Friday, 29 October 2010

Alternative Representation Of women in Hip Hop Music




Missy Elliott-Work it

Missy Elliott is one of the greatest female rappers of all times. She is talented and very successful female artist, she can often be referred to as a multi-faced entertainer as she writes, raps, sings, and produces all her songs. Her music videos are consistently innovative and intriguing as they are very creative and wild. She’s also one of the most versatile hip-hop artists of all time as no other female rapper has ever been able to match Missy's level of success, she has released thousands copy’s of her albums and each one of them has something that will appeal to her audience.

Missy Ellie challenges the stereotypical representation of women through the use of her music videos, the ideology contracted behind her music signify the new found power amongst female artists in the hip hop genre in contemporaryy society today. This reinforces the ideology of women not being able to match a man’s job role but she challenges such parochial society we seem to be living in, as women are degraded and sexually objectified to appeal to the male gaze however her music challenges those stereotypes and values as she is seen to be taking control, as she is shown to be dominate through the use of her lyrics which can be explicit and vulgar which is catered to suit an adult audience. Her lyrics give a funky fresh meaning to the word "bitch", as she even defines herself as one in her very successful single "She's a bitch".

She adds strong characteristic and values of female representation in her music, and this gives women a positive representation, although she is shown to be wearing shorts or sleeveless top in some of their shots she is not sexually objectified unlike the other female artists we see in music videos who are often referred to as ‘Bitches and hoe’s’ of men, as men are showing to be p.i.m.p.s as they are represented as aggressive, controlling and showing to be using women as a symbolic status of power and wealth as women are often referred to as the 'Icing on the cake'

Missy is seen to be wearing clothes that are not so revealing and not showing too much body which may connotes that she is not interested whether if she appeals to the male audience or not as her music should convey her talent though her voice which also suggests that her music is more important and should be the main attraction, however this does not satisfy the male gaze. This is a clear statement that she is not being fetishizated as there does not seem to be any phallic symbols illustrated in the mes-en-scene and her music.

Even though Missy is one of the greatest female hip-hop artist of all time alongside other female artists such as Nicki Minaj and Lil Kim, its arguable that the hip-hop music industry is a male dominated world because women are stereotypically put into their female job roles, this reinforces the fact that women have been sexually objectified thought out history and we are still in a patriarchal society. However this videos gives out a positive representation of women.

Other hip hop female artists include Nicki minaj and lil kim ect.



According to theorist David Gaunltlett the raise of 'girl power' in the media is formed though identities constructed by music artists.


Media Conference-Chewing gum for the brain: Why do people talk such rubbish about Media Studies?

Why is the media worth studying?
Lecture By: Professor David Buckingham

Media Conference: Articles

Gove's plans send out an anti-education message:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/apr/13/gove-education-plans

Students were studying ‘The Simpson's’ as basic means of understanding the subject, however angry parents accuse the school of ‘Dumbing down’ kids and subjects such as English and maths by showing and teaching them about The Simpson's. Parents believe that kids should not be studying The Simpson's as its not good and they should be studying ‘Shakespeare’. Parents there for put their views, concerns and complained to the Daily Mail Newspaper: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1295062/Angry-parents-accuse-school-dumbing-English-showing-The-Simpsons-class.html




Tories to tackle Media Studies Menace :

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/tories-to-tackle-the-media-studies-menace-1772933.html

The article above suggests that Media Studies and Sociology are a ‘MICKEY MOUSE’ subject which is aimed to brainwash the mind of the children in today’s society as to studying the traditional subjects such as maths and science because they are more academic subject and media is considered to be a basic and a misleading subject also that students should not be studying it because its a "SOFT" subject and is not worth studying.

Media graduates fish up as ‘CLERKS and COOKS’.

Students spurn science in favour of ‘MEDIA STUDIES’



http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/jan/22/deceive-children-worthless-qualifications


History of Media studies:

Matthew Arnold, Frank and Queenie Leavis used Media studies for new generations to criticise popular culture, to better society- help them get better job, improve civilisation. Frank and Queenie Leavis where the most important person in the education sector.

Tuesday, 19 October 2010

Media Conference-Online media, Cleggmania, and the Cowell Factor

How do online media and convergence impact on the ways audiences and producers use and create media?
Lecturer By:Dr Julian McDougall


Dr Julian McDougall talked about “How do online media and convergence impact on the ways audiences and producers use and create media?”

