, stressing that ideology is the medium through which we experience the world (Curran et al. 1982: 24). Althusserian Marxism stresses the irreducibility and materiality of ideology: i.e., ideology is seen as a determining force in its own right. The ideological operation of the mass media in the West contributes to the reproduction of the capitalist system.
Another Marxist theorist of ideology, Valentin Volosinov, has been influential in British cultural studies. Volosinov argued that a theory of ideology which grants the purely abstract concept of consciousness an existence prior to the material forms in which it is organized could only be metaphysical. Ideological forms are not the product of consciousness but rather produce it. As Tony Bennett notes: ‘Rather than being regarded as the product of forms of consciousness whose contours are determined elsewhere, in the economic sphere, the signifying systems which constitute the sphere of ideology are themselves viewed as the vehicles through which the consciousness of social agents is produced’ (Bennett 1982: 51).
Clearly, Marxist theorists agree that the mass media has ideological power, but disagree as to its nature.
Media as amplifiers
In Marxist media analysis, media institutions are regarded as being ‘locked into the power structure, and consequently as acting largely in tandem with the dominant institutions in society. The media thus reproduced the viewpoints of dominant institutions not as one among a number of alternative perspectives, but as the central and “obvious” or “natural” perspective’ (Curran et al. 1982: 21).
According to adherents of Marxist political economy, in the mass media there is a tendency to avoid the unpopular and unconventional and to draw on ‘values and assumptions which are most valuable and most widely legitimated’ (Murdock & Golding 1977: 37, cited in Curran et al. 1982: 26).
As Curran et al. note, most researchers in the Marxist tradition in Britain (such as Stuart Hall) have approached the issue of media portrayals of violence in terms of whether such portrayals have served ‘to legitimize the forces of law and order, build consent for the extension of coercive state regulation and de-legitimate outsiders and dissidents’. ‘They have thus examined the impact of the mass media in situations where mediated communications are powerfully supported by other institutions such as the police, judiciary and schools… The power of the media is thus portrayed as that of renewing, amplifying and extending the existing predispositions that constitute the dominant culture, not in creating them’ (Curran et al. 1982: 14; see also ibid.: 27).
Similarly, ‘some Marxist commentators have contended that media portrayals of elections constitute dramatized rituals that legitimate the power structure in liberal democracies; voting is seen as an ideological practice that helps to sustain the myth of representative democracy, political equality and collective self-determination. The impact of election coverage is thus conceived in terms of reinforcing political values that are widely shared in Western democracies and are actively endorsed by the education system, the principal political organizations and the apparatus of the state’ (Curran et al. 1982: 15).
Differences within Marxism
The different schools of thought within Marxist media theory are variously framed by commentators. Michael Gurevitch and his colleagues listed three ‘contending paradigms’: ‘structuralist’, ‘political economy’ and ‘culturalist’ (Gurevitch et al. 1982: 8). Althusserian Marxism is structuralist. Purely structuralist analysis focuses on ‘the internal articulation of the signifying systems of the media’ (Curran et al. 1982: 28).
In the Marxist fundamentalist tradition, ‘political economists’ see ideology as subordinate to the economic base (Curran et al. 1982: 26). Work by Graham Murdock (Murdock & Golding 1977; Murdock 1982) represents the ‘critical’ political economy approach, locating the power of media in the economic processes and structures of media production. Onwership and economic control of the media is seen as the key factor in determining control of media messages.
Work by Stuart Hall (e.g. Hall et al. 1978) represents the Marxist culturalist approach, which sees the mass media as a powerful (if secondary) influence in shaping public consciousness (Curran et al. 1982: 28). Culturalism follows Althusserian structuralism in rejecting economism, but unlike structuralism, it emphasizes the actual experience of sub-groups in society and contextualizes the media within a society which is seen as ‘a complex expressive totality’ (Curran et al. 1982: 27). The culturalist approach is reflected in the work of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) at the University of Birmingham, of which Stuart Hall was once the director.
