Representation of Genders in the Media

Representation of Genders in the Media Course Diary Entry 1 Liesbet Van Zoonen: Feminist Media Studies (chapter 6, pp 87 104) 1. ABSTRACT The sixth chapter of Van Zoonens book Feminist Media Studies, Spectatorship and the Gaze, provides a compelling introduction to the area of feminist film studies, more specifically, to different issues surrounding the concept of the gaze. Van Zoonen draws on the arguments of Laura Mulveys work, who used psychoanalytic tools in explaining why women are presented in the media as being looked at and men as the ones who act. Van Zoonen stresses the difficulty of the proponents of psychoanalysis to explain the pleasures of female spectatorship, which, nevertheless, can be accounted for by employing different perspectives on media studies. After discussing ideas regarding the male gaze, Van Zoonen turns her attention to the way images of men are presented in popular media, emphasising the fact that, out of fear that their image could be homosexualised, different methods and narrative codes are employed in order to make the objectification of male bodies less evident. Hence, the traditional perception of men being the ones who have the power and women the ones who are looked at is still in place in patriarchal cultures, even though there are signs of trying to put it aside. 2. OUTLINE women are constructed in western popular media as being the passive object of the male gaze, whereas men as being the ones who act; the psychoanalytical paradigm was employed to explain this state of facts a) Laura Mulvey used psychoanalysis in her study of gender media representations as a useful tool in explaining the pleasures of male spectatorship, though failing to explain the independent female pleasure of looking at men scopophilia the deriving of sexual pleasures simply by looking narcissistic identification the desire of men to identify themselves with other men, presented on the screen as flawless characters the film industry is linked to patriarchy, according to Laura Mulvey; both scopophilia and narcissistic identification are achieved by the way filmmakers frame the action, including the objectification of women the male gaze fear of castration the trauma suffered by boys when discovering the physical gender differences is diminished by the way male spectators take control over womens bodies in the film industry one of the problems of the way Mulvey employed psychoanalysis it equates masculinity with being male and femininity with being female b) Mary Ann Doane contends the impossibility of reversing the gender roles (i.e. men becoming feminine and women masculine) no preconditions of voyeurism in women in childhood women do not experience the distancing from their mothers that boys do because of the sexual differences the female spectator can become masculinized by identifying with the male characters in the film or narcissistically identifying with objectified female characters c) criticism of the psychoanalytic paradigm: it reinforces the patriarchal norms by excluding the possibility of women to derive pleasure from viewing media products Women derive pleasure by looking at other women the psychoanalytical paradigm and beyond a) some argue that the bonding between girls and their mothers creates the pre-conditions of finding pleasure in looking at other women b) women have coexisting latent homosexual and manifest heterosexual desires Chodorows theory of female development c) Arbuthnot and Seneca assert that the psychoanalytic theory is concerned with male spectatorship and thus not appropriate to examine female experiences and motivations Women derive pleasure by looking at men a) Christianity repressing the abundance of nude representations of men made the patriarchal order imperceptible, whilst it still is the substratum of most societies b) the female gaze which is masculine by definition looking at the male body is less dangerous than the homosexual gaze c) narrative and visual techniques lessen the degree of subjection of the male body to the gaze of the female spectatorship e.g. staring back at the viewer, looking up or away from the camera, the text accompanying the images personifying male bodies and thus creating characters men presented as active (e.g. signs of physical activity or labour) and in control, just happening to be looked at, not as posing specifically for being viewed by female or male spectators male bodies presented like romantic objects, not sexual ones (e.g. Playgirl) 3. LITERATURE REVIEW The three chapters I have chosen Kaplans (1983), Staceys (1988) and Van Zoonens (1994) which do not offer a comprehensive discussion of the issue of the gaze, draw on the psychoanalytic explanations of the male gaze and attempt to explain which are the pleasures derived by female spectators watching media products. Hence, all authors use Laura Mulveys and Mary Ann Doanes ideas as a starting point for their discussion; Kaplan argues that psychoanalysis is a useful tool [] [, but not] necessarily uncovering essential truths about the human psyche (1983: 23). She further argues that it can explain only the current structural organization of