3 Subverted images of women:

Three ways number of female directors can be improves:

1. Men can share the domestic tasks with females e.g. looking after children so that females also get a chance to become successful
   
2. Encourage young females to go into this profession e.g. through role models
   
3. Women can have award evenings in order to motivate them to do more

Five reasons why female directors are such a rare sight:

1. Film is a male dominated industry
2. Women have other responsibilities such as taking care of family, and its difficult if they have children to navigate hours.
3. There are gender issues about control and authority
4. Films were enormously expenses in the past, so of course it has gravitated to one essentially white, essentially male, middle class groups who get to speak and have their say.
5. Film industry is constructed in a way that there are just men in every level thus making it difficult for women to enter.

Five Female Directors:

Rebecca Miller:

Rebecca Miller (born September 15, 1962 in Roxbury, Connecticut) is an American film director, screenwriter and actress. In 1995, she went behind the camera, writing and directing her first film, Angela. The film was critically well-received, but did not garner significant attention or audiences.

Films:

- Personal Velocity: Three Portraits
- The Ballad of Jack and Rose
- Angela

Gillian Armstrong:

(born 18 December 1950) An award-winning Australian director of feature films and documentaries. Armstrong received six awards at the 1979 Australian film awards, including Best Director. Following the success of My Brilliant Career, which was nominated for an Academy Award in Best Costume Design, Armstrong directed the Australian musical Starstruck (1981)

Films:

- Death Defying Acts (2008)
- Unfolding Florence: The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst (2005)
- Charlotte Gray (2001)
- Oscar and Lucinda (1997)
- Not Fourteen Again (1996)
- Little Women (1994)
- The Last Days of Chez Nous (1992)
- Fires Within (1991)
- Bingo, Bridesmaids & Braces (1988)
- High Tide (1987)
- Hard to Handle (1986)
- Mrs. Soffel (1984)
- Having a Go (1983)

Mary Harron:

Is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. Born in Ontario, Canada, Harron grew up with a family that was entrenched in the world of film and theater. Harron moved to England when she was thirteen and later attended Oxford University. Whilst in England she dated Tony Blair, who would later become the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She then moved to New York City and was part of its 1970s punk scene. She helped start and write for Punk magazine as a music journalist — she was the first journalist to interview the Sex Pistols for an American publication

Films:

- I Shot Andy Warhol
-American Psycho
- The Notorious Bettie Page

Julie Taymor:

an American director of theater, opera and film. Taymor's work has received many accolades from critics, and she has earned two Tony Awards out of four nominations, an Emmy Award, and an Academy Award nomination for her work. She is widely known as the first female to win the Tony Award for directing the musical The Lion King, for which she also received a Tony Award for her original costume designs.

Films:

- The Tempest (1986)
- Fool's Fire (1992) (TV)
- Oedipus Rex (1993) (TV)
- Titus (1999)
- Frida (2002)
- Across the Universe (2007)
- The Tempest (2009)

Jane Campion:

Is an Academy Award-nominated film maker and Academy Award-winning screenplay writer. She is one of the most internationally successful New Zealand directors, although most of her work has been made in or financed by other countries, principally Australia – where she now lives – and the U.S.

Films:

Sweetie (1989)
An Angel at My Table (1990) — based on the autobiography of Janet Frame
The Piano (1993)
The Portrait of a Lady (1996) — based on the novel by Henry James
Holy Smoke! (1999)
In the Cut (2003) — based on the novel by Susanna Moore
The Water Diary (2006)
8 (2008)
Bright Star (2009)

Fairy liquid advert- Ads in past

This advert is reinforcing stereotypes which females are associated with e.g. houswives etc. Women were rarely shown to be in paid work, they were usually presented as houswives and found to be concerned about beauty, cleanliness, family snd pleasing others. The female character in this ad is young and attractiver and she seems to be passing her norms and values onto her daugter, teaching her that womens place are in the kitchen (washing up dishes).

Persil washing up liquid-Contemporary

This advert could be subverting the stereotypes that men are associated with and it could be reinforcing the idea of the "new man", this is becuase we have a male character doing what a female does e.g. washing up the dishes. Also women were the ones which would usually know all about domestic work, however in this advert we have a man explaining about the cleaning product. Also at the end we find out that they are cleaning in order to impress the female which is something a women would do thus it could be showing that things are now changing.

