Representation contexts and television

 Revision:  theories of representation

bell hooks – Feminism is for everybody. Feminism can benefit all genders by removing stereotypical assumptions. Intersectional feminism: working class, gay disabled women have a different experience to other women. It is complex and political. Race class, gender, ability etc can determine how we are discriminated against, not just our sex! Intersectional feminism is the agreement that every trait affects each other. A black disabled working class lesbian clearly has a different experience to other women. Feminism is for everybody!

Judith Butler – Gender identity is constructed through the acts we repeat every day, called gender performance. Gender is a social construct. Gender performativity is how our performance of gender has an effect on the world around us. For example, Lena’s reaction to Simon entering the pub is a perfect example of gender performativity. Gender performance: our gender is performed by repeated acts. Gender is a social construct, and it means nothing. However, gender has performativity. It affects the world around us. A perfect example is Lena’s lustful response to Simon. Gender is complicated.  

Paul Gilroy – Othering. Certain groups of people are presented as other: presented differently to a hegemonic norm. E.g. Black people constructed as side characters, violent, 2 dimensional, the black best friend, the comic relief. A hierarchy in our society has been constructed. Some groups are even omitted entirely… Postcolonial attitudes have constructed a hierarchy where white people are in a position of power. PoC are routinely othered. For example, black people are often represented as criminals, comic relief, wise and noble, and not the main characters. Other groups that are othered include other minorities

Julie and subversive constructions of gender

• Explain Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity. Use The Returned to support your response. [15]
• How useful are feminist theories for analysing the representations in the set editions of Black Mirror and The Returned? Refer to at least one of the following theories in your response:• van Zoonen’s feminist theory• bell hooks’ feminist theory [30]
• To what extent are the representations in this episode you have studied typical or subversive?

1 - At home

• An establishing shot of the social housing estate where Julie lives instantly constructs her as working class. Social housing often has connotations of crime, violence and deprivation. Through intertextual, the audience has learned to associate the MES of grey concrete with crime. However, we cut to the interior of Julie’s flat, which is cosy, inviting. The MES of stacks of books and a teapot construct a reality of a binary opposition between Julie's sophistication and the place she lives. Julie’s representation rejects lazy stereotypes, constructing a complex representation. This is further complicated by the film Julie is watching, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which provides the audience with valuable information about Julie: she is normal, relatable, complex. She lives alone and watches violent horror movies: an atypical representation of gender. 
• Julie is dressed in a baggy, scruffy jumper, her oversized glasses, her popped collar, her slightly baggy jeans. Julie has dressed for comfort above style. Her performance and costume are clearly not to be looked at: she subverts the male gaze through her loose fitting costume and casual attitude.
• It exists as a binary opposition to the highly constructed and performative femininity of Claire
• By including a character that doesn’t perform femininity, the producers of the show make a daring claim that being stereotypically feminine is not the default mode for women, and a range of complex gender presentations can be included. 
• Julie provides the target audience a complex mix of stereotypically masculine and feminine stereotypes, providing audiences with a role model of alternative female identity. 
• Julie’s performance is blunt and dismissive. She tells Mr Costa to “calm down” in a flat and professional way. She is unwilling initially to leave the flat, shrugging in an annoyed manner. She is professional and medically knowledgeable, working into the night to help her patient. 
• We begin with an establishing shot of a social housing estate, which has connotations of poverty and crime. It is symbolic of working class identity and instantly constructs Julie as a working class woman. We cut to an interior slow PoV tracking shot entering Julie’s living room. The soundtrack of atmospheric noises positions the audience in a tense mode of address, proairetically suggesting that there is imminent danger. However, it is revealed that Julie is lying on a sofa watching a violent horror film: the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This infers that she is a fan of horror films, yet is calm and unaffected by them. The blue light of the television barely lights the room, yet here it connotes comfort and relaxation. The Flat is cluttered yet cosey, filled with stacks of books on every surface, connoting that Julie is intelligent and educated, constructing a complex representation of working class women. 
• Julie’s costume is casual. She wears a baggy jumper, a dress shirt, and slightly baggy distressed jeans. Her outfit is not stereotypically feminine, yet instead demonstrates a casual performance of gender, Julie wears functional clothes. Yet her baggy costume rejects the stereotypical notion of women as spectacle. Her costume does not reveal any aspect of her body. She is completely unobjectified. Her glasses are symbolically nerdy, a character trait that is reinforced through other media, and helps communicate o the audience her complex character. A process of intertextual relay.
• Julie’s performance as she talks with Costa is professional, yet also blunt and terse. She seems vaguely annoyed, yet she is helpful. She uses an educated lexis. A home help is a stereotypically feminine job, yet he manner is subversive. 
• Julie’s performance of gender can appeal to a variety of audiences. People with a similar profession will find the representation appealing and empowering. We may also take pleasure at Julie’s assertiveness, and the fact that she does not become a victim, challenging gender stereotypes. Intersectional feminism. 
• Julie forms a binary opposition with Claire, helping to reinforce her character. 
• She provides the confidence with a concrete frame of understanding, calm, yet also assertive and knowledgeable. 

