How does Calvin Klein represent females here in the above advert? Are they objectified or sexually empowered?
In this Calvin Klein advert Eva Mendes is shown to be a dominant and slightly aggressive woman due to her pose. She is standing in the stereotypical powerful stance, her hands on her hips and legs apart (steady footing). This gives her the impression of being aggressive because her pose indicates that she has attitude, and isn't the sort of person who would back down easily if confronted. The photo is also shot at a low angle making her look more powerful as she is 'looking down' on you, giving the impression that she is better than you. This is also supported by her facial expression, her eyes are closed so she doesn't make eye contact, which also makes her seem superior because it's like she doesn't deem you important enough to look at. Plus her teeth are slightly bared, sending out aggressive signals.
However the photo does also exudes a sexual element, mainly to help sell the product. She's wearing high heels to make her legs look slimmer, and also to give her more height, adding to the dominating feel of the photo. The use of this also objectifies Eva because makes her something to which men want to look at and wish to 'possess'. It helps to sell the underwear as it makes men think that their partner could look like the model, and therefore they have a little piece of 'what they want' so to speak. Another point that shows that Calvin Klein objectifies females is the fact that there is no ring on the models hand. It makes her seem 'available', showing that she doesn't belong to anybody, which portrays that females who do wear a ring, and essentially, are married, 'belong' to someone and are unavailable to other people, the same way people view objects. If an object belongs to you, no one else can have it.
The use of suspenders in the photo both sexually empowers and objectifies females. On one hand it can make the photo more attractive to potential buyers, mainly male buyers, because it shows the more sexy side of the photo, as suspenders are associated with sexiness. But there could also be the point that women are only there to look good for men, something for the man to 'control' as it were. Finally the fact that the model has been oiled to make her look wet, and with the damp hair it suggests she's just come out of the shower, makes her seem sexually empowered because it gives the impression that she's going out for the night to a party, date, meal ect. This makes females seem sexually empowered because it makes people think that they need to dress up in 'sexy' outfits when they go out, especially if they are available, to make them more appealing to the opposite sex. However it also poses the question that do females have to dress up when they go out? Taken from this angle it could show that Calvin Klein is objectifying females, single females mainly, as it could suggest that men expect women to dress up for them if they go out because it's what they want to see, still involving the controlling element.
To conclude I think that Calvin Klein represents females as sexually empowered because the whole photo is sexually suggestive and appealing to people. I believe this because most of the attention is drawn towards the models groin, the 'masculine' bra, which is simple and plain, doesn't draw the eye, whereas the use of the hands on the hips and the head turned away tries to pinpoint people's focus to the models groin. Having her hands on her hips draws the attention to her hips and with her fingers pointing to the underwear makes people focus on that particular area.
Select one character from a British TV drama and explain how they are a 'stereotypical' representation of your area of study (sexuality).
A stereotypical view of homosexuality is that gay men tend to be more feminine than other males, take an interest in peoples appearance (mainly their own) and sometimes overreact about little things. The British TV drama I chose was Downton Abbey because it shows two types of stereotypes about homosexuality. The programme is set in an Edwardian country house during 1912, and shows the lives of the Crawely family and their servants. Thomas, the Crawely's first footman, played by Rob James Collier, is a 'closet gay'. This phrase is used to describe someone who is a homosexual, but no one knows about it, usually because the person fears rejection from people they know if they told them.
The programme mixes two stereotypes about homosexuals, the more 'modern' look, which I referred to above, and the more 'out dated' view. In 1912 homosexuality would have been something of disgust, and any gay acts were illegal until 1967, meaning it was almost impossible for people to be openly gay. This is shown in Downton Abbey when Thomas goes out on a date with another servant. The girl, who has no idea about Thomas' sexuality, receives a warning about Thomas from the cook, who brands him as 'a boy who has fallen off the tracks'. This is a stereotypical representation of homosexuals because the other characters are trying to tell the girl that Thomas is a bad person, someone who she shouldn't be associated with, without actually mentioning that he is gay, as it wasn't something people talked about in that period. It agrees with the public view of sexuality in 1912, reinforcing the stereotype that homosexuals are 'bad people'.