society, which, I would argue, is a Marxist perspective; in her view, cinema is seen as a means of releasing the tensions created by the industrial society and psychoanalysis as a necessary means to understand the causes of these (Kaplan, 1983). Stacey (1988) identifies the gaps in Mulveys line of argument, more precisely the discussion of the male as an erotic object (which Van Zoonen analyses) and of female homosexuality, and exploits the latter to address one of the issues tackled in little depth by Van Zoonen (1994): female homosexual pleasure, which has been ignored by studies within the psychoanalytic framework. Stacey (1988), like Van Zoonen (1994), draws on Mary Ann Doanes idea that womens pleasures are not related to fetishism and voyeurism, as mens are and further acknowledges Mulveys argument according to which women oscillate between male and female identifications. In discussing possibilities for understanding and explaining the female gaze, all three authors argue that the reversal of roles is impossible without losing the specific gender identification; the female spectator becomes masculinized and vice-versa, and thus the structure remains basically unchanged (Kaplan, 1983). Stacey (1988), as does Van Zoonen (1994), rhetorically asks if women necessarily have to occupy feminine positions and men masculine ones. I would suggest that masculine and feminine actually refer to a set of characteristics associated with men and women respectively only because it has traditionally been thought that they occur more often in the specific gender from which their names derive. Hence, they are not intrinsic to men or women. However, there remains the problem that they are in opposition, not on equal terms. Moreover, if these names which refer to gender and sexual roles would be disregarded, I think it would not be a problem for female spectators to adopt an active (masculine) stance anymore. Further discussing the feminine and masculine spectatorships, Stacey (1988) contends that the subjectivities of spectators should be also taken into account, even if their standpoint is seen as masculine. Kaplan notes, drawing on Mary Ann Doanes argument, that if attempting to confer female spectatorship an active role and not masculinizing it, there is the danger of denying pleasure and of disembody[ing] their spectator (Kaplan, 1983: 28). An active main female character nearly always loses her traditional feminine characteristics in so doing [] of kindness, humaneness, motherliness (Kaplan, 1983: 29). The problem with this statement is that all these characteristics of femininity are actually constructed in the same way as concepts like active, sexually desirable etc are. Therefore, Kaplans statement does no justice to the role of the female spectator. The dominant images of women, all male constructs, as Kaplan (1983) emphasizes, are the objects of male fetishism and voyeurism, as all three authors mention. In addition to Van Zoonens (1994) overarching discussion of these Freudian concepts, Kaplan (1983) points at three male gazes in popular media, identified by Laura Mulvey: that of the film-maker, of the film viewer and of male characters in the film. According to this explanation of females position in the film framework, Kaplan argues, the man owns the desire and the woman (1983: 27), whereas female spectators only receive and return the gaze but cannot act upon it (1983: 31). Hence, male and female spectatorships are different in essential respects. All three authors have a feminist standpoint in common from whence they look at the representation of women in popular media. Stacey (1988) is probably the most dedicated of all three to the feminist cause, discussing issues which are taboo for other scholars (feminist or not): the homosexual female spectatorship. The arguments they bring forward overlap, being complementary in the respect that all offer new information. However, they do not discuss each others contribution to the feminist debate mainly because all three (Stacey to a lesser degree) offer an overview of the arguments brought forward by Laura Mulvey and Mary Ann Doane. All three concluded by pointing to the need of further discussing the sources of pleasure for female spectators both in relation to men and to other women. Moreover, the problem of confounding gender identifications with sexuality in film studies has also been stated as being an issue. 