Representations of femininity

• Women’s role in society has been required to change through time, as now women are required to work in the same field as men.

• However the media still presents women as sexual, emotional and body conscious, although the media has also shown the change within women’s role in society overtime, such as in the film Lucy where the lead character becomes a god.

In Marxist philosophy, the term dominant ideology denotes the attitudes and beliefs, values and morals shared by the majority of the people in a given society; as a mechanism of social control, the dominant ideology frames how the majority of the population think about the nature of and their places in society; of being in and of a social class.

Representations of Femininity

• Women don’t often have important roles within drama.

• There is still 3x male characters in TV drama than women.

• Women tend to be the sympathetic characters within drama.

• If women do not conform to the stereotypes, they are perceived as dangerous and deviant.

• America are much stricter about female roles

Female gazeThe feminine view of males and the world.

Male gazeThe masculine view of females and the world.

Representation of Masculinity within Media

• Masculinity has more fixed stereotypes then femininity.

• They are usually portrayed as being strong, intelligent and independent individuals.

• They must be powerful and in control, taking no orders from women.

• Males are usually in power within the media, so they represent themselves how they want to be seen.

• The masculinity and power represented influences more feminine men to be more masculine.

• The construct of masculinity is then circulated within the expectations of gender.

• This could be considered as the acts of patriarchy, which is a system where men hold the power and women are largely excluded.

Emergent Ideology • The definition of emergent is something new that is being

circulated within beliefs.• Emergent ideology is the act of new ideas emerging. In

time they may become dominant ideology, meaning that there is better representation of people rather than the classic stereotypes.

• An emergent idea about women is that they are strong and independent, not dependant on the help of males, who are usually expected to be the strong ones.

• An emergent idea about men is that they can be emotional and domestic, and play equal roles with women rather than being the dominant character.

Representations of Masculinity

Paragraph 1Men are starting to feel the pressures of the media on body image and whether or not they conform to the stereotypical representations. It’s more acceptable for males to show emotion and this is bringing more awareness to their problems.• Masculinity• Muscles• Weight-conscious• Not being able to show emotion as it was seen as feminine

Paragraph 2Media has started to specifically target males for products. Companies are making a profit on their insecurities. They are expected to aspire to the ‘perfect’ role models that the media creates. This is unrealistic to our culture.• Fashion• Skin care• Hair care• Fitness

Paragraph 3There’s growing concern about living-up to the media’s portrayal of male stereotypes.• Magazines• Social media

Residual IdeologyStereotypes that are no longer dominant or believed by most people anymore. For example, females were expected to stay home with the children and cook, clean and look after. For example, males were expected to do all the hard jobs, not show emotion that would make them seem vulnerable and weak.