Retromercial: Persil (1958)

This is an advert from the 1950s, where women were mainly presented as housewives, which is evident in this advert. At the beginning we have a male voice over, which is typical at that time where men were more likely to be seen in authority roles and the voice over presents them as dominant. The voice over we hear stated that "someones mum knows whats really white" therefore implying that women were the ones to be associated with cleaning, washing etc.The female character used, seems to be happy in the work she is doing (domestic) which could suggest that women belong in the kitchen and they should be happy doing domestic work.

Cadbury's Flake advert - 1985

Women in this era were usually presented as housewife's and were mainly shown to have interested in domestic products and cleaning etc, however in this advert she not presented how females were normally shown. The chocolate could be a phallic symbol which could be objectifying women.

Temptation- Adverts on women

At the begining of the advert we see the female character come out of her car, she is presented as a upper class, successful business women, from her house etc, however she is also objectified, from zoom on her particulr body parts, where she does not have any clothing on. The red night gown she is wearing at the end presents her as seductress which appeals to the male audience.

Women in comtemporary ads

Women are normaly presented very negatively in adverisment. They are normaly shown as objects o the male gaze (Laura Mulvey). The female character in this advert is depicted as vulnerable and obsessed, and from the way she is positioned on the bed, makes her look seductress as well as her facial expressions.

Terminator (1980s)

This film mainly presents the female characters as weak and as the victims of the film; whereas the male character is presented dominant and powerful and this is mainly through the prop’s e.g. the gun, which could be a symbol of his power, and the use of low angel shots which make the audience look inferior and the male character as superior.

Three men and a baby

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However this film contrasts due to the reason that here the men are not as dominant over the female character. They are shown in a mother role, where they are taking care of the baby, which can link to the feminist’s theory of “the new man”. Therefore this could be challenging the stereotypes that men are associated with.

Bibliography

1. Probert, David and Graham, Andrew: Advanced Media Studies. Italy
   
   “women are defined in terms of the sexual desirability of their bodies to men, rather then individuals” pg 141
   
   
2. Bennet Peter, Slater Jerry, Wall Peter: A2 Media Studies: The essential introduction. Italy
   
   John Berger- “Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves” pg 106
   
3. Branston Gill, Stratford Roy: The Media Studies Students Book- Second edition (1999): Routledge
   
   “Gender differences are culturally formed =, they exist on the basis of biological, but build a huge system of differentiation over and above it” pg 126
   
   “Men were repeatedly represented s ‘housewives, mother, homemakers’. Men were often represented ‘in situations of authority and dominance over women’ aided by the use of male voice overs” pg 127
   
4. Lacey, Nick: Image And Representation- Key concepts in media studies (1998). United States of America: Macmillan Press Ltd
   
   “Stereotypes serve to naturalise the power relationships in society; they have a hegemonic function, so the fact the fact that women are often stereotyped as subservient to men” pg 139
   
5. Jenainati Cathia, Groves Judy: Introducing Feminism (2007). United Kingdom
   
   “if particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any law in which we have no voice, or representation” pg 22
   
   “since all cultural representative of the world around us have been produced by men, women read themselves in terms of masculine definitions and “dream through the dreams of men” thus women is required to accept her status of other, “make herself object” and “renounce her autonomy”. Pg 84
   
6. Oakley, Ann: Gender, women and social science (2005). Great Britain: Policy press, university of Bristol
   
   The an Oakley
   “The assumption that a women’s place is in the home implies that it is not in a career.” Pg 10
   
   “When women do take jobs outside the home, they find themselves almost always doing traditional ‘feminine work’ conforming to conventional ideas of gender roles (Klein, 1965, Sullerot, 1971)” pg 10
   
7. Smith, Sharon: women and film (1972)
   
   "The role of a woman in a film almost always revolves around her physical attraction, and the mating games she plays with the male characters" pg 48
   
8. Faludi, Susan: Backlash: the undeclared war against women (1991)
   
   "Women are being 'reduced to mute and incidental characters or banished altogether' in action movies like preditor (1987), lethal weapon (1987) and days of thunder (1990)"
   pg 48
   
9. Gauntlett, David: Media, Gender and Identity (2002). Routledge
   
   "Men are much more likely to be adventurous, active and victorious, whereas women were more frequently shown as weak, ineffectual, victimised, supportive, laughable, or 'merely token females'" chapter 3pg 42
   
10. Forgot the name of the book =(.. will find out soon :)
    
    Charlie’s angels (2001) “whilst playing with conventions of the action genre and making the women protagonist active, the camera is used to focus on how they look and in particular the attractiveness of their bodies” pg 247
11. Tim O'Sullivan, Brian Duttin, Philip Rayner: Studying the media(1944). Philip Rayner:Great Britain
    
