Identities and Film: blog task

1) Read Media Factsheet 142: Identity and Film.

2) Complete the Twenty Statements Test yourself. This means answering the question ‘Who am I?’ 20 times with 20 different answers. What do they say about your identity? Write the 20 answers in full on your blog.3) Classify your answers into the categories listed  on the Factsheet: Social groups, ideological beliefs, interests etc.

I am a:

1. Media student -Social groups,
2. Dortmund fan -interests
3. 17- self evaluation 
4. brother - self evaluation 
5. son- self evaluation 
6. feminist - Social groups,
7. business student- Social groups,
8. GHS student- Social groups,
9. F. M. fan- Social groups,
10. man- self evaluation
11. 5ft  7- self evaluation
12. bad at maths- self evaluation
13. going to university - ambitions 
14. cancer star sign
15. not religious
16. a twin
17. creative
18. human
19. motivated
20. easily amused 

4) Go back to your favourite film (as identified in the lesson). What does this choice of film say about your identity? Are there any identities within the film (e.g. certain characters) that particularly resonated with your values and beliefs?

White Chicks

This film is unique because it shows off people trying to cover up their own identities in terms of race but really their true identities in terms of personalities and traits show up even more when they're trying to be someone they're not. The identities in the film are very clear as there is a clear distinction between the blacks and the whites.

5) Watch the trailers for the five films highlighted as examples of gay/lesbian representation in mainstream film. How are LGBT identities constructed in the trailers and how are audiences encouraged to respond to these representations?

These LGBT identities can be seen as quite feminine to begin with and they don't assume the masculine/hero role. Although they are also seen as good characters like in the miners strike film who intend to good but are looked down upon.

The kids are alright-

It presents them as adoring, mindful, strong and defensive - simply like all hetrosexual guardians. This highlights the view they may have that gay person couples ought to be permitted to have youngsters and they would even now have the capacity to raise the kids - with a little help of the inverse sex

Identities: applying feminism

Media factsheet #86


1) What are the five types of feminism outlined on the first page of the Factsheet?

Radical Feminism=The type of feminism that see the cause of women's oppression as men. They conduct extreme protests to get their points across

Liberal Feminism = The type of  feminism is mainly concerned with gender socialisation in order to show that gender roles are not biologically determined

Marxist- Feminism= This feminist approach looks women's oppression to capitalism and the class system

Black  Feminism= this approach is primarily concerned with black and Asian women's experiecnes of oppression and exploitation

Postmodern  Feminism= This type of  Feminism is associated with third wave feminists. It acknowledges the 
diversity amongst women and encourages individual women to find feminist ideas that combine with their own experiences.

2) Which category would Judith Butler fit into? What about Angela McRobbie? Laura Bates and Everyday Sexism? Explain your answers.

Judith Butler= Liberal Feminism, gender roles not being biologically fixed 

McRobbie = Post modern feminism, empowering and women taking control 

Laura Bates= looked at subverting Marxist feminists

3) What was the difference between suffragists and suffragettes? Which approach do you agree with?

Suffragists was the more passive side of the movement. It involved legally agreed protests whereas the suffragettes could be describes as the more radical feminist as they engaged with violent protests and took more radical action to get there right to vote.

4) What was Laura Mulvey's argument regarding Hollywood film? Do you agree with it? Why?

I It looked at how women were being objectified and that they were filmed in the eyes of men, this brought about the idea of the male gaze. I think to an extent this is true and that Hollywood displays the more attractive parts of women and their cleavage in hope that it would appeal to more men especially.

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:

• TV guides (Opera's head on another women's body)
• TV advertisements ( Loreal advert)
• Magazines (glamour)
• Beauty knows no pain advert

6) What is Killbourne's argument regarding the representation of women in advertising?

The representation of women in the media is so mediated that it provides young women and others a highly over-exaggerated representation of them. For women it makes them believe they to can look like the women they see on TV or in magazines but its just false hope because women in the media and in fashion magazines are took apart and put back together again with impossible features. Killbourne talks about airbrushing in the digital age and how one image of one women can actually be made up of several women and the editors pick out the best features.

