Feminist theory: blog tasks

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

A post-feminist reading of this might be that since Beyoncé is openly allowing herself

to be objectified, indeed encouraging it by looking down the camera playfully and winking

at the audience, she is controlling ‘the gaze’ and is thus empowered.

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

Whilst these texts both imply a criticism of the conventional media representations of women, they simultaneously still objectify them!

3) 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.

Now read The Theory Drop: Gender Performativity (MM69, page 25) and answer the following questions.

1) How does the writer suggest gender performativity is established from a young age?

 The writer argues that gender is a social construction and that it is taught to us by external influences and it’s ingrained at such a young age that we often mistake it as ‘nature’ rather than ‘nurture'.

2) What does the phrase 'non-binary' refer to and how does it link to Butler's theory?

Butler would argue that feminism sees men as the enemy to women so non-binary would reinforce patriarchal ideas.

3) How and why does the media help reinforce gender stereotypes? 

The writer provides several examples in the final section of the article:the phrase ‘non-binary’, referring to someone who doesn’t define themselves as either wholly male or female.

Narratives are easier for audiences to understand if the characters, subjects and story lines conform to a set of ideas that are already fixed in our heads from an early age,this is because audiences are more likely to be drawn into something they already know.