Feminist theory

Feminist theory: key notes

Judith Butler: gender roles

Butler believes traditional feminists are wrong to divide society into ‘men’ and ‘women’ and says gender is not biologically fixed.

By dividing men and women, feminists accidently reinforced the idea of differences between the two genders

Butler believes gender roles are ‘a performance’ and that male and female behaviour is socially constructed rather than the result of biology.

Butler and the media

If gender is a ‘performance’ rather than biological, we then need to think about what is influencing that ‘performance’.

And that’s where the media comes in. How might the media influence our behaviour in terms of gender roles?

Angela McRobbie: empowering women

McRobbie is a British cultural theorist known for her work analysing magazines aimed at women and teenage girls in the 80s and 90s.

McRobbie highlights the empowering nature of magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Glamour, taking a different perspective to traditional feminists.

This idea of ‘popular feminism’ fits into the idea of post-feminism and challenges the radical feminism of the 1970s.

Feminism: blog tasks

Complete the following tasks on your blog:

Media Magazine reading

1) What are the two texts the article focuses on?

The two texts the article focuses on is Pan Am and Beyonce.

2) What examples are provided from the two texts of the 'male gaze' (Mulvey)?

Beyonce text - The way Beyoncé is presented in the music video allows her to be objectified, welcoming the male gaze but simultaneously also avoiding feminist criticism through this use of parody and humour.

Pan Am text - A magazine cover which is heavily mediated which has a purpose to be visually enjoyed by men. There is also a scene at the end where there is a close up of the 4 women's legs. This causes the men to turn around and stare, which suggests that they enjoy and get pleasure out of seeing the females walk, their appearance and generally their bodies.

3) Do texts such as these show there is no longer a need for feminism or are they simply sexism in a different form?

These texts show that there is still a need for feminism as sexism and objectification of women is still currently happening in present day which means that there is still a need for change in the way women are viewed upon in society.

4) Choose three words/phrases from the glossary of the article and write their definitions on your blog.

Feminism – A movement aimed at defining establishing, and defending women’s rights and equality to men.

Patriarchy – An ideology that places men in a dominant position over women.

Nostalgia – A sentimental longing for the past, often only remembering the positives of the time.

Music video analysis

Watch the Beyonce video for ‘Why Don’t You Love Me?’: 

 

1) How might this video contribute to Butler’s idea that gender roles are a ‘performance’?

This video contributes to Butler's idea that gender roles are a performance as (although mocking the idea) it reinforces the attributes and behaviour a woman should encounter in order to satisfy and please a man.

2) Does this video reinforce or challenge the view that women should perform certain roles in society?

This video challenges the view that women should perform certain roles in society because the topic is addressed in a mocking/sarcastic way which almost makes the viewer question why a woman should have to conform to all of the things mentioned in the video in order to satisfy a man and be seen as a good woman.

2) Would McRobbie view Beyonce as an empowering role model for women? Why?

I think that based on the main intentions of this video, challenging the way women have to act and portray themselves in order to be seen as acceptable in society, McRobbie would view Beyonce as an empowering role model for women - this is because she is essentially questioning all of these things women have to do.

3) What are your OWN views on this debate – does Beyonce empower women or reinforce the traditional ‘male gaze’ (Mulvey)?

I think that Beyonce is not so much reinforcing the male gaze and accepting it but instead addressing the idea of the male gaze and the other pressures that society enforce on to women.