Year 12 cover work: Representation

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1. The female gaze article is about research that suggests advertising campaigns are dominated by heterosexual Caucasian size 0 to 2 models. It also states that representations of women in advertising is too white and exclusively under size 6. Western women on average are size 14 or above therefore the term 'plus model' has become popular since advertisers want to embrace what people actually look like. 

2. The film which has sparked the debate on female body image and female representation is called 'A Perfect 14.' 

3.The 'female gaze' differs from the 'male gaze' as Mulvey suggests the 'male gaze' is when women are portrayed for the benefit of men therefore women are presented for men to look at as sex objects whereas the 'female gaze' is more about females looking at other females and consuming the ideal body shape etc. 

4. I personally think the media should invest more time in advertising average sized women rather than size 0 models who cause a negative impact, especially on younger girls who go to extreme extents to pursue the 'ideal' body shape not realising the health problems that can cause. 

5. 'A Perfect 14' is trying to get across the message that you should feel comfortable in your own body and not feel as though you should achieve an impossible body image. The main character of the documentary is diagnosed with cancer, it also shows the journey of three 'plus size' models and the struggles they experienced. The whole film positively shows plus size models.

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1. 

• Introduction

This section talks about how a person, places, objects or ideas being represented in a media text have been mediated by the act of representation. It continues to state how representations are filtered through someone's point of view- they're ideological. 

• Representations and the mass media

This section suggests that representations process through certain people, e.g. the photographer, picture editor and news editor. They can give images multiple meanings depending on their own ideologies.

• The how, who and why of representation

We must always consider who is creating the image and for what purpose. The producer considers 4 things: 

-the expectations and needs of the target audience

-the limitations provided by genre codes 

-the type of narrative they wish to create 

-their institutional remit. 

Roland Barthes talks about the idea of 'naturalisation' and how the media have chosen certain things and used certain things purposely, however the audience believe it is natural and normal. 

• Another approach to ideology - the work of Stuart Hall

Stuart Halls critique is known as the 'Encoding/Decoding Model.' Hall believes that the audience do not passively accept the ideology of texts but instead social and cultural experiences effect their interpretations. There is a relationship between the reader/viewer and the text. 

• Representations and new media

Audience members can now construct and share their own media products, and inwebsites, video-sharing platforms and social media there are more opportunities for people to represent themselves than ever before. Individuals can now engage in the act of self-representation, often on a daily basis, through the creation of social media.

• An example - representing national identity in old and new media

Old media also constructs a view to their audience. The example is during the 2014 World Cup, The Sun sent a free newspaper to millions of homes, representing it's own concept of England. The whole paper was about 'English Identity' and was a positive approach to the monarchy. The new media, social media, was able to highlight peoples voices and their rejection towards the tabloid. The new media offered people to voice their views and opinions about the traditional old media. 

I am quite active on social media, I regularly post pictures on Instagram and check up on what is going on. When I do post, I do go through that construction process in my head, I have to think about whether or not I like the picture, whether I want to present myself in this particular way or not and then the caption underneath. To be honest, it doesn't take too much thought, I don't really spend hours thinking about it, if I want to post something online I usually just do it. 

I believe it is both, e.g. BBC is funded by the public and therefore the BBC should listen to the audience and give them what they want to see. If the BBC went against what their audience wants they would not have many viewers and the organisation would close down as they wouldn't get funds.