Feminist Theory: Factsheet Research

Media Factsheet #156: Gender for A2 - Focus on Judith Butler
This Factsheet offers much more depth on Judith Butler and her work in Gender Trouble (1990) - the argument that gender is a process or performance and not biologically set. It explores how Butler fits into wider media theoretical perspectives (e.g. Structuralism and Post-Structuralism) and also criticisms of her approach. One key criticism is the difficulty in applying Butler's ideas to feminist campaigns in the real world - relevant to our recent work on the possibility of a fourth wave of feminism.

Media Factsheet #125: Gender: Beyond Butler
This Factsheet explores a wider interpretation of the representation of women in media and society. It offers a historical perspective, looking particularly at the 1970s and British television. It also builds on Factsheet #89 and Jean Kilbourne's work on advertising and the representation of women. Finally, the Factsheet addresses masculinity and the changing representations of men in the media over the last 30 years.

Focus on Judith Butler

• Often Butler is seen as the only theoretical perspective to consider when discussing issues of gender and sexuality

• Butler's preferred mode of discussion or discourse is to ask questions, often pilling question upon question in her work. 

• Butler does not always provide the answers to her questions but this allows Butler to see 'the subject' of the discussion as a developing process. 

• To assume an end point to Butler's discussion would stop development of the subject.

Gender Trouble

• Butlers most well known work where she looks at gender and identity

• Butlers ideas focus on the construction of gender identity

• She critiques feminist theorists for not challenging the terms 'women' or 'woman'. 

• Judith Butler says those theorists who haven't challenged the terms have accepted 'women' or 'woman' as the subject

• However, Butler's view is that the subject is less definate and more of a subject in process which is constructed by acts it performs. 

Gender Trouble - The ideas that cause trouble

• Calls catogary of 'the subject' into question arguing it is a performative construct. 

• Butler states that there are ways of ‘doing’ (constructing,exploring, developing, being) identity which challenge the existing binary oppositions of male/ female etc.

• Gender is seen as a sequence of acts but there is nobody who creates those acts. 

Beyond Butler

• Representations in the media often reflect issues of contemporary society 

• Representations reflect a world that is divided along lines of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, age, disability and location.

• However, the privilages, exculsions or disadvantages of each catogary are unequally spread

• When we consider gender representations we are considering the relationship between two factors:

--- Media saturation of representations

--- Inequality of privilages afforded to particular gender groups

• Feminist appoarches to representations have sought to think how representations are linked to patterns of inequality for women. 

Representations of Gender in the Media: Women

• Second wave feminists movement was concerned for equality of women like their predecessors but they were also concerned for how the gender of women was represented in newly emerging media forms. 

• There was an assumption of the 'male norm' where the representation of women was frequently invisable and the representation of men was representative of the whole human population

• Often representations of women were frequently limited to patronising and demeaning stereotypes.