2- Julie comes home

• This montage uses a number of elements which provide intertextual relay to the horror genre. This not only positions the audience within the expectations of the horror film, but also helps to construct Julie as an atypical, relatable woman.
• Horror conventions throughout this sequence include the creepy victor lying just out of view, the dark, isolated setting, and a lone, vulnerable female protagonist. However, subversively, Julie is not worried or perturbed by this situation, suggesting she has done this many times before. Her representation as a tough working class women is complex and subversive, while also being completely relatable. 
• The setting is dark, but also completely lit: a binary opposition. The artificial lighting constructs an unglamourous, working class reality for Julie. She forms a binary opposition with the upper middle class lifestyle of the Seurat family, allowing the show to target a range of audiences.
• In one striking shot, an OS shot from Julie’s living room, we see victor in ELS HA, a stereotypical horror convention. The child Victor in the night-time scene forms a terrifying binary opposition, that positions the audience in a sense of dread. However, Julie’s reaction is understated. “What is he doing here”. “Hello, can I help”. Here, Julie’s blunt performance ounce more subverts the hegemonic expectation of maternal instincts
• Julie’s neighbour, Mme Payet serves as a  binary opposition to Julie’s performance of gender. Mme Payet is intrigued by the developments in Julie’s life, and attempts to form a friendship with her based on their gender. However, Julie sees her as an uncomfortable inconvenience. She stands far too close to Julie, she is sexually inappropriate and oversteps her boundaries. Mme Payet wears a revealing robe, which again contrasts with Julie’s costume, and helps construct a reality where to be a woman is complex.
• The entire sequence is not only highly conventional, but functions as a cliché of horror films. Examples of cliches include the creepy little kid, the spooky soundtrack, the very low key lighting, and the creepy, isolated setting. However, Julie reacts to this horror with complete indifference. She does not look around in a paranoid manner, and she does not appear afraid in any way. In horror films, women are routinely stereotype as terrified victims. Yet even reacting to the episode’s most frightening moment, Victor standing alone in the grass, Julie merely reacts with ‘what’ he doing here?’
• For Julie, being in this environment is routine and depressing rather than scary, constructing a relatable mode of address for a working class audience 
• The poster for a low budget horror film creates a contrast between the sophisticated fear of Les Revenants and the trashy horror of what is being advertised. 
• Julie is scruffy. Her hair is scruffy, which rejects feminine stereotypes. Her jacket is unflattering, yet Julie provides the audience with an alternative and complex representation of femininity. 

