Identities and the Media: Feminism

Identities and the Media: Feminism

Media Magazine reading

1) Read Playing With The Past: Post-feminism and the Media (MM40, page 64 - our Media Magazine archive is here).

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

HBO's 'Pan Am' and Beyonces music video 'why don't you love me'

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

For example when the article discusses Beyonce's music video she declares herself as an independent woman but still conforms to the male gaze by objectifying herself. Moreover, in Pan Am the dresses they wear as well as in Beyonces video are highly sexualised. 

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

It would to an extent suggest there is no longer a need for feminism because if a woman is able to create a music video like this whilst also declaring herself to be an independent woman it would infer that feminism has succeeded in allowing for women to have this sort of freedom and would mean there isn't a need for feminism anymore.

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

Post-feminism – An ideology in culture and society that society is somehow past needing feminism and that the attitudes and arguments of feminism are no longer needed.

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

Male Gaze – The gaze referring to Laura Mulvey’s seminal article ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ which argues that main stream Hollywood films subject female characters to the ‘male gaze’ of the camera, fragmenting and objectifying their bodies.

No More Page 3

1) Research the No More Page 3 campaign. Who started it and why?

No More Page 3 was started in August 2012 by Actress and Author Lucy-Anne Holmes. Lucy Holmes noticed in the paper that the size of the page 3 girl was the largest in the paper even bigger than the one of Jessica ennis who had just won a gold medal. She believed it was an objectification of women.

2) What reasons did the campaign give for why Page 3 had to go?

Sexual objectification of women, offensive and discriminatory, and contributory to the derogatory treatment o certain sections of society.

3) Read this debate in the Guardian regarding whether the campaign should be dropped. What are Barbara Ellen and Susan Boniface's contrasting opinions in the debate?

Boniface claims that page 3 camoaign is outdated and pointless and that it is past its time. Whereas, Ellen disagrees and thinks it should be kept going after questioning it herself .

4) The main campaign website has now been replaced by a site calledSexist News, designed to highlight sexism in the media. Give an example of a recent story the website has highlighted. Do you agree with the view of the website?

'Little mixed up about what to wear'  they reinforce their feminist values of  'not telling women what to wear' but they had disagreements when it comes to this as they believe if  you are influencing the younger generations in a bad way then its too far and to some extent i agree with this but not everybody is as easily influenced. 


5) How can the No More Page 3 campaign and Sexist News website be linked to the idea of post-feminism?

It is a counter-argument for the idea of post-feminism and highlights contemporary examples of sexism in the media and how feminism is still as relevant today as it was over a decade ago. It is also a reminder to people that the world isn't past needing feminism and having a news feed for sexist news shows the recent examples of where women are being violated in the media and also educates people how to stop this by promoting feminism and reviving it to its former 'glory'.

6) What are your OWN views on these campaigns? Do you agree with their aims? Is there still a need for these campaigns in the media?

Personally i don't believe so as the developed world is a much fairer place and nicer place to be a woman compared to a 100 years ago so instead of campaigning for things that are minor in comparison to the much more important things happening in the world, especially the treatment of women in middle eastern countries. If a feminist is to stand up for the rights of all women then they should prioritise their campaigning and support to the people who need it most.

7) Finally, do you agree that we are in a post-feminist state or is there still a need for feminism?


I believe we are in a post-feminist state as the idea of 'egalitarianism' is loosely met which is fair for a liberal representative democracy to upkeep, however if we were to live in a total egalitarian society then it would be borderline communist or authoritarian which is overly oppressive, i think we are almost at an equilibrium in terms of men and womens rights but granted some things could afford to undergo minor adjustments but there are more important things going on in the world.