Thomas, as a character, is also cruel to the other servants and uses his sexuality to push himself higher up in the social ladder. This is also agreeing with the 1912 stereotype of homosexuals, as they were thought to be calculating and sleazy, which is supported by Thomas' manipulation of the Crawely's guest. However, this doesn't support today's stereotype of homosexuals because they are seen as feminine people, therefore quite gentle/dainty and not capable of manipulating someone.
At one point in the programme the other footman, William, comes downstairs with his shirt not tucked in properly, which Thomas picks up on immediately. Thomas then proceeds to berate William and gets the other servants to tease him about his scruffy appearance. This supports today's stereotype of homosexuals because it backs up the idea of gay people taking a interest in peoples appearance, as none of the other servants had noticed until Thomas pointed it out. He also overreacts about the whole thing, making a bigger production out of it than he needed to. This depicts Thomas as a stereotypical homosexual because he shows the personality trait of overreaction, which is something people associate with women and more feminine people, such as homosexuals.
To conclude, in Downton Abbey, Thomas is a stereotypical representation of homosexuality, but it focuses more on the 1912 stereotype, mainly because the programme is a period drama and therefore the characters act how they would have in 1912. Thomas is a stereotypical representation of homosexuality because he acts the way people expect closet gays to act, such as going out with women to cover up his sexuality, and he has the stereotypical personality traits of a gay male. I believe that Downton Abbey reinforces the stereotypical idea of homosexuals because they include all the stereotypical personality traits and relationships people would expect to see. This would avoid creating a cognitive dissonance, because it would agree with most people's views of homosexuals. Downton Abbey would try to avoid creating a cognitive dissonance so that more people would watch their programme, as for a Sunday night people want to relax before they have to go back to work/school, and therefore won't want to watch something that they don't agree with and ultimately, dislike.
1. Production practices 2. Distribution - trailers/internet: website fact page -archive, live cast, competitions, pulicity material and latest projects. 3. Exhibition.
Latest projects from 2006 to 2010 (sub-catergory - genres) Choose favourite film - promotions (Drop Dead Fred.)
A cool expression, less reserved but still confident. Eyes aren't wide and it's in general a milder picture.
Carefree
An active, out door type, healthy woman, described as 'nymph like' or vibrant. Quite often smiling or grinning in the picture.
Practical
Concentrating on what they're doing, eyes focused anywhere except the camera, mouth closed, sometimes with a slight frown. Usually a short style or hair tied back.
Comic
Messing around, acting silly/the fool, pulling faces and being exaggerated.
Catalogue
Has an artificial (dummy) look, expression is vacant and empty showing no personality, any pose, usually with wide eyes and a smile.
Half/full smile, lips together/slightly parted with teeth barely visible. Face turned towards camera or else full face. A blandly pleasing picture, devoid of uniqueness.
Invitational
Mouth shut with a hint of a smile, emphasises on the eyes, with the head to one side or looking back to the camera. A 'flirt', hinting mystery/mischief.
Super-smiler
Picture includes the whole face with a wide/broad smile. Hair can be blown around the face, and the head is either pushed forwards or the chin is thrown back. 'Look at me!' attitude, can be seen as aggressive.
Romantic or Sexual
The picture includes a male and a female, or partners, with a dreamy quality. Both people will be heavy-lidded and possibly in an overly sensual/sexual pose. Makes the people look available.
The concept of gaze is one that deals with how an audience views the people presented.
Feminists (3 ways) 1. How men look at women. (see women as 'lesser' people, less powerful, objectified ect) 2. How women look at themselves. (looking for ways to improve themselves) 3. How women look at one another. (seeing what clothes they wear ect)
Film audiences have to 'view' characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male. The camera lingers on the curves of the body, and events which occur to women are presented largely in the context of a man's reaction to these events. Relegates women to the status of objects. The female viewer must experience the narrative secondarily, by identification of the male.
We had to answer five questions on this music video.
1. What colour tops was he and she wearing? blue and blue with white stripes. 2. What number was the lane? 10 x lane 3 3. What colour belts did he and she wear? brown and pink 4. What colour shoes did he and she wear? bowling shoes (red, blue, and white) and red 5. What colour eyes did he and she have? blue and brown.
The idea was that the girls would noticed these little details better than the boys would, as the boys would mainly be looking at the woman in the video.