7) What is Naomi Wolf's argument in The Beauty Myth?

Part of it looks how Men's opinion's of women are changing because of the myth that is presented to them in adverts and magazines and it shows the standards that a woman should adhere to, to look beautiful.

8) Why is the representation of women in music videos a controversial topic for feminists?

On the one hand some feminists argue that it can empower women by dressing provocatively as it is not for male pleasure but for their careers. However, other feminists see women in music video like the newer hip-hop ones as significantly degrading to women as it goes against what they believe feminism is as they think its just women parading about to attract male attention.

9) What is your view of female artists such as Nicki Minaj or Beyonce - do they empower women or reinforce sexist, patriarchal views?

Some of their more provocative videos in my opinion cannot be said to not reinforce sexist, patriarchal views because of the sheer nature of the videos and  how explicit some of them can be but the power of these two women some how make it empowering. These 2 women are portrayed in the media to be independent and they stand for something, for example even though Beyonce is a mother she still sings and preforms and stands for something. The meanings there videos carry are ambiguous, they can be explicit to attract men but also empower women. 

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.

To an extent yes, NDM has given women an opportunity to challenge sexist views, for example the everyday sexism project started by Laura Bates was made with just that in mind and it gave not just women but everyone to challenge sexism. But NDM has brought social media along with it and social media acts on sexism in two different ways, there are accounts that are pro sexism and are successful in starting movements and there are also accounts that despise feminists and there are trolls that fit into this group as well.

week 21: story 42

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/08/bbc-focus-too-middle-aged-and-middle-class-says-ofcom-chief

BBC focus too middle aged and middle class, says Ofcom chief

This article looks at how the BBC aims to many of its shows at the middle class. The BBC say they want to diversify there range more and will  try to look at more class and age groups in the future.This story comes off the criticisms certain people are giving that they're classes are being negatively representations. The BBC also have been involved with the regulatory body over this, OFCOM and they are telling the BBC to deal with complaints more and do more to diversify their target audience by listening to their customers

I think it is good that the BBC is deciding to diversify its shows as even though the middle class probably has the largest audience base a lot of other people are paying for their tv licenses and not getting anything that may appeal to them in return.

week 21: Story 41

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/03/bbc-crew-attacked-in-china-says-reporter 

BBC crew attacked in China and forced to sign confession

This article from the Guardian looks at how China are restricting press freedoms and they are blocking journalists from entering villages. The Chinese government even seem to have the people on board with their regime as the locals are the ones which stopped the interview from taking place.

This just goes to show how bad the rules and regulations are in China. Even though China is now one of the biggest economies in the world they still haven't changed with the times and still follow communist attitudes. They blocked an un-biased news channel from simply reporting on a small local issue. For a country now as successful and as powerful as China i think they should let the west in, not to change them and not to flood them with out ideologies because that would never work against such a powerful country.

Identities: Feminism and new/digital media

1) Why did Laura Bates start the Everyday Sexism project?

She started it based on personal experiences of sexism. The particular example which was used was how she experienced three sexist comments and inappropriate behaviour in the space of a week. She also wanted other women to share their stories of sexism that they had faced, not just women but everyone who had had something said or done to them. She felt like not enough people were standing up for themselves and each other.

2) How does the Everyday Sexism project link to the concept of post-feminism? Is feminism still required in western societies?

This is another case to promote feminism as people are still finding it okay to shout inappropriate comments at women and women still don't talk up about it because they feel like its normal. That shows that there is still no balance and that men see women as sexual objects.


3) How can you apply Judith Butler's theory of gender as a 'performance' to the creation of the Everyday Sexism project?

The everyday sexism project hasn't divided the website into men and women. Not just women are allowed to share their opinions but it was made clear that anyone and not just men, people who recognise themselves as no gender or trans can post stories.

4) How does Angela McRobbie's work on female empowerment link to the Everyday Sexism project?

It subverts the whole project because the idea of the project is to give women and others a voice about the comments and actions that they have dealt with. McRbobbie's work on female empowerment encourages women to be glamorous as it is empowering for them and it is not done for men to see, 'male gaze'.