As Curran et al. put it, ‘Marxist theorists vary in their accounts of the determination of the mass media and in their accounts of the nature and power of mass media ideologies’ (Curran et al. 1982: 23).
The Frankfurt School
The Frankfurt School of ‘critical theory’ was regarded by orthodox Marxists as ‘revisionist’ partly because it criticised economism and crude materialism, and partly because of its eclecticism. In media theory it is important for offering the first Marxist attempt to theorize about the media (Gurevitch et al. 1982: 8). However, it provided no real way forward for the study of the mass media (Curran et al.1982: 23). The most notable theorists connected with the Frankfurt School were Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse and Max Horkheimer – all committed Marxists – who were associated with the Institute for Social Research, which was founded in Frankfurt in 1923 but shifted in 1933 to New York.
The Frankfurt School was influenced by predominantly conservative notions of ‘mass society’, though it gave this perspective a leftist slant (Bennett 1982: 42). The so-called ‘father of the New Left’, Herbert Marcuse, in One-Dimensional Man (1972), presented the media very pessimistically as an irresistible force:
The means of… communication…, the irresistible output of the entertainment and information industry carry with them prescribed attitudes and habits, certain intellectual and emotional reactions which bind the consumers… to the producers and, through the latter to the whole [social system]. The products indoctrinate and manipulate; they promote a false consciousness which is immune against its falsehood… Thus emerges a pattern of one-dimensional thought and behaviour. (Marcuse, cited in Bennett 1982: 43).
For Marcuse, the mass media defined the terms in which we may think about the world (Bennett 1982: 44). The Frankfurt School in general was profoundly pessimistic about the mass media. As Janet Woollacott puts it, their work ‘gives to the mass media and the culture industry a role of ideological dominance which destroys both bourgeois individualism and the revolutionary potential of the working class’ (Woollacott 1982: 105).
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer (1972, cited in Bennett 1982: 31) coined the phrase ‘the culture industry’, referring to the collective operations of the media. The Frankfurt School’s focus on ideology helped to undermine economism, but it was criticized by other Marxists for elitism and for Hegelian idealism (Bennett 1982: 47).
Althusser
Louis Althusser (b. 1918) was a French Marxist philosopher who saw Marxism as a science. His work is in the structuralist tradition. One feature of Althusserian Marxism is a rejection of Marx’s Hegelian essentialism. Essentialism is a reduction of things to a single principle or essence. Althusser rejected two kinds of Marxist essentialism: economism (economic determinism) and humanism (in which social developments were seen as expressive of a pre-given human nature). So Althusserian Marxism is anti-economist and anti-humanist. In rejecting economism he saw ideology as itself a determining force shaping consciousness, embodied in the material signifying practices of ‘ideological state apparatuses’, and enjoying ‘relative autonomy’. Althusser’s work represents a move away from a preoccupation with economic determination.
Ideology, for Althusser ‘represents the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence’ (cited in Stevenson 1995: 37). Ideology transforms human beings into subjects, leading them to see themselves as self-determining agents when they are in fact shaped by ideological processes.
Tony Bennett notes that since he represents all ideological forms as contributing to the reproduction of the existing system, Althusser comes ‘dangerously close to functionalism’, representing capitalist society as monolithic, and failing to allow for internal conflict (Bennett 1982: 53). Stuart Hall adds that in Althusser’s theory it is difficult ‘to discern how anything but the “dominant ideology” could ever be reproduced in discourse’ (Hall 1982: 78). In Althusserian theory mass media texts ‘interpellate the subject’ whereas many current media theorists argue that the the subject projects meaning onto the media texts. For the notion of a ‘struggle over meaning’ one must turn to Volosinov and Gramsci. Althusser’s influence has been held responsible by some critics for leading some of his followers into purely formalist readings of the signifying systems of mass media forms, neglecting their modes of production and reception. However, Althusser is ‘the central conduit through which developments in structuralism and semiotics have both entered into and lastingly altered Marxist approaches to the media’ (Bennett 1982: 53).
