The media, like most industries, has been dominated by men for millenniums. This patriarchal society has led to the misrepresentation of gender. In 1966 Fairy Liquid produced two adverts that promoted their product. At the forefront of these adverts were women performing domestic duties as if it were their natural jobs. The advert also centred itself heavily around the importance of women having soft hands and even the teaching of this importance to young girls, with the hopes of bringing them up to follow the same roles. This links to theorists Vern and Bonnie Bullough's work (1993) where, in the media, gender roles equated to the male as the provider and the female as the nurturer. This can be seen in the video as the mother is washing up and keeping the house clean whilst somewhat educating her daughter for her future role.
This conforming to gender roles is then seen again in 2011 with Euronics celebrating '125 year of evolution' but it shows only women washing up. There is change shown within the advert as the attire of the woman in the last image shows that they are now working in a profession. However, it can be argued that women now have two roles, to provide and to nurture for the male needs. This can link to the hyper dermic needle theory as the message suggests that women have a place in the working environment but they are still responsible for domestic duties and audiences passively agree with this as they are too busy acknowledging the change. All the way from 1951-64 the UK had a conservative government. In 1952 there was an advert by Schlitg for beer with the slogan “Don’t worry darling, you didn’t burn the beer!” This sexist poster illustrates a patriarchal society as you can see the man is dressed up for work whilst the woman is dressed to do housework. And the slogan suggests it’s a woman’s job to cook. The advert also shows Gramsci’s hegemony within the home as you can see the woman crying in fear, as she knows her place in the home next to the man. This affects the identity of gender groups as it reinforces the gender roles within a nuclear family.
More recently however, representations have bee portrayed differently in the media. Franchises like Star Wars and the DC universe have begun to shed a more positive light on their female characters. For example, women within film are now shown to be stronger and independent taking lead roles like in Wonder Woman 2017 and 'Rey' in the recent Star Wars films (2015-17). However, they are still shown stereotypically as very emotional and emotionally driven. this is seen in Wonder Woman when Steve dies, as she becomes grief stricken and overwhelmed with her loss. In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, 'Rey' creates an emotional connection with Kylo believing she could sway him back to the light, as well as being emotionally driven by the death of Han Solo the farther figure she never had. This links to Gauntlett who argues that representations are formed from the tools the media give us. These newer, stronger, more powerful representations of women could act as role models for younger girls growing up.
This conforming to gender roles is then seen again in 2011 with Euronics celebrating '125 year of evolution' but it shows only women washing up. There is change shown within the advert as the attire of the woman in the last image shows that they are now working in a profession. However, it can be argued that women now have two roles, to provide and to nurture for the male needs. This can link to the hyper dermic needle theory as the message suggests that women have a place in the working environment but they are still responsible for domestic duties and audiences passively agree with this as they are too busy acknowledging the change. All the way from 1951-64 the UK had a conservative government. In 1952 there was an advert by Schlitg for beer with the slogan “Don’t worry darling, you didn’t burn the beer!” This sexist poster illustrates a patriarchal society as you can see the man is dressed up for work whilst the woman is dressed to do housework. And the slogan suggests it’s a woman’s job to cook. The advert also shows Gramsci’s hegemony within the home as you can see the woman crying in fear, as she knows her place in the home next to the man. This affects the identity of gender groups as it reinforces the gender roles within a nuclear family.
More recently however, representations have bee portrayed differently in the media. Franchises like Star Wars and the DC universe have begun to shed a more positive light on their female characters. For example, women within film are now shown to be stronger and independent taking lead roles like in Wonder Woman 2017 and 'Rey' in the recent Star Wars films (2015-17). However, they are still shown stereotypically as very emotional and emotionally driven. this is seen in Wonder Woman when Steve dies, as she becomes grief stricken and overwhelmed with her loss. In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, 'Rey' creates an emotional connection with Kylo believing she could sway him back to the light, as well as being emotionally driven by the death of Han Solo the farther figure she never had. This links to Gauntlett who argues that representations are formed from the tools the media give us. These newer, stronger, more powerful representations of women could act as role models for younger girls growing up.