Read the article: The Fourth Wave? Feminism in the Digital Age in MM55 (p64)

1) Summarise the questions in the first two sub-headings: What is networked feminism? Why is it a problem?

Networked feminism is the idea that the proposed new wave, the fourth wave, uses new digital technology like the internet and social media to agrue and protest women's rights from a new perspective.

2) What are the four waves of feminism? Do you agree that we are in a fourth wave ‘networked feminism’? 

The first wave of feminism was in the early 1900's and mainly involved the suffragette movements post world war 1. The second was is in 50's through til the 90's where the third wave started and this protested for more equality between men and women. The fourth wave is a newly proposed wave that includes the use of technology to fight and appeal for women's rights

3) Focus on the examples in the article. Write a 100-word summary of EACH of the following: Everyday Sexism, HeForShe, FCKH8 campaign, This Girl Can.

Everyday sexism:
Laura Bates started the everyday sexism project. This involved a website where not just women but a person of any identified sex could go and share stories about sexist comments or harassment they faced in everyday life. It grew rapidly and had many sharers and commentators. It brings up the argument to prove that there is still a need for feminism if women and others are still being treated as below men. 

HeForShe
This was a campaign started by Emma Watson to encourage more men to learn about and understand that feminism isn't just about women and that men can play that part in fighting for equality for women and themselves. Other feminists did see the disadvantages as they are letting men in on a thing which was meant to be about women,

FCKH8
This is a for-profit organisation that spreads awarness of partly radical feminism through viral youtube videos. They also try to sell t-shirts by using 'new' techniques to engage people with feminism

This girl can
One of their petitions they started was to stop putting taxes on tampons as they compare it to other items like crocodile steak not being taxed and that an essential is now classed as a luxury.  

4) What is your opinion with regards to feminism and new/digital media? Do you agree with the concept of a 'fourth wave' of feminism post-2010 or are recent developments like the Everyday Sexism project merely an extension of the third wave of feminism from the 1990s?

I don;t think that there is a fourth wave of feminism because technology has just offered a new way of mediating an s spreading peoples thoughts on a larger scale and hasn't brought many new ways to bring equality between men and women.

week 20: story 40

   

Twitter accounts really are echo chambers, study finds

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/04/twitter-accounts-really-are-echo-chambers-study-finds

This article talks about a study conducted by the think tank Demos which surveyed 2000 twitter users who supported different UK political parties. They found that twitter is just an online echo-chamber where people supporting a specific political party follow and retweet items related to or in support of their political party. However, for UKIP members they found that they would stray from the far right of UK politics to the far right of some US groups which have been criticised many times for their circulation of fake news.

I believe that this is true as people tend to have this tunnel vision when it comes to politics and aren't willing to listen to other peoples opinions. Also, the highly partisan nature of political parties in the UK could be the driving force behind the reasons why supporters of the party retweet and tweet about their party without considering the arguments from other parties. 

week 20: story 39

With the power of online transparency, together we can beat fake news

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/03/online-transparency-fake-news-internet

This article talks about some of the fake news incidences this year and how it has grown so much in recent years and finally in 2017 people seem to be taking some notice and want to do something about it. Also the article says that since the invention of the internet there has always been something 'fake' whether that be via scams or fake emails, its just this misleading information has always existed and its just been brushed off and ignored 

until it got worse and worse.

I believe that fake news is something that will be difficult to eradicate and a more suitable solution would be to educate people to be able to spot fake news and not to become influenced by it. Online transparency is something very difficult to achieve so this approach may not work as it wouldn't just reveal fake news but most likely breach people's personal information.

Identities: Feminist theory and blog task

1) How might this video contribute to Butler’s idea that gender roles are a ‘performance’?

The whole music video is designed to be a theatrical performance as with all the editing and effects used to make it look as though it was filmed in the 50's/60's. The clothes Beyonce was dressed in also added to the olden time look and fit the description of what a woman would've looked back then.

2) Would McRobbie view Beyonce as an empowering role model for women? Why?

