Media Homework

Homework

1.       The Difference between sex and gender is that sex refers to biological differences between men and women whereas gender refers to the characteristics that society or culture determine as masculine and feminine.

2.       Gender could be seen as a way of subordinating women, for example is some eastern cultures women are told how to dress, they are often not able to do jobs that are seen as male jobs. However in some western society women are treated equally, for it has become the norm for women to do jobs which were on seen as male jobs.

3.       I believe gender can have a negative impact on men. With frequent images of men in the media with perfect bodies, men may become very self-conscious and may not feel like a ‘real man’ because they don’t look like that. Men in the media also being portrayed as macho may influence other males to be like that. More sensitive males however, could feel under-pressure by them.

4.       I think Ashes to Ashes could be seen as misogynistic for example Gene Hunt the dominant male in the film would make very sexist comments throughout the series e.g. “Blimey, if that skirt was hitched any higher I could see what you had for breakfast”. “D.I Drake you appear to be drunk in charge of a handbag and dressed like a tart again”.

5.       I think Doghouse represents women in a negative light. Firstly the virus spread to only women as in was it kitchen products which reinforce the idea that women should be in the kitchen. Also one the main characters – Graham is very disrespectful to women e.g. he is very disrespectful to the bus driver because she’s a women and refuses to call her by her correct name.

6.       A patriarchal society is one in which men are the decision-makers, bread winners and hold positions of power, men have the power to define reality and common situations. I think that to some extent we don’t live in a patriarchal society because the majority of families in the UK have started to share conjugal roles, more men now cook and clean and some are even house husbands, and women are free to do any job that they want. However some families may choose traditional roles.

7.       Laura Mulvey’s male gaze is basically the idea that an audience are forced to view the text from the perspective a heterosexual male, films constantly focus on women’s curves and events that happen to them are portrayed at a male angle it regulates women to the status of objects. Therefore the female audience or forced to experience the text’s narrative secondarily, by seeing it from a man’s perspective (male gaze).

8.       I think that people being able to manipulate gender boundaries simply means, people of a particular sex being able to take on characteristics of the opposite gender. 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).

9.       (Couldn’t find any info)

10.    A Femme Fatale is a woman who is seen as very seductive she can easily attract men and often leads them into dangerous situations. Femme Fatales where first seen in films in the early 1900s. (1915 - A Fool There Was) This Types of Character showed women as being powerful but only sexually.

11.    In the TV series Desperate Housewives, women are the main characters although they are all housewives they all have jobs, however most these jobs are stereotypical of women e.g. Teacher, Head of a Catering company and model. White people in the programme are shown as secretive but at the same time family and work orientated. Latinos are shown in the same light however; they are shown as feisty and stereotypically loud. The dominant ideologies within the text are that people aren’t always what they seem and that everyone has secrets, Wisteria Lane is shown as perfect on the outside but shown as not so perfect behind closed doors.

12.    I think that media representations can change opinions and beliefs of audience members. The media can act as a hypodermic needle it can influence the way that audience members think in both a negative and a positive way.