1) What are the five types of feminism outlined on the first page of the Factsheet?
- Radical Feminism - Sees the cause of women's oppression as men. The main aim of this type of feminism is to address the concerns over violence against women, particularly in sexual relationships
- Liberal Feminism - Mainly concerned with gender socialization in order to show that gender roles are not biologically determined. The main aim here is to change the ways children are socialized into stereotypical gender roles.
- Marxist Feminism - The aim of this feminism is to look at the role of domestic labour within capitalism; most obviously that women work in the home for 'free' and the role women play in producing the next generation of the labour force.
- Black Feminism - Primary concern is with black and Asian women's experiences of oppression and exploitation. Combines ideas about capitalism, patriarchy and anti - racism.
- Postmodern Feminism - This type of feminism is associated with third wave feminists. Acknowledges diversity amongst women and encourages individuals to find feminist ideas that combine their own experiences.
2) Which category would Judith Butler fit into? What about Angela McRobbie? Laura Bates and Everyday Sexism? Explain your answers.
- Judith Butlers theory is all about 'gender not being biologically fixed'. Based on that I would say it links to 'Liberal Feminism' which also looks at gender roles not being biologically determined. Both Judith Butler and the liberal feminism viewpoint believe that gender roles reinforces the idea of differences between the 'male' and 'female' genders.
- Angela McRobbie's theory looks at 'the way gender roles are represented within different types of media and how we look at each gender differently, she says that each gender has specific traits that the media portrays to us'. Therefore, I would say it fits in with 'Marxist Feminism' as both McRobbie's theory and this type of feminism look at the class system and the differences between 'male' and 'female' importance.
- Laura Bates set up the Everyday Sexism Project 'in which women can submit their own experiences of sexism on a forum anonymously or they can put their name if they wish to.' Given this, I would say it links to 'Postmodern Feminism', as they both look at encouraging individuals to talk about their experiences to create a brand of feminism suitable for them.
3) What was the difference between suffragists and suffragettes? Which approach do you agree with?
- Suffragists - These women formed the NUWSS (National Union Of Women's Suffrage) in 1897 to unite several existing women's groups, who wanted to vote for women. They wanted to expand rights for all women and went about achieving their goals through moderate,peaceful and lawful means.
- Suffragettes - These women felt that the NUWSS wasn't making progress quick enough so they formed a breakaway group called the Women's Social & Political Union. However, this union were not afraid to use violence and confrontational means to reach their goals.
I agree with the 'suffragists' approach to expanding women's rights through moderate, peaceful and lawful means. Going about expanding women's rights in this way is more likely to be heard by the powers that be. As a pose to violent means which I think would only cast more negative stereotypes over women and further show that they have no power to turn opinions and be heard.
4) What was Laura Mulvey's argument regarding Hollywood film? Do you agree with it? Why?
- Mulvey's argument regarding Hollywood film is that the cinematography of classic Hollywood films objectifies women. The camera 'looks' at women as if they were a male and the women is a desirable sex object. She coined this the 'Male Gaze'. She also suggested that women are either viewed in a 'Voyeuristic' way which sees them as 'whores' or in a 'fetishistic' way making them 'Madonna's' or 'Virgins'.
Yes, I agree with Mulvey's argument. From the film's I can refer to women are presented as desirable sex objects which please's the male eye which can present them as 'whores' as Mulvey states in her argument. The camera can linger on the curves of the female body and they are quite often scantily clad in regards to their costume which only reinforces such a view of females, even if it wasn't intended which I have read is what a lot of film directors might argue.
5) Watch this YouTube video extract on Jean Kilbourne's Killing Us Softly series and list five examples she gives of the media objectifying women:
- Sports Staduims
- School's
- Billboards
- Buses/Cars
- Airplanes
6) What is Kilbourne's argument regarding the representation of women in advertising?
Kilbourne's argument is that 'advertising is selling more than products'. Kilbourne says adverts sell values, images, concept of love & sexuality and success.Kilbourne claims that the advertising industry makes women's appearance seem like the most important thing about her. Women feel they have to strive to look a certain way and when they can't get there they feel like they are letting themselves and others down because they couldn't achieve what they were told is 'normal'.
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| An example - Before and after picture: Advertising selling more than just products they are selling this image that is looks to us like it is normal. |
The concept of 'beauty' is completely socially constructed and patriarchal. Naomi argues that men in a given society create rules of what is considered to make a women beautiful. However, she says that this isn't the same for every culture, it is different rules wherever you turn. Despite, all being women Western women and Mauritania, West Africa women have different 'rules'. Western women are said to be beautiful if they have blonde hair, a slim figure, and flawless skin. Whereas the West Africa women are labeled to be beautiful if they are obese and have stretch marks.
8) Why is the representation of women in music videos a controversial topic for feminists?
As there have been many disagreements over whether women are portrayed as victims of patriarchal oppression or empowered female role models. Some theorists such as Sut Jhally believe representations of women in music video's have an impact on behaviors of people in real life. It is believed that songs only serve to
distract young girls from real issues of female oppression.
9) What is your view of female artists such as Nicki Minaj or Beyonce - do they empower women or reinforce sexist, patriarchal views?
I think that female artists such as Beyonce and Nicki Minaj empower women because from the videos I can talk about they always take charge in their videos. They show they are not the second best and have as much power and importance as men do. Beyonce in particular tells emotional and heartfelt stories through her songs which shows that she is trying to promote change.
10) Has new and digital media given women an opportunity to challenge sexist views or is it simply another media platform for women to be oppressed? Explain your view.
New and digital media has given women an opportunity to challenge sexist views as women can unite together to fight sexist views about women by sharing their own experiences of sexism and their views towards the issue rather than just quitely airing their grievances to a family member or similar or worse still keeping it to themselves. People can share their experiences etc through multiple different means such as forums like the 'Everyday Sexism Project' set up by Laura Bates. However, new and digital media is just another platform for women to oppressed on because even when people do share their experiences nothing stops people responding with lines such as 'what harm does it do?' or similar. New and digital media is also another platform for women to be oppressed on because there is a greater amount of platforms for it to happen on which makes it harder for it to be controlled.
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