McRobbie talks about empowering other women through being glamorous and this video definitely reinforces this idea as Beyonce is seen to be dresses in sexual clothing. However this video does have two perspectives because the other side that Beyonce is portrayed as is as a housewife and that isn't made to look glamorous and McRobbies wouldn't think this empowering it would be the opposite for young women as it is reinforcing traditional values.

3) What are your OWN views on this debate – does Beyonce empower women or reinforce the traditional ‘male gaze’ (Mulvey)?

This video does reinforce the male gaze as a semi-naked women in a music video would appeal to most men but it does empower women because the majority audience for this video would be females and the lyrics for the song is made to empower other females and the dressing up to 'impress' men may not be the only option for Beyonce as it is another empowering technique.

Identities and the Media: Feminism

1) Read Playing With The Past: Post-feminism and the Media (MM40, page 64 - our Media Magazine archive is here).

2) What are the two texts the article focuses on?

Pan Am and Beyonce's Why don't you love me?



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

• Beyonce putting on the make up maybe seen as her reinforcing Mulveys theory on the male gaze but in a post feminist era it may be suggested that she is doing it for the opposite reason.
• The same applies to Pan Am as the female air hostess's are also there for "male enjoyment" again linking to Mulvey's idea about the Male gaze.

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

Both videos do show off a certain degree of sexuality which of course is going to be said to be objectified, but this is mainly said by Women in my opinion and men are just there to watch. Other women comment and say how to and not to dress because they set the trends based upon the reactions they get from men. Although i do agree that women do, do stuff to feel empowered and its ultimately their choice of how to present themselves in the media just as it is for men. There isn't really a need for feminism anymore especially in some countries but others still need it as everywhere is not like the UK or US and women still don't even hold voting rights or basic rights and there is a clear divide between men and women.

5) Choose three words/phrases from the glossary of the article and write their definitions on your blog.

Male Gaze- Put forward by Laura Mulvey, she said woman act and men look to show how objectified women are in the media.

Feminism- the movement which aims at giving women better and more equal rights to men.

Patriarchy- A system which places men above women, can be applied to 





1) Research the No More Page 3 campaign. Who started it and why?

No More Page 3 was started in August 2012 by Actress and Author Lucy-Anne Holmes as a response to the objectification and sexualisation of women in the tabloid newspaper The Sun. Lucy Holmes noticed in the paper that the size of the page 3 girl was the largest in the paper even bigger than the one of Jessica ennis who had just won a gold medal. She believed it was an objectification of women.

2) What reasons did the campaign give for why Page 3 had to go?

In the first place Page 3 was founded because it was seen as something which empowered women but times have changed and people see it for how demeaning it is and how it just objectifies women to be a certain way.

3) Read this debate in the Guardian regarding whether the campaign should be dropped. What are Barbara Ellen and Susan Boniface's contrasting opinions in the debate?

Boniface wanted the campaign to continue and didn't agree with the No more page 3 campaign as she thought it was still empowering for women, whilst Ellen states that page 3 was just a way to pleasure the male gender.


4) The main campaign website has now been replaced by a site called Sexist News, designed to highlight sexism in the media. Give an example of a recent story the website has highlighted. Do you agree with the view of the website?

'Little mixed up about what to wear' they reinforce their feminist values of 'not telling women what to wear' but they had disagreements when it comes to this as they believe if you are influencing the younger generations in a bad way then its too far and to some extent i agree with this but not everybody is as easily influenced. 

5) How can the No More Page 3 campaign and Sexist News website be linked to the idea of post-feminism?

It would subvert it more than anything as people see that they are not past the sexual objectification of women or another issue and still campaign to get equality and to be viewed in the same way as men. It is a good thing though because it still campaigns for womens rights when a lot of people have already accepted what women have as enough so have come up with this post feminism era.

6) What are your OWN views on these campaigns? Do you agree with their aims? Is there still a need for these campaigns in the media?

