Femininity

 

Masculinity

 

  

Gender

Gender is perhaps the basic category we use for sorting human beings, and it is a key issue when discussing representation. Essential elements of our own identity, and the identities we assume other people to have, come from concepts of gender - what does it mean to be a boy or a girl? Many objects, not just humans, are represented by the media as being particularly masculine or feminine - particularly in advertising - and we grow up with an awareness of what constitutes 'appropriate' characteristics for each gender.

You will find a thorough academic introduction to the topic here and a full set of articles here

You can construct your own table of 'typical' male/female characteristics, as perpetuated by the media. Try to list at least ten for each.

Typically masculine
Typically feminine

Tough

Hard

Sweaty

Fragile

Soft

Fragrant

How might the following objects be 'gendered' through advertising, given that both sexes will use the product?

  • a sports car?
  • a diving watch?
  • bottled beer?
  • toilet paper?
  • deodorant?
  • cigarettes?
  • a hi-fi system?
  • trainers?
  • a games console

(eg PS2, N64)?
  • an airline?

Sport (as those of you who did GCSE Media will know) is one area where there is a gulf between the representation of male and female participants. Read what Year 11 had to say about gender issues and the recent Olympics coverage here.

Role Models

It is undeniable that the media shapes our conceptions of what it means to be male or female. We encounter many different male and female role models in the course of a day's media consumption. The issue is, that although these different role models may at first glance appear to be very varied, do they actually represent enough of a range of men/women? Are we simply given variations on a stereotype that become sub-stereotypes in themselves? By adopting role models and parading them through the media as people it is desirable to 'be', are we stunting individual growth?

Read about the British government's role model campaign here. Do you think it has had any effect?

 

Representations of Femininity

Feminism has been a recognised social philosophy for more than thirty years, and the changes that have occurred in women's roles in western society during that time have been nothing short of phenomenal. Click here for a brief set of definitions. Yet media representations of women remain worryingly constant. Does this reflect that the status of women has not really changed or that the male-dominated media does not want to accept it has changed?

Representations of women across all media tend to highlight the following:

  • beauty (within narrow conventions)
  • size/physique (again, within narrow conventions)
  • sexuality (as expressed by the above)
  • emotional (as opposed to intellectual) dealings
  • relationships (as opposed to independence/freedom)

Women are often represented as being part of a context (family, friends, colleagues) and working/thinking as part of a team. In drama, they tend to take the role of helper (Propp) or object, passive rather than active. Often their passivity extends to victimhood (see the discussion of the misogynistic PantyRaider below). Men are still represented as TV drama characters up to 3 times more frequently than women, and tend to be the predominant focus of news stories.

The representations of women that do make it onto page and screen do tend to be stereotypical, in terms of conforming to societal expectations, and characters who do not fit into the mould tend to be seen as dangerous and deviant. And they get their comeuppance, particularly in the movies. Think of Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) in Fatal Attraction or, more recently, Teena Brandon/Brandon Teena (Hilary Swank) in Boys Don't Cry. America seems to expect its women to behave better than their European counterparts - British viewers adored the antics of Patsy & Edina in Absolutely Fabulous, but these had to be severely toned down (less swearing, NO drugtaking) for the US remake, High Society (which was a flop).

Discussions of women's representation in the media tend to revolve around the focus on physical beauty to the near-exclusion of other values, the lack of powerful female role models, and the extremely artificial nature of such portrayals, which bear little or no relation to the reality experience by women across the planet. It would take almost a whole A-level course to cover these representations and the issues surrounding them in depth (if interested, do Womens or Gender Studies at uni), but you might want to start by reading the following:

 

Representations of Masculinity

'Masculinity' is a concept that is made up of more rigid stereotypes than femininity. Representations of men across all media tend to focus on the following:

  • Strength - physical and intellectual
  • Power
  • Sexual attractiveness (which may be based on the above)
  • Physique
  • Independence (of thought, action)

Male characters are often represented as isolated, as not needing to rely on others (the lone hero). If they capitulate to being part of a family, it is often part of the resolution of a narrative, rather than an integral factor in the initial equilibrium. It is interesting to note that the male physique is becoming more important a part of representations of masculinity. 'Serious' Hollywood actors in their forties (eg Willem Dafoe, Kevin Spacey) are expected to have a level of 'buffness' that was not aspired to even by young heart-throbs 40 years ago (check out Connery in Thunderball 1965).

Increasingly, men are finding it as difficult to live up to their media representations as women are to theirs. This is partly because of the increased media focus on masculinity - think of the burgeoning market in men's magazines, both lifestyle and health - and the increasing emphasis on even ordinary white collar male workers (who used to sport their beergut with pride) having the muscle definition of a professional swimmer. Anorexia in teenage males has increased alarmingly in recent years, and recent high school shootings have been the result of extreme bodyconsciousness among the same demographic group.

``He [Charles Andrew Williams] e-mailed us and told us that he just wanted to come home and that it was just awful over there. They were teasing him, calling him 'country boy.' He didn't dress right, he didn't look right. He was skinny, they called him gay,'' she [a friend's mother] said. " Full Story Here

As media representations of masculinity become more specifically targeted at audiences with product promotion in mind (think of the huge profits now made from male fashion, male skin & haircare products, fitness products such as weights, clothing etc), men are encouraged (just as women have been for many years) to aspire to be like (to look/behave in the same way) the role models they see in magazines. This is often an unrealistic target to set, and awareness of this is growing. Read about the increasing influence of men's magazines here and here.

Whilst some men are concerned about living up to the ideal types represented in magazines, others are worried by what they perceive as an increasing anti-male bias in the media. There is growing support for the idea that men are represented unfairly in the media - read a selection of articles here and here.