Question 5

1930's - teens - no sejse of seperate culture
E.g - they listen to the same music as their parents
- dress the same way as 'adults' would - strictly smart and formal
- had segregated roles
- women were not even mentioned on news (patriarchal ideologies)

1940's - teens - segregated roles continued
E.g - Girls knitting/cooking - Boys physical education
- no freedom - obeying to rules and regulations of society

1950's - women trying to get into work
E.g - this lead teens in becoming more independant
- teens were given a little more space as a result

1960's - completely broke away from societies expectations and gender division
E.g - No longer a formal dress sense - distuingishment from teens and adults
- represented as clever and upcoming bright future for teens
- no longer patriarchy ideologies - not as tough on women

1970's - teens were presented as getting out of hand - having too much fun
- doing what they want
- growing deviant
- this was portrayed in the 70's film Grease - 'teens living the crazy life'

1980's - teens were being represented as more glamourised in the news.
E.g - acknowledgement for starirng in films etc.

1900 - 200 - growing extremely violent on news,
E.g - broadcast and print - giving out stories of teenange related crime.

2010 - present - teenagnge crime and teenagange success.

Research - How are teens represented in the news

Teens as violent criminals

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7777963.stm - short clip on teen crime

Teens are represented as “violent murders” according o the online BBC news reports since the year 2008. They report over 70 teens had been “violently murdered” in 2008 between the age groups of 10-19. This portrays teens as having a brutally corrupted mind. “The capital saw a significant rise in 2007 when 26 youngsters were killed, up from a stable average of 17 a year since 2000”. “This year, the figure stands at 29, most of whom were stabbed”.

Teens portrayed as successful

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/teenawards/2010/awards/

The fact they have nominations for a specific age group. (Teens 12-17) portrays them to be more than just people with violent natures. This is the complete opposite of the above as it shows teens as successful and credible for whatever it is that they may have done. This is also aimed at the public and not just those who are famous etc. Therefore gives out a positive image of teens in the news – as part of the BBC Teen awards.

Teens as victims of crime

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4355695.stm

20 and 21 year olds are due in for court regarding a murder case of 19yr old Mr.Wheaton.

Violent murders

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6672359.stm

Alternative Representations.

Mary J Blige – Be Without you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XNaPX6MKlU&ob=av2e

This music video is an alternative representation of other music videos shown in the RnB Hip Hop music industry such as Nicki Minaj who sexually objectifies herself through her lyrics – sense of dressing – expressions and narrative of her videos. Whereas Mary J Blige sticks to the traditional and stereotypical roles of a women. In this music video she is dressed appropriately with no cleavage suggesting she is not sexually objectified. In fact she is shown as the opposite where she is wearing casual trackers with a white vest stop. This would allow the audience to personally identify with her as it reflects on the ideologies of constructing realism. She is shown doing the opposite to what most videos show today, at 1.53 in the video she is shown serving food to guests and being a welcoming face, embracing her family members.These are traditional ideologies for example according to Functionalists such as Parsons, therefore she is portrayed with a positive and aspiring image to her audience. The lyrics also compliment the traditional housewife roles and emotional affection for her husband unlike most other songs which are all about sexual fantasies i.e Lady Gaga. The lyrics in this song connote non sexual behaviour and realism within relationships. For example “And I’ll be waiting u p until you get home cause I cant sleep without you baby” this is an example of behaviour a traditional housewife would do, who would wait for the arrival of her husband and then go to sleep. The use low key lighting and a black and white effect in the video may connote her emotions as she feels heartbroken therefore she is set in a dull surrounding. However a stronger interpretation of this is that the black and white could connote her subordinate character as the scene where the man is in, is mostly in colour whereas most of Mary J Blige's shots are in black and white. This also reinforces the ideologies of a patriarchal society.This video is a clear example of hegemony as the artists video has clearly been influenced by the state or society through its patriarchal ideologies. This represents women as powerless and subordinate not only in the video but also reflects on society as it could be considered some values of patriarchy still does exist. Another example that portrays the subordination of female representations regarding the image on the left is the use of high top key lighting which connotes superiority and dominance in comparison to what we witness when Mary J Blige is on screen. With this you can clearly see the comparisons of the binnary oppositions of both men and women relating to dominance, superiority and alternative representations within the HipHop music industry. Mary J Blige is considered the alternative representation of women through the rejection of todays codes and conventions of Hip Hop and RnB videos. Women sexually objectify themselves and attract the male gaze give them an erotic and pleasurable experience when watching their video such as Beyonce – Baby Boy. However Mary J Blige challenges this typical representation of women and portray them in a positive light rather than in a sexually way. Another example to back this is the scene where both couple look intimate however yet she does not reveal any cleavage whereas most artists would do so. The fact that she is covered up and asleep gives her angel like connotations and that one of a vulnerable characteristics This shows the rejection of objectification or fetishization in the music video

