9. Video Slideshow with Voiceover

The following video slideshow with voiceover was created discussing the concept of hegemony and gender roles in advertisements.

Here is a transcript of the dialogue in the video slide show:

Gender roles can demonstrate how a society views what it means to feminine or masculine and these roles are preformed through various interactions. The concept of cultural hegemony suggests that there is a power structure in society in which men are seen as the dominant sex and women are viewed as the subordinate. There are many forms of communication from which we seek for entertainment, information and can be a reflection of how a society interacts with others. The following photos were taken to examine these concepts of hegemony and gender roles further. 

Erving Goffman's 1979 research titled, Gender Advertisements examines the depiction of female gender roles from a symbolic interactionist perspective. 

Goffman notes that, advertisements do not depict how men and women actually behave; rather they serve the social purpose of convincing us that this is how women and men are, want to be, or should be. Furthermore, gender advertisements show women in subordinate, subservient and male pleasing roles and reinforces sexism in society. 

Websites That Promote Female Empowerment and Positive Discussions About Gender

While I find it important to discuss the social implications of women in the media and society, it must be noted that there is a vast amount of sites that promote healthy discussion about gender issues and female empowerment. 

I Am That Girl (See clip above): A non-profit organization that promotes women to explore their inner worth, purpose, and positive discussion of issues that women face in society.  I Am That Girl's purpose is that they want to promote healthy female body images and empowerment: 

"The media plays a dominant role in influencing girls' perceptions of the world around them, as well as helping them to define their sense of self. The current state of negative media is a global health crisis for girls' causing mental, physical and emotional illness. We seek to be the solution. By building community and providing girls with a space to consume healthy media, we can silence their crippling self-doubt long enough for girls to think for themselves, discover thier voice and speak their truth. This community that provokes meaningful and mindful conversations enables girls to have a higher sense of self worth."

HelloGiggles: Is an online community that encourages women to have fun, but also attentive to gender issues in the media. The website is founded by actress Zooey Deschanel, Sophia Rossi and Molly MCaleer. "Hellogiggles.com is the ultimate entertainment destination for smart, independent and creative females."

Gurl.com: This website's demographic targets the teenagers: "We have the news that you care about, answer questions about teen issues going on in your life, and give you tons of ways to have fun. Learn important facts about your body and body issues and how to deal with everyday girl issues. Play games, ask a teen expert questions, talk to other girls, and learn the facts about what's going on in your life. 

Gender roles and depictions of female body images in the media can prove to be distorted, but these websites try to capitalize on encouraging women to confident, conscientious women. I would find it interesting to examine the content of these websites further to see variations on the discussion on femininity and gender roles. 

Resources: I Am That Girl, HelloGiggles, Gurl.Com

Barney's Depiction of Disney Characters Spark Discussion

Photo Credit: NY Daily News

Barney's New York unveiling of their upcoming holiday installation Electric Holiday has created an outrage in the new depiction of beloved Disney characters. Characters such as Minnie, Daisy and Goofy are depicted as rail-thin so they could look runway ready for the installation. 

According to NY Daily News, Barney's changed the image of these Disney characters so they would look more appealing in the model world. "The standard Minnie Mouse will not look so good in a Lanvin dress. There was a moment of silence, because these characters don't change. I said, 'if we're going to make this work, we have to have a 5-foot-11 Minnie,' and they agreed. When you see Goofy, Minnie and Mickey, they are runway models." I can understand how individuals can be upset with these new depictions. Disney films captivate children's hearts and this installation is going to target a large demographic this holiday season in New York City. 

From a Foucauldian standpoint, Bartkay (1988) discusses the depiction of the female body image, "Female movement, gesture, and posture must exhibit not only constriction, but grace as well, and a certain eroticism restrained by modesty." Furthermore, women are supposed stay thin throughout their lives. "Under the current tyranny of slenderness women are forbidden to become large or massive; they must take up as little space as possible." (Bartkay, 1988) These images from the latest installation suggest this is what the real Minnie Mouse should look like under fashion standards. The important aspect is that this isn't the first time there has been a distorted depiction of the female body image. The best way to guide young girls to obtain a healthy image and perspective of femininity starts with family interactions and discussion about these issues. The Chicago Tribune discusses how healthy body images start with family interactions. Chicago Tribune suggests that parents can encourage their children to be open minded of the media around them.

• Help your children be conscientious of advertisements that are in the media and create a healthy discussion of how each of you feel about these representations. 
• Let your daughter know that beauty is more than skin deep
• Talk to your daughter about the news to help cultivate their moral beliefs. 

Resources: NY Daily News,  Chicago Tribune , Bartkay (1988)

8. Video Slideshow

For the video slideshow assignment, I choose to focus on female gender representations in advertisements. I found that depictions of women in these advertisements very powerful images that depicted varying perspectives of femininity  Some interesting results when examining print advertisements was that some of the women that were depicted looked androgynous and while other women were depicted in a very sexualized manner. While the photos that were taken at La Cantera showed how various stores tried to market their products to a specific type of women. For example, the Ralph Lauren display evoked a sense of upper class, elite women at a country club. 

Erving Goffman's Gender Advertisements (1979)  which examines the depiction of female gender roles from a symbolic interactionist perspective inspired me to complete this assignment. Goffman notes that Gender Advertisements, "The author notes that advertisements do not depict how men and women actually behave; rather, they serve the social purpose of convincing us that this is how women and men are, want to be, or should be."