I do agree with the campaigns and especially with the no more page 3 campaign because the first time i saw it i immediately knew this was nothing to do with a magazine and had no place in there. I didn't see it as a way of empowering women but only objectifying them for male pleasure. This just goes to show how hard it is to shift traditional values this can be compared to newspapers and how hard it is to get rid of them, its hard to change things when a generation is not willing to let go.

7) Finally, do you agree that we are in a post-feminist state or is there still a need for feminism?

I believe that some countries are more advanced then others in terms of womens rights and that one day women will be viewed the same all around the world but that may not be for a long time so feminism is getting there in terms of equality but some things may not be open for change, for example in places like Abu -Dhabi culutural factors and traditions prevent women from having a certain freedom but there it is seen as a norm. No country is on the same page about many issues and all have different cultures and some may see feminism as something unnecessary.

Post-colonialism - bonus reading and tasks

Social media and black identity 

1) List three theorists discussed in the article and what they believe regarding black identity.

• Aisha Harris- Social media plays a negative role in the construction of black identities 
• Giddens- argued that social media can be the arena for the construction of black identities 
• Christian Fuchs- In-order to have a true 'participatory' culture , there needs to be equality of ownership; and as social media (and the internet as a whole)  are largely directed , owned and influenced by large corporations with vested,ideological interests, it can not therefore be claimed that they facilitate the creation of true participatory cultures. This is because, as institutions, social media and websites choose who can participate, how they participate and the extent to witch their participation in seen.

2) In your opinion, is social media a positive or negative force when it comes to issues of black identity? 

I think that social media is both positive and negative as are most things. To name some positives, there is like what was mentioned the #blacklivesmatter campaign which spread across social media and there is also societies and forums online where not just black  people but other identities can come and share opinions and ideas. There is also negatives as the internet has brought about the rise of trolls as it gives a faceless person the ability to spread hate about other races. 

3) How could you apply the post-colonial theories we have learned in class to the issue of social media and black identity?

Alvarado's theory of key representations of non-white people, social media and the internet has given some black people a new identity, it has allowed them to share video which could be classed as humorous and exotic as it has let some express themselves in terms of music and specific genres in particular.



A Hustle for Life: Refugees in the Media


Now turn to page 6 and read A Hustle for Life: Refugees in the Media. When you have read the article, complete the following tasks:

1) What examples of different representations of refugees in the media are offered in the article?

One of the main representations of refugees in the article is how it describes them as hostile. They were also called migrants which takes the focus off them being refugees as that implies that they are escaping something and that they have no choice to leave, the word migrant has recently been over used in the media and is now labelled as something like a burden. 

2) In your opinion, is the documentary genre more or less biased than the news media? What examples can you provide from the article to support your view?

A Documentary is defined as something which is aimed at documenting some aspect of reality. Reality is not tampered with but the reality shown maybe a negative one, for example benefits street on Channel 4 was quite negative as no representations of anything good was shown to come from the show and it documented the hooliganism that went on, on that street. The same with the example in the article about the refugee camp, documentaries don't need to be made to show the negatives as sometimes there is only one side to things so therefore it could be said to be biased.

3) How could you apply the post-colonial theories we have learned in class to the representation of refugees in the media?

Said's orientalist theory works well here as it shows a clear divide between them and us, uncivilized and civilized. Refugees in the media are represented in quite a negative way as a lot of the images shown in the media are of them in poverty and suffering. This only reinforces the divide between east and west as along with the charity appeals is just demeans the whole region and the people in it and places us above them.

week 19: story 38

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jan/31/fake-news-and-fact-checking-trump-is-demonstrating-how-to-outsmart-an-ai-artificial-intelligence

Fake news and fact-checking: Trump is demonstrating how to outsmart an AI 

This article looks at whether the algorithms and AI will be able to fat check and debunk fake news when such ludicrous stories are being posted which show some side of the truth, for example when Trump imposed a travel ban from seven predominantly Muslim countries the media responded with headlines such as "Muslim ban", a computer may not be able to differentiate whether something is true or not because of the ways that they present their media.