While this episode features a lack of ethnic diversity, there are examples of sociocultural othering. Victor is constructed as other, different, strange and creepy. Children in horror films are a popular convention as they are unpredictable. They lack reason, guidance and structure. Victor standing outside the flat is a perfect example of a binary opposition, and of othering. It constructs children as being different, other and abject

Explore how representations in the set episode of The Returned may position audiences. [15]

Audience positioning: how the audience are placed in a media product, by the producer. This can be used to align the audience with certain characters, ideologies and emotions.

Simon and Lena walk home 

Genre codes and conventions 

Genre theory 

Genre fluidity

Camera work - framing and composition shot types, angle, position, movement 

Lighting and colour

Editing – pace, type of edits, continuity

Narrative construction, related to narrative theory

Sound – dialogue, music

Mise-en-scene – setting and location, props, costume/dress, hair/make-up

• A further complex representation of gender can be found in the scene just ten minutes later, where Simon is walked home by Lena. This helps to position the target audience in a number of intriguing and relatable ways. 
• The setting and scenario is highly relatable to the teenage target audience. The MES of the streetlights create a relatable and convincing representation of a suburban street scene. The dialogue is terse, stunted, and positions the target audience with Lena
• Lena asks Simon a range of questions, partly because she is interested in him, and she wishes to sleep with him. However, these characters are mismatched and awkward. Simon always walks a few paces in front of her, which subverts the idea that he is well-mannered and gentlemanly. However, this performance of gender has a very real affect on Lena, who appears to be more interested in him as the walk continues
• The couple form a binary opposition, not only in terms of costume and appearance, but also in terms of personality. Additionally, Lena is taller than Simon, subverting the hegemonic expectation within TV that the male will be taller than the female counterpart. Lena on the other hand wears a casual and complex, and constructs a complex representation of women .
• Lena shouts ‘de rien, connard’ (thanks for nothing, motherfucker!), a subversive response that contradicts stereotypical representations of women. Lena’s sexual frustration may be relatable for the target audience who have positioned themselves with Lena, and may wish to see the voyeuristic fantasy of Lena have sex with Simon.

Simon meets Lena in the Lake Pub

• Simon’s character is constructed through his stressed, anxious and determined performance. He is interested in one thing, his fiancé. In fact, the relaxed and attractive environment of the Lake Pub does not interest Simon, who’s nervous performance sees him scan around the room, desperately looking for Adele.
• Simon is hegemonically attractive. He is masculine, with mid length curly scruffy hair, and a suit with an unbuttoned, un-ironed shirt. This demonstrates his relaxed, carefree attitude, which may appeal to a heterosexual female audience. In fact, Simon is sexualised and even objectified through his attractive appearance and slightly revealing costume. This flips and subverts Van Zoonen’s assumption that women are surely used as spectacle, as clearly, the tracking shot encourages the audience to gaze on Simon.
• This ideology is reinforced through Lena’s performance, where she gazes at Simon with undeniable lust. In fact, Lena performatively and assertively shoes away her would-be- boyfriend in order to drink with Simon and take him home. Seeing her as vulnerable, the boyfriend seeks to protect her, yet lena shoes him away, reinforcing her confidence in handling this situation. 
• In this sequence, we are clearly aligned and positioned with Lena, and forced to gaze on Simon as an object of sexual desire. This is reinforced through the use of mid shot in the conversation scene, that focuses on Simon’s revealing costume, and constructs Lena as being modestly and even slightly masculine in her appearance. 
• The representation of gender in LR is highly unconventional, and helps the show to appeal to a younger audience of as similar age to Lena, who will take pleasure in her carefree and fun representation. This not only suggests that representations of gender have changed over time, but also suggests that they have become meaningless: a very postmodern conclusion
• Simon is constructed as a hegemonically attractive yet also sophisticated young man. This sophistication is constructed through his costume. His suit is clean, black, timelessly stylish. However, his formal attire constructs a binary opposition with the setting. Simon is not wearing a tie, and has several buttons undone, constructing a sexually objectified representation of young men. This sexualised representation of a young men reflects a dominant hegemonic representation of masculinity.
• Simon enters the pub, constructed with a tracking shot, instantly positioning the audience with Simon. However, Simon’s determination can be off-putting, He is blunt, he is rude, he is forceful. He therefore additionally functions as a spectacle for the heterosexual female audience 
• Simon’s performance is clipped, rude and forceful. He speaks in slang (ouais instead of oui), and his broody, standoffish representation is constructed through his lack of eye contact and complete lack of small talk. He is solely interested in one person: Adele, his finance. This representation of loyalty and romance is somewhat atypical for the representation of a young man, and positions…
• Lena, however, is purely interested in Simon, sexually. Lena is forward, confident and flirtatious. She laughs, makes eye contact, and leans in to Simon. We can read this representation as a stereotypical construction of a teenage girl, who will appeal to and position the female target audience with her. She provides the audience with the potential to adopt her identity, and to take inspiration from her confidence 
• The scene positions multiple audiences through the hegemonically attractive central characters. The setting of the pub stereotypically aligns younger audience, and provides the audience with an escapist fantasy of friendship and sexual relations. 
• Van Zoonen argues that women’s bodies are used as a spectacle for heterosexual men. However, this sequence presents the highly unconventional ideology of Simon clearly not being interested in her. However, Lena gazes at Simon constantly, and does not hide her sexual desire. This intradiegetic gaze reinforces Simon’s function as a spectacle, once more creating a subversive and atypical representation of men. 