Resources: Erving Goffman

Getting Your Body Back After Pregnancy: Social Implications of Gendered Notions of the Body

The perfect female body image is inundated in every facet of the media. The latest diet fads tell you how to loose weight quickly, magazine articles discusshow to have a beach ready body by summer, and television shows capitalize on getting individuals healthy. This depiction of the female body creates an unhealthy norm of what women are supposed to look like. Especially after giving birth, women are pressured to get their body back to normal in the fastest way possible. 

According to Sociology Lens, Ruth Marleen discusses the gendered notions of the body, expectations and weight loss. Marleen discusses how after celebrities give birth, they are immediately pressured to loose weight. I feel like there is nothing wrong with a woman wanting to get in shape, but shouldn't feel pressured to achieve results so fast. The photo slide show above displays various magazines discussing how fast celebrities got their body back. Achieving these body changes are done very quickly and may suggest to every day moms that this is something they may never achieve. Many of these woman under the public eye have the money to have a trainer, time to workout and have help in caring for their child. Marleen discusses how one of her acquaintances  who is a mother is discouraged by these depictions, "I look at Kourtney Kardashian and she lost all her weight in like two seconds! It's frustrating because it takes a lot to loose the weight. They can hire trainers, eat the best food, hire caregivers so they can go to the gym and workout. But for real moms it's not that simple." (Marleen)

From a feminist perspective, Dworkin & Wachs (2004) discuss how unrealistic these expectations are for women getting back into shape coupled with other social roles they have to manage. They examined Shape Fit Pregnancy Magazine by content analysis (issues from 1997-2003). The social implications result in an unhealthy manner of acheiving these results. Dworkin & Wachs discuss Barkty (1988) and Duncan (1994) research on these implications, "Feminist researchers have underscored how women do not frequently critique larger cultural norms as problematic; rather, many self-blame and internalize a sense of private bodily failure, embarking on fitness routines, plastic surgery, and dieting practices to rectifiy anxieties about bodily lack (Bartky, 1988, Duncan, 1994)" The results from the analysis showed a racialized, classes, gendered, sexualized matrix of domination. They found that the articles rarely mentioned getting back to work, 81% of the models were white, did not speak to the lower classes and there was little discussion of same sex couples. 

Resources: Dworkin & Wachs (2004), Shape Pregnancy Fit Magazine, Bartky (1998), Duncan (1994)

7. Screen Structure Images: Representations of Women in Advertisements

                   

For this assignment, I went out into the field to examine the concepts of gender roles and hegemony further. These results proved to be interesting! 

For the narrative screen structure, the photos were taken at La Cantera. I wanted to examine window displays and how various stores tried to capture female demographics. In particular, the image of female Halloween costumes was a very sexualized depiction of women. 

The documentary screen structure captured if girls at a young age confirm or neglect typical female gender roles. I followed my cousin around for the day and asked her to show me her favorite things that she loves to play with, what chores she does, and more. I found that there were many aspects of femininity that she has been socialized into but growing up with brothers she adopts aspects of masculinity. For example, she loves to play video games and football with her brothers. An interesting aspect was when I was documenting her playing a video game, she was playing a fighting game and chose the female player. The depiction of the female fighter was very hyper-sexualized. This is an interesting aspect because no matter how much her mother raises her to be a confident, strong and unique girl, these sexualized images of women in the media cannot be avoided and are even in video games!

The aesthetic screen structure showed how women are represented in advertisements. The photos confirmed that many of the women were depicted in a sexualized manner. However, some of the women that were depicted were very androgynous looking which I found to be rather interesting. 

"You Don't Have to Just Play With Easy Bake Ovens!" Examining the Depiction of Gender Coded Toys

Let me tell you, this little girl is putting the toy industry in its place! She is aware of how products are more geared towards girls than boys. I applaude this little girl and her parents for being aware of this issue and explaining to her that toys don't have to be gender specific. Another clip comes to mind, which is a Friends episode where the character Ross is really bothered that his son's favorite toy is a Barbie. His girlfriend and ex-wife argue with him that it doesn't really matter, while Ross is worried that his son will be seen as feminine. Ross tries to coax his son into playing with a G.I. Joe which ultimately ends in failure. It's apparent that toys are marketed to specific genders, I remember getting my first Easy Bake Oven and after many hours of my brownies cooking they were still mush. Looking back on it now, even though my mother was giving me one because she had one as a child, I am still bothered that these types of toys are training to bring out the homemaker in little girls. There was always this internal conflict I experienced in my household, because I always wanted to play with the toys my brother was playing. I remember that I wanted to be accepted by my brother and wanted to play videos games with him badly, but he would always be reluctant to let me play with him. He was a little selfish of his belongings but he saw that girls weren't supposed to play videos games and that it was a 'boy thing'.

Gender coded toys further reinforce group differention and gender roles. I would argue that at a young age we are given toys for entertainment and excitement and these toys may serve as symbols of what its like to be feminine and masculine. Toys geared towards boys are depicted as more masculine, rough, and are typically action figures. While female toys are feminine and reinforce gender roles such as being a homemaker and having the perfect appearance like a princess. Such as Barbies which depict the stereotyped female body type, play kitchens, and princess costumes. Sociological Images shows through images the group differentiation and color-coded aisles at a Toys-R-Us. Astuer & Mansbauch (2012), discuss how Williams (2006) suggested that "Adults choose gender-typed toys in hopes that this will allow the child to experience the pleasures of gender and pick up some lessons on proper stereotypical behavior” The little girl in that news clip brings an important comment to this discussion, in that toys that are geared towards girls isn't a bad thing, but there is nothing wrong if a little girl wants to play with a toy that is supposed to be for boys!

Resources: Sociological Images, Astuer & Mansbauch (2012), Williams (2006)