This is the same for media organisations that use click bait stories because their titles don't always write the truth and what they say in their articles maybe completely different and mis-leading even if it is the truth. Really, only a human maybe capable of determining the truth, unless some advanced AI is created which somehow knows everything.

week 19: story 37

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jan/15/trump-post-factual-presidency-both-victor-and-victim

In a post-factual presidency, Trump can play both victor and victim

This article talks about Donald Trumps social media appeal, and his excessive use of twitter. The article goes on to question whether it is damaging or not and whether it is right that the next commander in chief  would be making such disrespectful comments regarding many different people including Miss Streep and various other celebrities and reporters. The article also suggests that the media specifically traditional media has grown as a result of being able to broadcast on Donald Trump.

Considering Trump has received over $200million in free media twitter and other social medias have allowed trump to gain attention by posting...nonsense. During the campaign fake news was largely in Trumps favour and some would argue it helped him to win the election but now it may not be in his favour.  

week 18: story 36

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/01/fox-news-deletes-false-quebec-shooting-tweet-justin-trudeau-mosque



Fox News deletes false Québec shooting tweet after Canadian PM's office steps in


This article looks at how Fox news, one of Americas largest news institution, posted a false tweet and had to be told to delete it. This also links to identities in the media and links to the orientalist theory by Said. This all links to the Quebec mosque shooting as two people were detained, one white french Canadian and another Moroccan man. The Moroccan man was released as a witness but Fox news still Tweeted how he was still detained and was a suspect. This tweet was regarding no factual information that this man was still in Police custody. This shows us how racial stereotypes happen in the media and we assume less of from the people in the east, this further intensifies the divide.

Even though Fox is such a large institution they can still make simple mistakes. Although it was unintentional and they did not mean to spread a fake story there should still be rigorous fact checking in place for these large institutions, especially on social media because once a post it out there it is likely that even though it has been deleted it would've had an impact and been spread. 

week 18: story 35

https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2017/jan/24/winning-back-advertisers-is-key-to-saving-the-newspaper-industry 

Winning back advertisers is key to saving the newspaper industry

The article depicts the present print media circumstance as 'a close passing background'. This is likewise proposing that the absence of publicizing, which has for the most part moved on the web, is one of the primary driver for loss of income and is halfway to fault for the reduction in daily paper course. As indicated by Ebiquity (the largest UK media auditor) 75% of the cash in the marketing pot does not really achieve the publisher from an advertiser using "programmatic" 

The biggest loss og revenue would be because of the rise of social media. Sites like Facebook can reach larger audiences then Newspapers ever could, the target market in terms of Age, race and gender can also be targeted much more easily then second guessing about what people would read in a newspaper..

Media magazine conference notes

How to be creative -  7 tips from the front line 

1. Volunteer 
2. Drawing circles 
3. Beachcombing, the 6 steps 
4. -
5. Put everything into everything 
6. Don't wait to be invited to the dance 
7. The day after you finish, what do you do 

An interview with Chucklefish Games

• For some reason turn down Disney and follow what you love doing? 
• Always seek out opportunities and get experience
• Make contacts now 

Sports Journalism 

• Challenge where you work and don't be afraid to put in your opinion 
• Diversity in the workplace is important, challenge it respectfully
• Believe in yourself and always aspire to move up in the world
• started BCOMS - Black collective of media in sports 
• very involved in tackling racism in football 

Young filmmakers' panel

• Enter in competition and above all make yourself known 
• Making mistakes is part of the process
• have to spend your "free time" pursuing your career and making it your hobby 
• go out and find work/internships, its going to be competitive

Young people, Media and Democracy 

• Mainstream media under-represents and mis-represents vast groups of the youth
• many representations are negative 
• in fact, 80% of stories about young people and the youth are negative according to research done at the LSE ( the youth including 15-25 year olds)
• social media is helping people become more political in expressing their own views and challenging others

An audience with Tony Garnett

• More false stories on social media through the digital age
• there are stories with no evidence 
• The news has become "Marketised" 
• The news is someone elses idea of the news, brings up the whole idea of Gatekeeping
• There is/needs to be more fact checking being done
• Everything has a political agenda and when it says it doesn't that is the most political 
•