He questioned facts such as who has the ‘POWER’ of the media, he started speaking about how there are links between online media, reality TV and democracy, as Web 2.0 has offered the audience more democracy and this has allowed people to express their view, opinions and thought as interactivity allowed more public freedom of speech. ‘ONLY' democracy gives us the right and power.

Simon Cowell is a great example of a man with power as he is arguably the most powerful man in the media even more then a politicians as he create a mass media interests more than any other person, which attracts the audience and they are able to express how they feel and what they think about him and this great shows such as X-factor and Britain’s got talent through the use of interactivity and the media. He also said convergence is a fact of today’s society as web 0.2 allows us to share information, creation and mediation of what we make such as YouTube, face book ect.

Whereas Web 1.0 only allowed people to public content which couldn't’t be altered and changed in any way and people won’t able to comment and leave feedback or their opinion on the matter, but web 0.2 has changed the world of the media and the power of interactivity between people. ‘transmedia’ we are in power of making the ‘MEDIA’.

Relevant Authors:

Don Gillmar
David Gauntlett
Sonia Livingstone
David Buckingham
Annette Hill (Reality TV)
Micheal Wesch
Henry Jenkins
Graeme Turner

Relevant sites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWNXg7Vt-ig&feature=player_embedded
www.mediamagazine.org.uk

Media Conference-Perfecting your production work

How to get the most out of your practical projects:
Lecturer By: Pete Fraser

Keywords:

  1. Research and planning
  2. blogging and evidence
  3. Idea and feedback
  4. logistics,equipment and production


Research:
Look at ‘REAL’ examples
Record evidence of your work and research found
Research ‘EVERY’ angle
Codes and Conventions, audience and institutions
Media Magazine

Planning:
Record all your planning- ‘VISUALS’
Plan for what could possibly go ‘WRONG’ - criticise idea
Show process of your ‘JOURNEY’

Blogging:
Evidence
Storyboarding
Script/planning: keep idea’s ‘SIMPLE’
Any visuals
A blog allows you to ‘LINK’ to your research
Begin with a 25 word pitch- to avoid complexity

Logistics:
People, place, props, costume
Get started early
Research all ideas
Rehearse and prepare
Share contact details

Feedback:
Teachers and peers, Family or friends
Keep a record of feedback then Read it, respond to it

Relevant websites

http://www.artofthetitle.com/
http://petesmediablog.blogspot.com/

Monday, 18 October 2010

Mulvey Reading/Essay



Bridget Jone's Diary:

“Bridget Jones’s Diary” is a romantic comedy with a twist as the protagonist in the film is represented as an overweight, clumsy and chain smokes, making her not only real but also easily a lovable and funny character played by (Renee Zellweger) as Bridget Jones. The portrayal of Bridget Jones is far from the ideal or ‘perfect’ women a man is looking for as she is shown to be at her lowest point in life and needs a man because she feels lonely, so she goes on a hunt for Mr Right.

Her character can often reflect on how women seem to be living their lives in this day and age as the older they get the less likely it is for them to find love or Mr Right. As a result this can give out a negative representation of women because not all women are clumsy, chain smoker and overweight but in fact they are classy, independent and very successful in life and with love, I can’t say the same for a comedy character like Bridget.

During her man hunting she stumbles across two men but two men who are completely opposite, first guy is called Daniel (Hugh Grant) and the other Mark (Colin Forth), as she is seen to be trying to please both men as she can’t believe her luck however she struggles to keep up with men. The representations of both men are very different as Daniel is portrayed as the wild, cheeky hunk who is her boss and the person she defines as her ‘fantasy’. Whereas the representation of Mark is that he is respectable, well-mannered and very sweet, he loves her just the way she is, not for getting that Mark is also a childhood friends.

The stages she goes through in order to find her Mr right will determine whether she has chosen the right man as she finds her self-caught between ‘a men who’s too good to be true’ and another men who ‘is so wrong, that he could be RIGHT’, but who will she pick?