Economic contexts and television

To what extent have economic factors influenced these shows?

Economic factors have influenced these shows to a large extent. However, for both shows, a more complex approach has been taken to minimise risk and to maximise profit. Rather than targeting a mass, mainstream audience, both shows actively target and engage a niche and cult audience, to construct an audience who will obsessively engage with these shows. Cult TV has a history, and classic examples of TV shows that construct a Cult audience include Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Twin Peaks and The X-files, all well documented successes that paved the way for these two shows. 

San Junipero 

• References a range of cult and contemporary media tat helps to establish a cult audience. Heaven Is A Place On Earth is a cheesy pop song, here given a new meaning
• The MES of the theatrical poster for The Lost Boys, a cult vampire film with a cult audience 
• The reference to Max Headroom additionally situates the narrative within the 1980s, and again is another example of a cult tv show 
• Yorkie is established as a marginalised outsider. Her costume, in particular her shorts mark her as queer coded, appealing to a queer audience. Additionally, her glasses and withdrawn performance code her as a stereotypical nerd 
• The science fiction elements of this show are unconventional and often difficult for non fans to comprehend . The central themes of uploading consciousness, of simulation and digital life after death will appeal to a cult audience 
• Positioned as, or with Yorkie. Yorkie is engaging to a queer audience, as well as audiences who are social outcasts, and feel excluded. Yorkie’s glasses function as a symbolic code, constructing her as shy and nerdy, and therefore she will appeal to a similar audience 
• The nerd representation is reinforced with a deluge of intertextuality. The intertextual relay constructed through the Lost Boys poster, Max Headroom, and vintage arcade games such as Bubble Bobble, Top Speed and Gradius. The cult audience are positioned as an obsessive fan, taking pleasure at seeing their favourite things on screen 
• The 80s setting constructs an intense sense of nostalgia. Audiences can construct intense nostalgic relationships through media, which is an essential theme that this episode cultivates.
• The single strand narrative allows the show to explore themes and questions of death, simulation, the effects of tech and euthanasia 