4. CROSSCUTTING THEMES The issues concerning the representation of genders in the media is one of the most important areas of concern for feminist scholars because of the many assumptions hidden under what comes across as common-sense. Nevertheless, this is only one of the issues in which feminists are interested. Among the general concern with the resources of conferring women a secondary role in patriarchal societies, feminists address issues of work and employment, and of motherhood. These two themes have several links with those raised by Van Zoonens chapter on the male and female gaze in popular media. One of the most evident crosscutting themes is that of womens passivity and male activity and control. As we have seen in Van Zoonens chapter (1994), female spectatorship is constructed as being passive and to be looked at, whilst male spectators act upon women by looking at their objectified bodies. Witz (1993/1997) asserts that women have traditionally been seen as having the natural duty to do the domestic work, not men, and that feminists struggled to determine the official recognition of this second job women performed. At least since the 18th Century, when the Victorian Domestic Ideology constructed women as passive, men have had the active role in a family, working in order to earn a wage for the household. Women, on the other side, have been seen as confined to the private sphere of life and, thus, as being passive since they did not have an active role in the public sphere, as men did. This way of seeing women as inferior to men has survived until the present day, when women have also acceded to work positions, and it can be easily seen in the structure of the labour market and in the representation of women in the media. The images of women in popular media, as objects of the male gaze, are opposed to representations of motherhood in different cultures. Reynolds notes that the good mother is endlessly patient, forgiving, nurturing and, most important of all, unfailing in her love (1996: 41); this characterization powerfully contrasts with the images of women as sexualized objects or as secondary characters who only disrupt the narrative. For children, mothers are the main characters of their stories and are entirely feminine (whereas the character of a mother in popular media would be either masculinized or it would be the object of the male gaze). Nevertheless, as Reynolds further argues, the problem is that in reality mothering [is] synonymous with subjugation (1996: 42). Moreover, motherhood is linked with psychoanalysis and the way boys suffer a trauma when they discover their difference from their mothers. In conclusion, the chapters I have looked at on different topics written by feminists share the same view that women are currently oppressed in patriarchal cultures. Women share subordination roles in media, at work, in the family etc. However, the hegemony of patriarchy is most evident in media representations of women. References: Kaplan, E. Ann (1983) Women and Film: Both Sides of the Camera, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 125-141 Reynolds, Kimberly (1996) Mothers in Madoc-Jones, Beryl Coates, Jennifer An Introduction to Womens Studies, Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 38-61 Stacey, Jackie (1988) Desperately Seeking Difference in Gamman, Lorraine Marshment, Margaret (Eds.) The Female Gaze: Women as Viewers of Popular Culture, London: Womens Press, pp. 112-129 Van Zoonen, Liesbet (1994) Feminist Media Studies, London: Sage, pp. 87 -104 Witz, Anne (1993/1997) Women and Work in Robinson, Victoria and Richardson, Diane (Eds.) Introducing Womens Studies, 2nd edition, London: MacMillan, pp.239-58

American Well Case Writeup

American Well, a pioneer in online healthcare is at the crucial stage where the business opportunities look propitious at the same time it could make the company lose its perspective. It has the first-mover advantage with strong core competency. But still, some of the questions concerning the future of the company do needs to be addressed. Some of the main questions that American Well faces are 1. Introducing the product to new customer segments 2. Capturing the international market 3. Pushing the products beyond health care industry.American well is currently serving the connectivity between patients and physicians. The new product â€Å"Team Edition† will serve the connectivity between primary care physicians (PCPs) and the specialist. They are also considering the prospect of online health care to Hospitals, Retail clinics and Pharmacies. The adverse effect is it could be too soon for American Well to launch a new undertaking, given their core services has not yet been adop ted widely. Furthermore, this requires new hiring and additional funding. Stepping back has its own drawback of failing to capture the opportunity when there was demand.Meeting real-time excess demand with real-time excess capacity is a whole new world to be explored not only in health care but in many other industries. Also, the need for online health care has a great demand oversees too and American Well can explore its business in these new countries and can become a world leader in delivering virtual healthcare services in a many-to-many platform. Even though it is true that American Well has all the ideas and advantages – the main disadvantage is the lack of infrastructure and the awareness of an internet-based health service.There is still a lot of opportunities and work needed to be done with its present venture and stepping big foot too soon cannot be as beneficial for the company as it sounds. The â€Å"Team Edition† is an innovative product and the American W ell should concentrate on its existing customer base i. e. the payers. They should probably do extensive market research on all these new opportunities. A research team could be formed including members from American Well and personnel from top insurance companies to explore the scope of extending its services to hospitals and pharmacies.They should wait for the â€Å"spending freezes† to be over and need to analyze on how the new health reforms will affect the existing organization. Another conceivable strategy could be a hybrid of Direct-To-Customer model and Business-To-Business model. American Well can establish a DTC model where they would directly sign up patients and doctors to a nationwide system along with their existing B2B model. This will cover more customer base. The short term goal

