Introduction
In this essay I will analyse three movie posters and their remakes. The three movie posters I will analyse are Psycho and The secret life of Walter Mitty. I will analyse these posters using the methods I have learned in Media Analysis such as Feminism, Male gaze and Audience theory, along with techniques such as camera angles, lighting and so on. Using these concepts I will analyse these posters and their remakes and see what the changes, if any, were in between the years the movies were released.
Feminism/Male Gaze (Background/Research)
Feminism is a movement that began as a result of “sweeping social, political and industrial changes in Europe and the United States.”
While studying these posters and the movies that the posters portray, it is imperative to analyse them with a feminist lens. As I do categorize myself as a feminist analysing such things as movies and movie posters can be fun. to be able to do this all you have to do is ask questions about the media and what the media are trying to portray in the everyday life. If we do not take a step back in our lives to critically think about things like this, which can be seen as trivial pastime, we will let ourselves be influenced by the images that the media are trying to sell to us, what products to buy and even how to behave ourselves in our lives. The media plays a big part in the everyday life and can influence people to become insecure. The definition of feminism is “a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression.”
Just because you don’t see sexist and oppressive views in the media about women yourself does not mean they are not there and the problem has been dealt with. The problem with feminism is still as strong as ever, we have take...
... middle of paper ...
...en. It is far from it, learning such things as feminism, male gaze, etc. has helped me realise that, there are many examples of sexism in the everyday life of sexism towards females, but instead of looking at the negative side, we should look at what we have achieved and still strive for the day where people, both men and women are not used for their bodies in advertisements and movies. Where they are not individuals, but just pretty faces to get a companies point across or for the majority of people to strive to be but for the day where the media doesn’t have to sexualise a person to sell movies or products
Works Cited
http://www.gender-focus.com/2013/06/26/how-to-do-feminist-t-analysis/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaze#The_.22male_gaze.22_in_feminist_theory
http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/2007/08/26/faq-what-is-the-%E2%80%9Cmale-gaze%E2%80%9D/
Men do not have the benefits of equality either, they are also limited by societal expectations and having to fulfill the requirements of what it means to “be a man”. Gender roles shape the fabric of our society. In the documentary Tough Guise, Katz chronicles the socialization of boys from the moment they are born and as they grow up. Tough guise explains how the entertainment industry feeds messages about masculinity which exclude basic human qualities such as compassion, and vulnerability. These are portrayed as feminine with a negative connotation implied (Earp, Katz, Young and Rabinovitz 2013). In American modern culture children of both sexes are consuming large amounts of media on a daily basis. The documentary MissRepresentation explores the media’s role in the shaping of our society; specifically the media’s treatment of women. When it comes to girls and women, marketers have made substantial profits from objectifying women and setting an unattainable standard of what it means to be beautiful. Hyper-feminized women are all over the covers of magazines, hypersexualized in advertisements, and in movies. Women have to walk a very thin tightrope and the expectations for a good woman are contradicting (Newsom, Scully, Dreyfous, Redlich, Congdon, and Holland
“Feminism”, as defined today, is “1: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes,” and “2: organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”2 Many critics claim that feminism has been active longer than the word itself has existed.3 The word, “feminist” was not in true use until the late 1800s and early 1900s, but activism for women’s rights was alive and well a...
Feminism can simply be defined as a range of movements and ideologies in which share a common ground in terms of defining, establishing and achieving equal opportunities to that of males, in regards to economic, cultural and social rights. It is a critique of male supremacy with efforts in changing this to end the social oppression of women. (Hooks, 2000)
Feminism is a political movement that seeks equality between the sexes. Motivated by the search for social justice, feminist analysis provides a wide range of perspectives on social, cultural, economic, and political ideologies. Important topics for feminist politics and theory include: the body, class and work, family life, globalization, human rights, popular culture, race and racism, reproduction, sex work, human trafficking, and sexuality. From early beginnings, to its current state, feminism has been a pervasive movement that has incited social, political and economic change and advancements. Generationally speaking, over the decades feminism has taken on many different meanings. Feminism has become a spectrum; each generation, or wave,
started out as a movement for total equality for all humans, yet it has become a philosophy (largely promoted by Stanton and others) based on animosity and condemnation against men. The rise in feminism has led to (not necessarily caused) an exponential increase in discrimination against men, as many feminists blame men for the injustice against and oppression of women through out the ages, and not without cause. Women throughout the ages have been considered sub-human at best, and property as worst, little more than chattel, and while it is still true that women are still oppressed in some places of the world, in America (home of feminism, equality, and freedom) women are reversing the balance of power. Rather than moving fprward with ideals of freedom and equality, feminism has become distorted and history is repeating itself; but with a twist. Now the women are on top and men are being oppressed.