Les Revenants  

• Clearly influenced from the the structure of Twin Peaks, and the use of mysteries and a clearly defined aesthetic instructs the target audience that this will be a cult TV show with the sorts of mysteries that will be worth analysing.  
• The soundtrack to LR seems to be a clear intertextual reference to the famous Twin Peaks soundtrack. Clearly paying homage to Twin Peaks. Additionally, the natural, beautiful setting, and the vagueness of the setting and the narrative clearly pay homage to Twin Peaks 
• Julie is a queer nerd. She is coded as a non stereotypical representation of a woman, and will resonate with fans who will identify her her status as an outsider. 
• Themes of depression, trauma and mental illness. These themes are dealth with in a mature and non-condescending way, and will relate to audiences who have experienced similar. 
• The show uses heavy symbolism throughout. The use of the iconography of a dead wolf, and dead animals in the opening sequence are highly polysemic, and encourage the devoted cult audience to interpret this in multiple ways
• Themes of isolation, and growing up in a small town, allows a marginalised and unrepresented audience to engage 
• The first scene of Les Revenants is more subtle, however, does make intertextual reference to cult 1991 TV show Twin Peaks. The show also uses conventions from classic zombie films, and features posters for the exorcist, and a brief clip from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• Starts in medias res, before frankly depicting the deaths of a bus load of teenagers. This grisly and gruesome mode of address appeals to a cult audience 
• A theme of mystery and hermeneutics, that encourages the active audience audience to research , discuss and engage with the show 
• With various characters, a multi strand and complex narrative is constructed, allowing the show to appeal to multiple cult audiences. It also increases the confusion, deliberately causing points of discussion. Questions the audience are forced to answer include victor’s presence, why certain characters return, and how is this even possible 
• Les revenants makes explicit intertextual reference to Twin Peaks. The gentle, countryside atmosphere combined with a serial killer narrative is a clear reference, and weven the iconography of the water pouring in to the lake in both title sequences suggests a deliberate reference. This deliberate reference allows the cult audience to identify Les Revenants as a cult show 

Regulation contexts and television

 How have these TV shows used media language to deliberately limit the harm and offence caused to audiences?

While the regulations presented by OFCOM are broad and lack bite, with organisations such as CANAL + and Netflix lying outside their jurisdiction, producers deliberately self-regulate in order to ensure to minimise potential risk and to maximise potential profit. We see perfect examples of this form of self-regulation in both San Junipero and Camille. 

Black Mirror - Yorkie’s suicide

• The sequence chooses not to show the full range of emotions which may accompany euthanasia, with Kelly providing a proactive and considered approach. 
• The atmosphere and aesthetic is positive, calm and welcoming. The light MES, the lack of opening weeping, and the calm bleeping of the ECG all combine to create a relaxing and calm atmosphere. 
• The narrative constructed here is filly positive, and with no complications. While it is unlikely to cause harm to the audience, it does not interrogate the very real issues surrounding euthanasia
• Audiences who have experienced this issues, or audience members with depression may experience harm or offense from this sequence. However, the science fiction themes of simulations, where we cut to the simulation in question, and the context of an old woman choosing death construct a more complex and less impactful representation

Mr Costa’s murder

• Mme Costa’s death’s impact is lessened through her performance. More indignant that terrified, it lessens the emotional impacts
• We cut away to an exterior shot at the moment of immolation, which spares the audience from scenes of injury detail 
• Within the wider context of the series, Costa is already dead, has returned to life, and returns again. However, this context is contingent on audiences continuing to watch the show 
• The context is obscure, which means certain audience members may be confused and harmed by this sequence.
• The shot of Costa tied up and screaming may affect victims of domestic abuse. 

An analysis of the cover and contents page of the set edition of Woman magazine

 How does the front cover to the August 1964 edition of Woman encode audience appeal?

• The aesthetic of the model is pleasant. Her makeup and teeth construct hyperreal version of femininity which is more approachable than a ‘real’ woman 
• A direct mode of address positions the middle aged female audience in a friendly position
• The model conforms to hegemonic female norms, which will appeal to a conservative audience
• The purple background once more reinforces typical expectations of femininity 
• The masthead reads Woman. The title lacks all subtlety, and is anchored through the elegant, serif and cursive. Again this presents a simple, straightforward representation of women
• A relatable mode address is constructed through the MES of the conservative dress, the understated hair and makeup, and the unintimidating smile 
• The magazine is cheap, appealing to a working class audience. Additionally, the value for money is emphasised by the range of contents, including 7 star improvements, a sell line offering value to the audience 
• The lexis of ‘your kitchen’ positions the target audience not only within the private sphere, in the kitchen, but also insinuates that this is exciting and desirable 
• The magazine suggests that the audience has problems with their lives, which can only be fixed by wearing makeup, buying kitchen things, and buying new underwear
• The magazine presents a consumerist ideology. The lexis of the slogan suggests the magazine and the lifestyle within is essential. 

