How is the female ideology and mindset represented
differently through websites, focussing on Vogue and FHM.
The representation of female ideology varies
due to the type of audience the text is targeted at. However audiences can
often be passive and not notice the ideology that is being sold to them. (REFERENCE). In my research project I will be
exploring this through various theories including Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze,
Hypodermic Needle and the active and passive audience theories. One aim of this
project is to find out about gender roles in the 21st century, how
they have changed and are represented through my chosen texts Vogue and FHM
websites. They have contrasting target audiences so the representation of woman
is differing and allows me to explore female objectification and the differing mindset
of the women represented in my two chosen texts. I will also look into the
use of photo-shopping and manipulating the female form to give further
ideologies to the audience and discuss the effect of creating a so called
Hyper-reality.
Photoshop is a tool used in every day media to change the way something
or someone looks. It has been used greatly in advertising and gives a false
portrayal to the audience of how a person looks and how they should look.
Both Vogue and FHM use Photoshop to edit the pictures they put up on their
website however they do it in a very different way.
FHM and other glamour
photography organisations have been accused of promoting an unrealistic image
of females through the use of Photoshop. They make women have perfect, flawless
skin with bright eyes, skinny waist but large breasts. FHM will do this because
it attracts the audience the company most desires. (REFERENCE)
Vogue has a different
target audience of young to middle-aged females and the website tends to just
include very thin models or celebrities. (ANALYSE) A
large issue recently showing the use of Photoshop in vogue is when Lady Gaga
did the front cover of the magazine that was also put on the official website
along with a video of the shoot. (1) The real images on the video are extremely
different to the published front cover, where Lady Gaga appears taller and
thinner with an extremely tiny waist where in reality this isn’t the case. (DISCUSS)
Hyper-reality is a part of the Post modernism theory that circles around
society today. This states that nothing is original; we are copying copies and
viewing a fake reality but considering it reality. (REFERENCE)
The use of Photoshop backs this theory as when we are looking at these
manipulated images, they are fake, the females in the image do not look like
this so the pure reality has been lost as a passive audience would just assume
that is actually what the women look like and aspire to be like them.
An ideology is a set of ideas reflecting the social needs and
aspirations of an individual, group, class or culture. (REFERENCE
THE DEFINITON) Where as, gender ideology refers to the attitudes
regarding the roles and responsibilities of women and men in society. In
the ever-modernising society, men and women should have equal rights. However
women still have the cliché of being a housewife who should spend their time in
the kitchen or cleaning and ‘catering’ to their partners needs and wants. (EXAMPLE and SAYS WHO)
The
FHM website I feel follows this stereotype as all the woman are sexualized and
are featured because of the way they look, which is to satisfy a mans male
gaze. Laura Mulvey is a theorist who introduced the Male Gaze theory in her
essay called ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.’ It states that women are
used as objects in film as the camera is controlled as if it were the eyes of a
heterosexual man. (REFERENCE) I believe this
is present in all media texts today. FHM prove this again as all images are
women looking sexy or improper, and they do this to attract their target
audience of Men in their 20’s as they associate that age with sexual
exploration and a change of lifestyle. This gives females the ideology that
they should all look and pose seductively like the women on the website in
order to interest men.
Vogue
follows the ideology of women being their own person and not owned or
controlled by a man. It is full of articles and pictures supporting the
strength of independence in women and not being sexualized. Instead the Vogue
website follows another stereotype of women being shoppers and spending all
their money on looking good. It gives information on the latest fashion trends
and where you can buy certain ‘must need’ items of the season etc. This gives
the ideology to the audience that all women should follow the latest fashions
and be wearing them in order to look good and therefore attract a man. (QUESTION WHY DO THEY THIS)
Both
websites, Vogue and FHM portray similar ideas of the ‘perfect woman’. All the
models are slim and do not represent a normal woman. The average size of a
westernized woman is a size 14, where as Vogue and FHM have models who are a
size 4, 6 or 8 which are in the minority of the population. (EXPLAIN)
Bibliography
Appendix
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE AUDIENCE
THEORY
An audience theory is an element
of thinking behind the way an audience responds to a medium. There are many
theories that exist including active and passive, Hypodermic needle and
Two-step flow.
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