For useful general accounts of Althusserian Marxism see: Lapsley & Westlake 1988: 3-16; Gurevitch et al. 1982: 23-5; Bennett 1982: 51-3; White 1992: 168-9; Fiske 1992: 286-88.
Gramsci and hegemony
Antonio Gramsci, an Italian (1891-1937), was a leading Marxist thinker. Like Althusser, he rejected economism, insisting on the independence of ideology from economic determinism. Gramsci also rejected crude materialism, offering a humanist version of Marxism which focused on human subjectivity.
Gramsci used the term hegemony to denote the predominance of one social class over others (e.g. bourgeois hegemony). This represents not only political and economic control, but also the ability of the dominant class to project its own way of seeing the world so that those who are subordinated by it accept it as ‘common sense’ and ‘natural’. Commentators stress that this involves willing and active consent. Common sense, suggests Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, is ‘the way a subordinate class lives its subordination’ (cited in Alvarado & Boyd-Barrett 1992: 51).
However, unlike Althusser, Gramsci emphasizes struggle. He noted that ‘common sense is not something rigid and immobile, but is continually transforming itself’ (Gramsci, cited in Hall 1982: 73). As Fiske puts it, ‘Consent must be constantly won and rewon, for people’s material social experience constantly reminds them of the disadvantages of subordination and thus poses a threat to the dominant class… Hegemony… posits a constant contradiction between ideology and the social experience of the subordinate that makes this interface into an inevitable site of ideological struggle’ (Fiske 1992: 291). References to the mass media in terms of an ideological ‘site of struggle‘ are recurrent in the commentaries of those influenced by this perspective. Gramsci’s stance involved a rejection of economism since it saw a struggle for ideological hegemony as a primary factor in radical change.
Criticisms of Althusser’s theory of ideology drew some neo-Marxists to Gramsci’s ideas.
FEMINISM
Key terms
Feminism – feminism is a movement that advocates equal opportunities for both men and women and asserts that women are entitled to the same political, social, and intellectual rights as men. As a cultural and literary movement, feminism seeks to challenge historically male-centred representations of women and identify a sovereign tradition of female cultural and literary production.
misogyny - simply the hatred of women
voyeurism – the compulsing to seek out gratification by inconspicuously viewing sexual objects or acts, other identified as a ‘Peeping Tom’
objectification – representing a human being as a physical thing deprived of personal qualities or individuality; “according to Marx, treating labor as a commodity exemplified the reification of the individual”
oppression – the condition of being afflicted or tormented
hegonomy – The predominant influence, as of a state, region, or group, over another or others
Laura Muvley ‘ The Male Gaze’ – The concept of gaze is one that deals with how an audience views the people presented. For feminists it can be thought of in 3 ways:
- How men look at women,
- How women look at themselves,
- How women look at other women
Laura muvley coined the term ‘male gaze’ in 1975. She believes that in film audiences have to ‘view’ characters from the perspective of the heterosexual male.
Feature of the male gaze
The camera lingers on the curves of the female body, and events which occur to women are presented largely in the context of a man’s reaction to these events. Relegates women to the status of objects. The female viewer must experience the narrative secondarily, by identification with the male.
Use of the male gaze in severyday life
Some theorist have also noted the sexualising of the female body even in situations where female sexiness has nothing to do with the product being advertised e.g. specsaver advert featuring unattractive male surrounded by hundreds of bikini clothed women.
Criticisms of Mulvey and gaze theory
- Some women enjoy being looked at e.g. beauty pagents
- The gaze can be directed towards members of the same gender, for several reasons, not all of which are sexual such as in comparisions in body image and clothing. There may be flaws in her Mulvey’s theory due to this.
Catogorising Facial expressions
Marjorie Ferguson
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