Saturday, 26 May 2012

The Good Wife

The Good WifeThe Good Wife is a drama about a mother who must assume full responsibility for her family and re-enter the workforce after her husband's very public sex and political corruption scandal lands him in jail. The opposite of the other media texts it represents both a woman taking responsibility of her family and getting a career without being sexually orientated and a man being seen as a sexual object. Alicia Florrick wears dark suits, which illustrates that she is not presenting herself as a sexual object and she is taking the usual role of a man. Being a lawyer,  Alicia must be very well educated, which is contradicting to the theory that women need to present themselves as sexual objects to get a good career. Alicia has a lot of authority being a lawyer, she has more power than men a lot of the time in the series. Unlike the other media texts, the representation favours women, they are seen as the dominant hegemony as Alicia fights being objectified. This representation is realistic. It shows what women can achieve when they do not present themselves as sexual objects and also how men can be seen as sexual objects also. This representation of a dignified woman will have positive consequences. It will teach women that it is not necessary to portray yourself as a object to get somewhere in life. It influences women to rebel against patriarchal society and the stereotypes that are portrayed. 

Saturday, 12 May 2012

Dolce & Gabbana


This representation shows how men are in control of women and how powerless women are to being sexual objects. Natural lighting is used to portray the fact that women objectification is a good thing. Because it seems to be a fine, blue sky day it shows the representation of the image to be pleasant, women objectification is seen to be approved of. The camera angle is looking up to the men, giving them a sense of power over the grounded woman. Costume is used also in this image to illustrate the sexual meaning of the representation. The women is wearing vivid red lipstick and black leather, which gives her a seductive and lustful feel. Because there is five men and only one women, it suggests that the men are dominant hegemony of society and women are feeble under this patriarchal society. This representation is not realistic because men and women are equal. Men are obviously the dominant hegemony in this image, they outnumber the women. In consequence, this representation is potentially teaching women that presenting themselves is the best for society. They may be to involved in pursuing attractiveness then to get proper careers. 

Sunday, 6 May 2012

Sexual Objectifictication of Woman

Feminist scholars say that the objectification of women involves the act of disregarding the personal and intellectual abilities and capabilities of a female; and reducing a woman's worth or role in society to that of an instrument for the sexual pleasure that she can produce in the mind of another. Although opinions differ as to which situations are objectionable, some feminists see objectification of women taking place in the sexually oriented depictions of women in advertising and media, women being portrayed as weak or submissive through pornography, images in more mainstream media such as advertising and art, stripping and prostitution, men brazenly evaluating or judging women sexually or aesthetically in public spaces, and the presumed need for cosmetic surgery, particularly breast enlargement.
Feminists argue that women have historically been valued mainly for their physical attributes. Some feminists and psychologists argue that such objectification can lead to negative psychological effects including depression and hopelessness, and can give women negative self-images because of the belief that their intelligence and competence are currently not being, or will never be, acknowledged by society. The precise degree to how objectification has affected women and society in general is a topic of academic debate. Such claims include: girls' understanding of the importance of appearance in society may contribute to feelings of fear, shame, and disgust that some experience during the transition from girlhood to womanhood because they sense that they are becoming more visible to society as sexual objects; and that young women are especially susceptible to objectification, as they are often taught that power, respect, and wealth can be derived from one's outward appearance.

 Females learn to be more concerned with observable body attributes rather than focusing on non-observable body attributes such as feelings and internal bodily states. This can increase shame and appearance anxiety and diminish awareness of internal bodily states. These experiential consequences may contribute to the development of several mental health risks, including eating disorders, unipolar depression, and sexual dysfunction. The subsequent studies attest to the negative implications of objectifying the female body.

Saturday, 5 May 2012

Britney Spears - Womanizer

Womanizer - Birtney Spears



This music video represents all women to be seen as sexual objects in the eyes of men. Britney Spears has several different personas in this clip, and all of them are seen as sex driven women. It is representing that this is the only way women can turn out to be and get some where in life. Costume is used on the 'office' woman to show women only have one side to them in the media, and that is a sexual side. Because she is only wearing black and white clothing it makes her very basic and has no other aspects to her. The only image she is portraying is a sexual one, to please men. The black leather on the woman with red hair is definitely giving off a seductive sense. A camera shot used at 2:05 shows only her torso, and her head is not shown. This demonstrates that this is all men want to see, it shows men do not care how women feel, just how they look. Symbolism is used 2:32 where a cherry is eaten by Britney Spears. A  cherry is often seen as a sexual item of lust. Although the actual song seems to be about women fighting not to be used by men, the video shows otherwise. This representation again favours men. Men are seen as the dominant hegemony. This representation of women as seen by men is not realistic. Men don't only look at women as sexual objects, they are seen as high class people who can get somewhere in life, without being sexually orientated. Teenage girls look up to women such as Britney Spears, they aspire to be just like them. If these role models are presenting themselves as sexually orientated, teenage girls will only be concerned about appearances and only believe that being desired sexually by men is what they should want in life. Media will continue to show this representation as it becomes more endorsed in social society.

Burger King

This image shows a Burger King sandwich, being referred to as a sexual object for women and represents women as being sexual objects. The pun "It'll blow your mind away" has purposely been used to create the thoughts of oral sex, putting a sexual concept into the advertisement. The words are the dominant image in the advertisement, so it is the first thing seen  The woman's make up and expression makes her look almost fake, like a doll, she is seen as an object to men. The red lipstick and heavy mascara makes her look seductive and powerless under a patriarchal hegemony. The shot type suggests that the sexual side of women is the only side men want of women. This representation of women is not realistic, this is not the only side to women. Women are expressed as smart, caring and motherly also in the media. Products that appeal to 'real men' seem to be the most common to advertise using women as sexual objects. This representation definitely favours the stereotypical man that only sees women as sexual objects. Consequences of objectification of females could result in teachining young girls that they are valued only for their looks, reinforcing the need to pursue attractiveness. Women are taught to decorate their bodies and make them desirable for men. As young females are seeing this in the media, they assume presenting their selves as sexual objects is the right thing to do.