Pete Faiser (Media Conf.)

Pete Fraiser:

Pete gave us tips on how to get our coursework in the top bands.

He gave us tips on how to organise our coursework and keep track of all our work. Some of the things he had mentioned were;

- Blogging is the easiest way to track your work and use evidence as a production log

- On the blogs, you should include a lot of examples of your chosen topic area or anything relating to your coursework. Such as links to videos on youtube or publish comparisons you draw from different texts.

- He also mentioned it would help to post up things you have created such as posters, storyboards or brainstorms etc, even if it is just a picture with 2 or 3 sentences below explaining what it is.

He also spoke about how to ensure all your work is referenced. This is by posting it on your blog with links to where you extracted information in order to avoid playjarism.

He also stressed the importance of getting feedback form peers or members of staff as this is the main way in which you can continuously improve your work.

David Buckingham (Media Conf.)

Professor David Buckingham

Here David Buckingham spoke of how Media is looked at as a not so academic subject or “soft subject” as he said. He went on to say how the government and other members of society frown upon media and claim it is straightforward and more for those who are academically not so great. Therefore not many universities had media studies as a course until recent years where media studies had becoming one of the most popular chosen subjects (in state schools mostly)

He also spoke of how Media Studies gave the wrong impression of students who went away thinking they’ll become a part of the media industry straight away by taking media studies. This collaspsed the hoped of many people as they naively thought they would be guaranteed a job and theyl become famous.

How is the male gaze constructed in Rush Hour 2 - Laura Mulvey's Essay

How has the male gaze been constructed in Rush hour 2?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrAIA4c_Mtk

Above is a link to a scene in Rush Hour 2 which has clearly been constructed in order to attract the male gaze. This specific scene comes across as very erotic and pleasurable to men. This is because women are sexually objectified and serve the message of giving men a good time. There are many stereotypical ways in which they are sexually objectified such as; wearing low cut tops tight fitted tops, this gives sexual connotations to its audiences implying they are there for eye candy and to appeal to the male gaze. Their very straight back posture and smiling/welcoming facial expressions clearly indicates they are self objectifying themselves as they seem happy in doing what they are doing. In addition, the use of medium close ups on specific girls from the group shows emphasis on the sexual objectification as 1.06 in the trailer is a clear example of self objectification as she fiddles with her bra implying she wants to be the one Chris Tucker chooses. This shows the dominant and subordinate roles within this scene as the protagonist Chris Tucker stands their picking and choosing who he’d like to have, this portrays women as powerless and in some respect as means to serve the pleasures of men as the women are given no dialogue apart from to sit there and look good which is seen as the typical ideologies of a patriarchal society.

Furthermore, another way in which the male gaze is constructed is through men wanting to be in the place of Chris Tucker as he is portrayed as the ideal man they would inspire to be. This is shown by him having a selection of women to pick and choose for his needs. This would make men want to aspire to be like him and be in his place. Therefore is also another way in which the male gaze is constructed. The sense of superiority and dominance is also shown in this scene as he has the upper hand on what he wants, whereas the women just obey. This sense of dominance is another reason for why men would want to be like him. The male gaze is also constructed with the help of fetishization. This is where the women are showing off their skin, the upper half of their body as well as their lower half. This evokes men’s fetishes and as a result of this are attracted to the text and what they see on screen. However the