Pervasiveness of Marketing

Vital marketing decisions are made by every business; but as important as it is to make the right business decision†¦ it is essential that marketing professionals understand how their marketing impacts our social values. There are several different ways that marketers get their message across to potential customers(1), each marketing communications tool can have different effects on us. Marketing is intrusive, businesses are constantly trying to push their brands in our faces†¦ we barely process one piece of information before the next one comes shooting our way. The pervasiveness marketing has undoubtedly influenced our mind-set and behaviour†¦ a disposable culture creeps closer to becoming reality. It’s because our buyer behaviour is image based, we care about how others see us more than how we see ourselves. This hugely changes our views on society; contemporary marketing has made us believe that we are what we buy, and that the brands we own†¦ are a direct reflection of us. Marketing is an integral business function, but is hardly respected. It continually aims to stimulate demand which leads to new customers†¦ and that leads to more market share. No longer can marketing be tunnel visioned in it’s pursuit for brand awareness. Certain companies have mastered the AIDA model and can use their understanding on countless consumers, the Sony Bravia advert with the bouncing balls(2) went through the whole cycle from attention all the way to stimulating action†¦ making them buy products they didn’t particularly need in the first place. Point-Of-Sale cues are used relentlessly and marketers are accused of not looking at how their decisions impact broader society. Our social values are changing to customers being more self-centred and buying everything that suits them. Our social values include friends, who we want to have a good time with. But playing on the back of our heads constantly, is how cool we think we look, have we impressed our friends? Do we have the right clothes on? Do we have the right phone? As I mentioned, we think that the brands we own are a reflection of us†¦ so we try and buy the right products, not only to suit our personalities; but to fit in. There is one thing that hugely influences our social values, and that’s technology(3). A wireless world is slowly becoming more of an actuality as time goes on. The internet, as enthralling as it may be, has made people ess sociable and more secluded. Perhaps one of the most important social values is quality time with our families; this is not possible if we are glued to the monitor during dinner time. In the past, dinner meant the whole family sitting around a table, having a laugh and eating to their hearts content. The internet has cut into this social value and is influencing young minds. But it’s been a fantastic medium for communication and a brilliant source for information. Both ways can be argued. Advances in technology will introduce location based advertising in the future(4), this makes us even more reliant on technology. This means that where ever we are, we will be targeted by businesses†¦ which directly impact our social lives; making us shop instead of talk to those we may know in the area. The whole notion of positioning is based upon understanding the consumer†¦ not society, making us feel like we can familiarise ourselves with the brand, so that it doesn’t feel like marketing but instead feels like a developing relationship. Segmenting customers is a common marketing tool used when it comes to deciding on a target market. But it has huge disadvantages on society; a common way for segmentation to take place is with airlines. First class, business class and economy are forms of segmenting the market. Customers who have high disposable income doesn’t necessarily have to fly first class†¦ but the positioning of first class in the consumers mind communicates the message that if you can afford it, go for it. First class passengers have made the association that flying in luxury means they are successful and are respected. When in realness, they simply have more money than the average person. Economy flyers are made to think that they are normal, nothing special, but some of them could actually be successful. Some of them may have significantly advanced in their careers, and may have even helped the world! The social values of first class travellers has changed into looking down on other passengers who aren’t flying first class†¦ the feeling of self accomplishment is just an illusion created by marketing. There are other marketing tools which de-individualises customers and sees them