The movement to extend equal rights to women is the main goal of feminism, which is a great thing. However, the media portrays feminism in a much more negative light. Media often portrays feminism as crazy women who view men in a negative light, that want more rights than men. In turn, a negative response comes out of this misinterpretation, even causing people to even identify themselves as “anti-feminist”. A sad reality in todays world caused by various aspects. One of the major reasons feminism is seen in a negative light is because some women claim they are feminists, however are strongly misguided on exactly what the principles of feminism entail. Many women consider themselves to be feminists, but will actually end up attacking men, which in turn causes feminism to be associated in a negative manor or even be considered a hate group. This ends up being very counterproductive, making no progress toward the ultimate goal of feminism which is simply to reach equality in various aspects of society. Another example of a hate group being counterproductive for a movement is the “Black lives matter” movement. This movement stemmed from the ultimate goal to reach equal rights between races, but has turned in to a hate group which advocated the exact opposite. Seeing the group in which the movements goal is to attaint equal rights with as the enemy is the
In the United States, the feminist movement was a civil rights issue that sought to establish equality for women. The movement aimed to transform the lives of women in American society and exerted a profound global effect throughout the twentieth century. Today, individuals who support this movement are identified as feminist: an ideology that all individuals should identify with. Feminism is the doctrine that advocates women 's rights which advocates political, economic, and social equality in comparison to men (“feminism”). This movement for equality is a rational and logical idea that the Bill of Rights and the Constitution should be expanded to accommodate the other half of the human population, promoting inclusion, individual identity,
Feminism is known as an organized movement that aims to achieve equality a most women and men in society. Feminism within American history can be categorized into 3 phases; Women Suffrage, Social and Civil Rights, and the current wave which appeal to a number of different social and political avenues. The ideology of equality of amongst women in America had become enormously popular in the 19th century which helped assist the start of the Women 's Suffrage movement; this movement main objective was getting women the right to vote and a number of other things. As feminism continued to grow people within society began to come to the realization that women across America and around the world were being oppressed. The second wave of Feminism is
Feminism has changed drastically since the time Crystal Eastman gave her speech “Now We Can Begin”. Women are now allowed to work, vote, own land or even be housewives if that’s what they choose and prefer. Even though the time has changed, the topic does and will continue to persist and be around forever more. Not all people agree with women’s freedom. Thankfully, it is not as big of an issue as it was in the early 20th century.
In a quest for equal rights with their male counterparts the feminist movement has opened new opportunities for women in many societies around the world. (Golombisky 90). Feminist’s are pioneering the way for women’s rights, challenging long standing cultural beliefs, creating greater access to education and the political arenas, and initiating change for new ideals. (Golmbisky 90) Many of the once male dominated fields of the workforce now include women based upon the efforts of individuals and a plethora women’s groups and organizations. (Golombskiy 93).
Barsam, R. M., Monahan, D., & Gocsik, K. M. (2012). Looking at movies: an introduction to film (4th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co..
Feminism is a body of political movement and social theory primarily based on and motivated by the experiences of the sexes. While generally providing a critique of social relations, proponents of feminism also focus on analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of women’s rights, interest, and issues. However, having the major goal of developing into an equal society between genders. We have evolved, but our views on gender roles have not evolved.
Women – beautiful, strong matriarchal forces that drive and define a portion of the society in which we live – are poised and confident individuals who embody the essence of determination, ambition, beauty, and character. Incomprehensible and extraordinary, women are persons who possess an immense amount of depth, culture, and sophistication. Society’s incapability of understanding the frame of mind and diversity that exists within the female population has created a need to condemn the method in which women think and feel, therefore causing the rise of “male-over-female” domination – sexism. Sexism is society’s most common form of discrimination; the need to have gender based separation reveals our culture’s reluctance to embrace new ideas, people, and concepts. This is common in various aspects of human life – jobs, households, sports, and the most widespread – the media. In the media, sexism is revealed through the various submissive, sometimes foolish, and powerless roles played by female models; because of these roles women have become overlooked, ignored, disregarded – easy to look at, but so hard to see.
In order to completely understand the feminist movement, it’s important to understand the terminology used. A very common misconception is that the feminism movement is synonymous to the women’s suffrage movement. As defined by Oxford Dictionary, feminism is “The advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” When discussing women’s suffrage, one would be referring to the fight for women to get the right to vote. Although women did achieve this right, this was not the end of feminism. Other terms involved when discussing feminism would be sexist or discrimination on the grounds of gender and misogynistic or showing hatred,mistrust, and mistreatment of women.
The noun " feminism " is derived from the French in the 19th century . It refers to the campaign at first but now women have been endowed with greater meaning when it is used extensively in many places. Feminism was born because there are those who feel that women have been oppressed by injustice exists between man and woman . Oppression of women is a human act under social institution and it is not biologkal . Thus, the women themselves able to change this situation .