Some theorists also have noted the sexualising of the female body even in situations where the female sexiness has nothing to do with the product being advertised.
Co-chairpersons of Working Title (WT), Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, founded the company in 1984 with Sarah Radclyffe.
'They have been listed as the most powerful figures in the British industry' - BBC News.
Only 42 full time staff
Split between the main Working Title production and the low budget Working Title 2.
'The Working Title philosophy has been to make films for an audience and played in a multiplex... only hope we have of sustaining the UK film industry.' - Lucy Guard and Natasha Wharton.
Mass audiences - for everyone, not a niche/selective audience.
More than 85 films that have grossed over 54 million worldwide.
Won lots of awards: 6 Academy Awards, 26 BAFTA awards and 4 Oscars.
They have an impressive catalogue of films from a wide range of genres.
Working Title flops: Thunderbirds and Wimbledon.
'Blockbuster comedies of Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson... punchy period films... political dramas... literary adaptations... family... cultish low-budgeters... Coen brothers' - Variety magazines.
'...fresh talent, such as directors Joe Wrightm Stephen Daldry, Shekhar Kapur.'
In addition to which it has launched Working Title 2, a subsidiary for low budget films with an 'independent' appeal.
Working Title was taken by Universal in 1999, Tim Bevan said 'We were now part of a big structure, so we spent much less time on finding the money and much more on developing decent scripts.'
All the films are currently distributed by Universal Pictures who own a 67% stake in the company and many of its recent films are co-productions with Studio Canal.
The remaining shares are owned by the company's founders, BBC film and private investors.
Universal's involvement will vary widely from project to project.
Pride and Prejudice - $20 million budget.
Interpreter - $80 million budget (director - Sidney Pollock, starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn.)
Universal only get involved in films with big names, such as the film Interpreter.
Clever and tactical about film projects.
Films from 2004 - Bridget Jones 2 and Shaun of the Dead.
Working Title have to make one big blockbuster movie a year for Universal.
Working Title 2 - Shaun of the Dead, Billy Elliot, Ali G In Da House.
Films exploit English cultural 'heritage' as well as pop culture with a more modern touch.
There is a long history between American actors playing leading roles in Working Title films as English people.
Trailers are made to match the target audience.
Timing - Christmas films are released at Christmas time, to fit in with the audience's mood.
Notting Hill was released before Star Wars so that it wouldn't be up against a big blockbuster but it also gave people who weren't interested in Sci-Fi (mainly women) to see something they would like to watch.
Glossary's are used to translate words for different countries, for example, 'barristar' changes to 'attorney'.
London comes across as an elegant, clean, sanitized city in Working Title films, eg Notting Hill.
Stereotypes shape the public opinion. They are narrative shortcuts which orientate the audiences expectations. Some people argue that stereotypes are fixed and unchanging. (Mass audience and hypothermic theory).
Festinger believes we resist changing out opinions unless faced with overwhelming evidence against what we believe. Cognitive dissonance is when our 'brain' encounters new ideas and rejects them because they don't match our expectations. (Reflective/two way flow).
Age
Babies - cute, target (aspirational) audience is children mainly.
Children - child characters act more mature, making children want to be more mature than they actually are.
Teenagers - cool characters with an action packed life, not realistic, kids look up to them,everyday aspects of life (such as school) are ignored, older teenagers are seen to be put into categories (chavs, geeky guys/girls, ditzy blonde ect).
Skins - druggies, drop-outs, have over exaggerated lives, seems more glamorised.
Young adults - good looking, perfect people, the 'ideal' age that people want.
Older women - sophisticated, glamorous.
Older men - glamorous, powerful.
Old people - weak, old, war heroes, crazy.
Ability/Disability
Clothing - 'house wear' because they are supposedly spending a lot of time indoors, comfortable, warm.
Setting - run down bungalows that need work, untidy, dirty because they can't clean up after themselves.
Camera angles - looks down on the disabled characters making them look small and powerless. There is normally also a helper in the shot.
Programmes focus on the disability rather than the character.
Personality traits - stupid or supremely evil characters. People also assume that they have a mental deficiency.
Gender
Women - seen to wear dresses (ladies sign), long hair, weak, house wife, small, less responsibility than a man, prone to crying/overreacting.
Men - wear trousers (mens sign) short hair, strong, more money, working, big, patriarchal, more supportive/protective, stoic.