as groups and not individuals. An example of this is the postcode analysis, this influences the social values of consumers into thinking that they are only as good as the people who live near them. Marketing professionals need to start respecting customers as customers, and they need to understand the uniqueness of each individual consumer. There is a really important marketing tool that can assess how much marketers are impacting our social values. Businesses can construct a PESTEL analysis of themselves to gain a better understanding of what is in their way†¦ and what they need to take into account before implementing any marketing decisions. MOSAIC is another segmentation tool used by marketers to decide exactly how to target their target market. This generalises too much and doesn’t see customers as individuals, but as titles. There is one main point that marketing critics’ keep bringing up. They see branding as being misleading to consumers, that the associations made with the product or service is just an illusion†¦ and doesn’t reflect the actual quality of the product or service itself(5). Marketers definitely need to take this into account when taking care of brand management. However an argument against this is that branding gives people confidence, it helps consumers see themselves in a desirable light when owning a particular brand. It makes them feel like they are a part of something, this positive feeling surely can’t be criticised. An example of a business who tries to create a strong association is Disney. Their chain of ‘Magic Happens’ adverts definitely play on our emotional strings(6). They play on portraying the dreamy effect with their brand communication, which withholds powerful emotional appeals. Disney sells an experience, something intangible. This works really well when it comes to targeting children, the imagination of a child is endless†¦ with hardly any limits. However this really affects children’s social values, making them almost worship Disney characters. Ultimately, this makes the children think that going to Disney Land is described as ‘a dream come true’; taking their minds off of the important things in life. Another example is Coca Cola. Their marketing strategy relies on making the consumer feel satisfaction when drinking Coke, making the consumer feel refreshed†¦ and ‘happy’. The Coke slogan is ‘Open coke. Open happiness’(7). The association that will be made is definitely an emotional one, and will make customers feel like someone when they drink a can of coke in front of people. This is probably the brand that endangers our social values the most, due to the obvious reason that happiness is achieved through success or through a positive social encounter. Not from drinking Coke, this is nothing more than a positioning strategy. Behavioural psychology explains the laws of classical and operant conditioning. This has been used by many businesses in order to condition a specific response from a customer. Classical conditioning can be, and has been used in various advertisements; in order to create lasting associations that will be profitable to the business. A psychologist called Pavlov tests classical conditioning in one of he’s experiments(8), and since then, he has influenced the use of he’s findings by many marketers. An example of this is McDonalds, the first time we heard the famous McDonalds short and snappy jingle we didn’t know what to make of it. But after a few more adverts we made the association between the jingle and the slogan ‘I’m lovin’ it’(9). Whilst this association was being made, you can visualise the McDonalds logo and any images they want you to see. The general feel of the adverts are happy and upbeat. With time, our association became so strong, that all McDonalds do now is play the jingle, and we all say or think ‘I’m lovin’ it’. This then becomes our unconditioned response to the jingle, which started off as being a neutral stimulus. So as you can see, classical conditioning is a powerful tool that marketers use, and we have attempted to create an advert; whilst trying to apply the laws of classical conditioning. Customers are almost hypnotised into thinking exactly what McDonalds wants them to think. This changes our social values into being more self-centred, making us seek pleasure for ourselves and gets rid of the whole idea of togetherness and sharing. The psychodynamic approach in psychology was devised by Sigmund Freud, an influential figure in psychology. He said that our conscious thoughts and actions are influenced by unconscious drives, such as the sex drive(10). Marks and Spencer food adverts take advantage of this idea. The woman speaking in the background speaks in a soft, sensual voice making it seem the food should be eaten in an intimate way(11)†¦ which almost makes us think their selling sex. According to the psychodynamic approach, our unresolved child issues and our sex drive will influence our conscious behaviour†¦ which is to ultimately buy the food. Marketers need to be very careful with this type of advertising; it’s almost as if the consumers are not in control of what they like. Our social values may have been having a laugh