The character of Bridget Jones challenges the ’male gaze’ and stereotypical representation of women in contemporary society today. She is not sexually objectified by the male audience or the men in the film as she is shown to be careless about her appearance and the way she acts around men, as this reinforces that fact that she is getting old when she is shown to put her granny pants on in a sense that she needs to finally take control of her life, yet she is not fetishized, as the audience are aware that she has confidence issue ‘’I shall bit be paranoid with weight’’ and that she is not a man’s ideal fantasy. Although her character may not appeal to the male gaze, women can identify with the issues surrounding her weight issues, appearance and not finding Mr right.

This fact reinforces the ideologies of women and how some women can be too into the way they look and how they should appeal to men by achieving a certain image for example, blonde hair and big boobs which can be seen as narcissist and give a negative representation of women as they are being sexually objectified by the male audience. However the image of Bridget Jones appeal to women who struggle with confined tissues and reassures them that it does not matter what we look like, we should use Bridget Jones as an inspiration to all women.

There are aspect of the film or a certain scene which appeal to the male audience such as the scene where she is dressed as a bunny revealing her legs and breasts which appeal to the male gaze, as it for fills the male fantasy, as this factor reinforces the idea of sexual exploration and the need of pleasing the male audience which only identify that we still do live in a patriarchal society, where women need to meet the demands and expectation of men by degrading themselves as the camera angel emphasise on the feature of Bridget’s body to appeal to the male gaze and the gratification of men. On the other hand Daniel also plays up on the expectation of himself (men) to appeal to the female audience, the scene of him in the lift and the scene of him in bed with Bridget, as this allows women to also gain voyeuristic pleasure from looking at the men in the film but the fact that the main focus is on Bridget and Daniel is in the background this signifies the importance of male gaze more than the female gaze.

The film appeals to the male and female audience as it meets the expectation of both genders; however it signifies that the male gaze is important, yet the female audience can gain personal identification about how women are represented through the eyes on men and identify with the issues raised in the film regarding weight, appearance, life and love.

The male gaze: this is a term used by Laura Mulvey, which demonstrates the ‘visual pleasures and narrative cinema’ to describe what is seen through a male’s point of view and a male audience such as a women’s body and how its viewed as a sexual object for the gratification of men.

The female gaze: this term is used when women are shown to view sexual pleasure and they also gain voyeuristic pleasure from looking at a subject or a man, as film techniques such as camera movement can sometimes be used to position the female audience and allow them to do so.

Post-Feminism & Popular Culture: Bridget Jones's Diary


The representation of the protagonist is negative in this film, as she is shown to clumsy,careless,loveless and need a man in her life. she is represented as weak,less dominant character who seeks help from her family,friends and the most important thing in her life, her diary in order to find her Mr.Right. the portrayal of Bridget Jones can come across as misleading and negative because women can be successful,independent and dominant without a men.

"..she has benefited from those institutions (education) which have loosened the ties of tradition and community for women, making it possible for them to be disembedded and re-located to the city to earn an independent living without shame or danger".

"post-feminism positively draws on and invokes feminism as that which can be taken into account, to suggest that equality is achieved, in order to install a whole repertoire of new meanings which emphasise that it is no longer needed, it is a spent force."


"This is a movement detectable across popular culture, a site where “power … is remade at various junctures within everyday life"

".. gentle denunciations of feminism (as in the film Bridget Jones’s Diary) co-exists however with the shrill championing of young women as a “metaphor for social change” on the pages of the right wing press in the UK ( the Daily Mail)

Post-Feminism & Popular Culture: Sex and the City



Sex and the City 2 Trailer

Sex and the city is a great example of how ‘girl power’ is taking over and women in today’s generation are more capable of earning their own living rather than relying on men. The film shows how women are able to take on a more dominant role and that they are able to face the challenges of life, without out needing a man. the text above normalises post-feminism gender anxieties, to re-regulate young women by allowing them make personal choices and freedom but this can often backfire. Sex and the city's gives out a positive representation of women in which they convey women to have more power and control over their own life and the choices they make without any influence of a male presents.

"The new young women are confident enough to declare their anxieties about possible failure in regard to finding a husband, they avoid any aggressive or overtly traditional men, and they brazenly enjoy their sexuality, without fear of the sexual double standard".

"...capable of earning their own living, and the degree of suffering or shame they anticipate in the absence of finding a husband is countered by sexual self-confidence. Being without a husband does not mean they will go without men".