Men do more fighting, more aggressive/violent than women.
Because men film and create TV programmes they understand what it is like to see things from a men's point of view, rather than a women's, so all programmes and such are filmed in a 'male gaze'.
Representations of men: strength (physical and intellectual), power, sexual attractiveness, physique and independence of thought/action.
Representations of women: beauty, size/physique, sexuality, emotional and relationships.
1. Concept 2. Film production - script, directors, cast, filming, editing. 3. Distribution - selling the film, marketing, new technologies 4. Exhibition - premiere, cinemas, film festivals.
Working Title - small British film company, part of Universal Studios.
To start our film work, we were asked to go around the class and ask people questions about their film habits. Our questionnaire was made up of 15 questions, and we had to ask at least 10 people. The results were then typed up on Microsoft Excel and uploaded onto Scribd, here is the link to my questionnaire results:
Baby - can be annoying because all it does is cry or either look cute and cuddly (stereotypical views).
Old man - spend their time just sitting about, can be portrayed of not being quite all there, or else be someone of wisdom (stereotypical views).
Both people need to be looked after as they both can be seen as helpless.
However old people can look after themselves, and don't always need help or care.
Stereotypical teenagers - steal, act cheeky to their elders, are arrogant (shown in Little Britain, which focuses on the over exaggeration of stereotypes), usually depressed, under aged drinking, and always moaning.
Middle aged people spend most of their time arguing.
Regional Identity
North - friendly people but reject 'outsiders', don't pronounce 'the' when speaking, more innocent, less intelligent, more miserable, enjoy moaning about their lives (stereotypical idea).
South - less rural, monochrome looking, mainly made up of cities, money based society, more straightforward about subjects, fast paced lifestyle (stereotypical idea).
Countryside - wear more casual clothes, more relaxed lifestyle, considered a working class.
Ethnicity
Hoodies and dark clothing make people look unapproachable, considered to be the sort of clothes black men would wear, this is not true though because black men can wear whatever sort of clothes they like, they all don't wear just one style.
Indian wedding, have to wear traditional Indian dress, seem heavily religious and are subjected to arranged marriages, can't be gay (stereotypical view)
TV programmes mainly made up of white actors/actresses.
'This is England' uses camera shots from down below, showing that the characters are more lower class and quite intimidating.
Lower class - run down, intimidating because they're supposedly violent, people are afraid of them, live in council houses (stereotype)
Black male - lazy, doesn't want to work or help the community, however this stereotype is challenged in 'Hollyoaks' where the character of Calvin, a young black male, is a police officer and tries to help out his community as much as he can.
Here is mine and Josh's prezi presentation on sexuality and how it is portrayed in the media.
Spend their time in gay clubs or gay parades (media coverage/stereotype)
Use the same type of camera angles, except for when filming scenes involving the characters sexuality
Make gay male characters 'glow' to make them more feminine and less intimidating
Well spoken, gesturing when talking, high pitched voice, not interested in sports, care in their appearance, over acting, 'drama queen' (stereotypical views on gay men)
Billy Elliot - dad is angry about Billy taking dance lessons, boys dancing can be seen as gay
Lesbians - enjoy sports, act manly, deep voices, short hair, 'butch' (stereotypical view)
Plots involve the character finding out they're gay, how they cope with it, and possibly what abuse they suffer.
Roland Barthes was a semiologist (paid to look at texts and find out how they were put together). Open texts - unravelled in a lot of different ways. Closed texts - there is only once obvious line. Barthes also decided that the threads (of a text/story) that you pull on to try and unravel the meaning are called narrative codes.
The 5 Narrative Codes 1. Action Code - applies to any action that implies a further narrative action. 2. Enigma Code - refers to any element in a story that is not explained and, therefore, exists as an enigma for the audience. 3. The Semantic Code - any element in a text that suggests a particular, often additional, meaning by way of connotation. 4. The Cultural Code - any element in a narrative that refers 'to a science or body of knowledge'. In other words, the cultural codes then to point to our shared knowledge about the way the world works. 5. The Symbolic - Levi-Strauss argued that the narrative structures have binary oppositions, eg. good vs evil.
Binary oppositions - the contrast between to exclusive words, eg. on and off, up and down.