with friends of the opposite gender, but due to this kind of psychological approach to advertising†¦ it may unwillingly effect the perception of the customer. Using psychological approaches in adverts is legal, but it doesn’t mean it’s moral. The mind-set of the customer changes, their perception changes and so their behaviour changes; this can be seen as immoral. Companies ensure they put all side effects of certain products on the packaging†¦ but when are marketers going to actually take into account the side effects of their own decisions? If a certain type of marketing impacts broader society too much, and stimulates demand to an extent that the environment will suffer†¦ the marketers should definitely take it easy and refrain from these types of activities. Every career needs to work towards a better world to live in; this is what morality is all about. ‘The strategic business function that creates value by stimulating, facilitating and fulfilling customer demand’(12)†¦ this is on of the definitions of marketing. But how will consumer sovereignty affect this? The old definition was meeting customer needs profitably, customers may decide what will be produced or on the other hand marketers may decide what consumers should be interested in. It all depends on how society is looked after by marketers, and how society reacts to marketing decisions. Our social values stems from how society operates and how society holds up against continual marketing activities. The decisions that marketers make impact society hugely, it can increase demand and can decrease demand. McDonalds have been successful at stimulating demand, due to this they have had to create 4000 new jobs(13). But even though more demand means success to a marketer, there is always backlash. There is ‘a protest against the promotion of junk food, the unethical targeting of children, exploitation of workers, animal cruelty, damage to the environment and the global domination of corporations over our lives. Marketing strategies are successful at making a profit, but it’s time marketing professionals look after the society which they themselves are a part of. Not necessarily societal marketing, but just using some of the concepts of this type of marketing. I think that it’s a personal challenge to each and every one of us to act and speak in a way which doesn’t reflect the conditioned responses that marketing and movies have created. Our social values echo our personality and what we hold close to our hearts; marketing professionals can change or strengthen this. That means reliability is a necessity as a marketer. References http://inventors.about.com/od/timelines/a/ModernInvention.htm http://www.e-lba.com/ELBA%20Overview%20english.pdf http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/pavlov/readmore.html http://www.textart.ru/database/slogan/fast-food-advertising-slogans.html http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/freud.html

The Beautiful City Of Detroit Tonight - 1067 Words

â€Å"We may be in the beautiful city of Detroit tonight, but our story begins in New York.† The appropriately tailored catch phrase, said at the beginning of every show, is barely audible; over the deafening screams of fifty thousand fans catching a glimpse of our main entertainer for the night. Everyone has something that they have decided, or has been decided for him or her, is their passion in life. A year ago if I was asked what my passion was I wouldn’t have said anything, I didn’t have a passion or something that really made me excited to live life. I’d rather sit in my room bouncing from one social media to another, gathering a platform of thousands of followers during it all. I was a die-hard fan for someone who I thought could really†¦show more content†¦I always had loved Taylor Swift; but it was more of a closet case love since she was my brother and uncle’s main target in their jokes, but I was bound and determined to be her ne w biggest fan, so I could attend this concert. The news of the tour came in October, a time where I barely even talked to my parents; so the idea of asking them to take me across the state to a concert wasn’t even in question. After a month, while on better terms because we had just spent the weekend with my grandparents, I decided to toss the idea out there. â€Å"So you know who Taylor Swift is, well she is having a tour for her new album, and I’d like to go to it, plus Shawn Mendes will be her opening act, so it would be like my two favorite people in one concert, and I just think it’d be really enjoyable, and I can even pay for my own ticket, and make arrangements for it all.† I rambled out hoping that if I continue to talk they wouldn’t have the chance to turn down my proposition. The response devastated me â€Å"Who is Shawn Mendes?† asked my father completely forgetting the name of the person I always talked about and told them meant the world to me. My mother must have sensed the pain this caused me saying, â€Å"John, you know who he is. We will have to think about it, Brenna.† My negative mind immediately turned this into a â€Å"no† as I stomped away, shaking all the boxes laying out on the floor of my grandparents new