    
    "The female body is displayed for the 'male gaze' in order to provide erotic pleasure (voyeurism) and ultimatley a sense of control over her (Laura Mulvey:1079)"
    
    "One of the strongest cultural values concerning gender differences is that women are judged by their looks more then men"
    
    Emanuel Levy(!990) concluded that physical looks and youth were far more important for the female star"
    
    "The median age for female stars was 27, compared to 36 for men"
12. Gill Branston, Roy Stafford: The Media Students Book-third edition (2003). Routlesdge: Usa and Canada
    
    "Women were repeatedly shown as housewives, mothers, home-makers while men were often represented in situations of authority and dominance over women" (pg95)
    
    
    
    

High Noon Trailer (1952)

12 angry men:


there are the trailers for the 1950s films, High Noon and 12 angry men. The fact that the films mainly portrays men and there isn't many women in the trailer clearly suggests that women were not seen as significant, which links back to 'Tuchman' who claimed that "Women have been 'Symbolically Annihilated". Similarly, due to the reason that their are a lack of females in the film, the female audience would have to identify with the male characters thus having to 'cross gender', and he guns can be a symbol of power for the males.

The Sound of Music - Original (1965) Trailer

This is a typical representation of women in the 1960s, where they were usually presented as housewife's and were portrayed as weak, powerless and inferior to men. In this film, the female character is seen as a mother figure for the children, and she is presented as the "Madonna", which has connotations of innocence and purity. The male voice over, suggests that men are dominant The female is nearly always shown with the children, which relates back to the maternal side and she is represented as caring.

This is also a film from the same decade (1960s), however in the trailer for this film, it is clear that there are no female characters and the men dominate the film and the swords can be a symbol for their power, this could relate back to Tuchman’s theory that "women are symbolically annihilated".

Alien (1970s)

This was the first film which featured an female action protagonist, and was therefore seen as a celebration for feminists. Ripley is represented as strong and individual. In the trailer where she is running, the audience is put in her postion and we are made to see from her point of view, this suggests that she is the main character of the film who is driving the plot forward. However this was not typical during the 70s, as men were playing the main roles of film, therefore showing the increase in womens roles.

Star Wars (1970s)



The trailer is mainly male dominated due to the reason the there are not that many females, this links to Gunter’s theory that the female characters are shown as “weak, ineffectual, victimised, supportive, laughable, or merely token females”.

Fatal Attraction..(1990s)

This is a trailer for a fatal attraction which is under the film noir genre. The film shows a negative representation of women and that they can be dangerous. The film shows the binary oppostions of the two female characters in the film, one as the "Madonna" and the other as the "Whore".

The male character in this film is shown as powerful e.g. through the guns and money, the female is shown as a token for his achievement, and as the whole trailer is based on him, it is clear that he is the protagonist of the film thus driving the narrative forward, which presents him as dominant.

David Gauntlett- Media, Gender & Identity

In the past ten or fifteen years, things have been changing quite considerably. Men and woman seen working side by side, as equals, in the hospitals, schools, and police stations of television lands.

Statistics:

- During the 1990's, gender roles have have become increasingly equal and non-stereotyped on television.
Prime-Time T.V shows in 1992-93 showed that men took 61% of the leading speaking roles, with women only taking 39% of the speaking roles.

1995-1996 study showed that men took 63% of the speaking roles, with women taking the other 37% of those speaking roles.

A small number of 18% of women took major female character roles, with two-thirds of those stars in domestic comedies.

A 1995-96 study showed that 43% of major characters were females.

In 1992-93, a study showed that only 3% of women were represented as Housewives, a major decrease from the 70's, with an additional 8% of women presented as homemakers.

Overall. the 1992-1993 study found that "the woman on prime time TV in the early 1990as was young, single, independent, and free from family and work place pressure."
(Elasmer, Hasegawa and brain)

Gender in contemporary movies:

Film in the past had tended to give men all the primary clever and resourceful roles, which made them the lead characters, whilst women usually got to be the love interests and helpers.

"Film... often and anxiously envision women stereotypically as 'good' mothers or 'bad' hysterical careerists[in the past, and today every Hollywood women is someone elses other]"

"Nobody every called Indiana Jones a 'bimbo' just because Harrison Ford took his shirt off, or because he sometimes used his seductive looks and charm to get what he wanted"