It is not just the representation of women that the media affects, it affects the identity of men. In 1988 Bruce Willis starred in the main role of the film 'Die Hard' this conformed to the already existing stereotypes of men and how they are very masculine and how the media is responsible for the steady formation of 'man hood' which links with, dominance, violence and control. This is linked with Earp and Katz theory (1999) who studied males within the media and found a 'widespread and disturbing equation of masculinity and pathological control and violence'. The media predominantly used to influence and help install these gender stereotypes upon people or as Buckingham would say "Media do not just offer us a transparent 'window on the world' but a mediated version of the world. They don't present reality, they represent it." This idea has changed in more recent years with a social shift in the construction of what gender is, let alone gender roles. Jefferee Star is a famous Youtuber and Drag Queen with his own make up line. This links to Gerbner's Cultivation Theory as he argues the more we watch TV the more 'invisible' it becomes and although this does not change behaviour it changes peoples perceptions. Jefferee Star and TV shows like Rupaul's Drag Race 2009-present, have not started a trend of people becoming up as drag queens but it has increased the support for the LGBT community through their popularity amongst youth. Channel 4 recently in 2018 aired a show called Gender-quake. This was a TV programme that set out to ask the question of what gender is today? And even helped push forward the idea that gender can be
non-binary.
Giddens argues that there is a social structure which shapes our lives, such as traditions and moral codes, but it relies on individuals following these norms. Within the media there was usually this idea of having males as the 'bread winner' and the female is the nurturer. For example, in the 1960s there was a Fairy Liquid advert that showed the woman at home washing up with her daughter, but in 2017 males were shown as the nurturers too. Nutella released an advert for pancake day in 2017 where the male can be seen to flipping pancakes with the children not just the mother. Ariel Liqui-Tabs advert 2012 which shows a young male doing his own washing, this shows a slight shift in gender roles as before is was left up to females to do the washing. However, the male is going out to impress a woman which could suggest that if she were to become his partner the ‘normal’ could resume.
In this patriarchal society the media seemed to reflect the needs of the heterosexual male population, this can be seen as recently as 2007 in the film Transformers. Megan Fox's character, Mikaela, is heavily sexualised throughout the film, however, there is one specific scene that optimises to the extent of this sexualisation. The 'car scene' as it is known shows her character in a very skimpy costume with very little on, leading to many of the shots being Mid-shots of her torso and figure. The dialogue from the character Sam also contains innuendoes like, 'Can I ride you home?' and 'I like to go fast'. These example link to Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory, which in essence explains how film and television is enjoyed through the eyes of a heterosexual male, showing women as an object of male pleasure. This can be seen in the short shorts she is wearing and the high cropped top, with the camera fixed at a mid shot around her midriff.
Giddens argues that there is a social structure which shapes our lives, such as traditions and moral codes, but it relies on individuals following these norms. Within the media there was usually this idea of having males as the 'bread winner' and the female is the nurturer. For example, in the 1960s there was a Fairy Liquid advert that showed the woman at home washing up with her daughter, but in 2017 males were shown as the nurturers too. Nutella released an advert for pancake day in 2017 where the male can be seen to flipping pancakes with the children not just the mother. Ariel Liqui-Tabs advert 2012 which shows a young male doing his own washing, this shows a slight shift in gender roles as before is was left up to females to do the washing. However, the male is going out to impress a woman which could suggest that if she were to become his partner the ‘normal’ could resume.
In this patriarchal society the media seemed to reflect the needs of the heterosexual male population, this can be seen as recently as 2007 in the film Transformers. Megan Fox's character, Mikaela, is heavily sexualised throughout the film, however, there is one specific scene that optimises to the extent of this sexualisation. The 'car scene' as it is known shows her character in a very skimpy costume with very little on, leading to many of the shots being Mid-shots of her torso and figure. The dialogue from the character Sam also contains innuendoes like, 'Can I ride you home?' and 'I like to go fast'. These example link to Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory, which in essence explains how film and television is enjoyed through the eyes of a heterosexual male, showing women as an object of male pleasure. This can be seen in the short shorts she is wearing and the high cropped top, with the camera fixed at a mid shot around her midriff.