A semiotic deconstruction of the front cover of the August 1964 edition of Woman magazine

Codes and conventions – changes over time? 

The magazine is cheap. 7d is approx 80p in today’s money, and would be accessible to a working class audience week after week

Layout and design

The model is engaged in a direct mode of address with the female target audience, establishing a normal, relatable, and comfortable mode of address. The model resembles a friend and an equal

Font size, type, colour 

The purple background is stereotypically feminine, and has connotations of cleanliness and a middle of the road fashion choice

Images/photographs - shot type, angle, focus

The model’s facial expression is happy, which suggests that the articles contained with in this magazine will make women happy. This deeply sexist mode of address was completely normalised n 1964. While the model is clearly happy, her smile is somewhat wary. She is showing her teeth, which suggests an emptiness, anchored through the completely blank background and the simple straightforward masthead. Additionally, her smile lacks confidence, which will allow the magazine to engage with an aspirational and less confident audience.The model in Woman is not only less confident, she also functions as an aspirational and relatable role model for the target audience. She presents a lower middle class aspiration for the target audience.

Mise-en-scene – colour, lighting, location, costume/dress, hair/make-up 

The model is clearly put together, and is wearing subtle yet still obvious makeup. This arrangement of makeup connotes a sort of effortless beauty. However, the model is wearing mascara, foundation, blush, eyeline, lipstick. This makeup would be applied by a specialised makeup artist, which reinforces the dominant ideological perspective that women must wear makeup, especially if they are in the public sphere. This is a perfect example of Van Zoonen’s notion of the woman as spectacle, there to be looked at by the female target audience. The model’s costume is stylish but not too stylish, and would not intimidate the target audience. The subtlety of the makeup constructs unrealistic representations of women, for a working class target audience. It reinforces an ideal representation that women wear makeup, an aspirational beauty. The expectation for women to wear makeup comes from patriarchal hegemonic forces. Even today, to not wear makeup can be seen as a political statement that can draw criticism. 

Graphics, logos 

The title of the magazine is simply ‘Woman’, reducing women purely to their gender. It reinforces the ideology, in conjunction with the sexist and straightforward cover lines, that to be a woman is to perform for men.  

Language – headline, sub-headings, captions – mode of address

The coverline “are you an A-level beauty” asks an engaging and provoking question to the target. The target audience for this magazine are working class women, housewives who are first into patriarchal gender norms. The target audience are broad, but generally fit into a 30-50 yo demographic. However the lexis A-level has connotations of a 16-18 year old demographic. It not only reinforces the idea that A-levels would be the highest level of education for the target audience, suggesting the audience have not attended university, there is also the implication that the ideal beauty norm is that of a 16 -18 year old girl, and that ‘beauty’ itself can be distilled to a qualification. It reflects the dominant ideology in society of the time.

Anchorage of images and text

The lexis continually reinforces the ideology that women are spectacle for men. Egs: Alfred Hitchcock gives his opinion on female beauty, a clear example of patriarchal hegemonic expectations. The star improvements for your kitchen implies that cooking is done for men. The A-level beauty conver line suggests that women should be exceptional, and that their life could be improved through achieving these beauty standards

Elements of narrative

The lexis ' British women have a special kind of magic’ establishes a postcolonial discourse. It suggests that British women, as in white women, are superior. This coverline also explicitly sexualises British women, taking pride in British culture (patriotism), reinforcing a patriotic mode of address. 

General analysis points

• The cover line ‘seven star improvements for your kitchen’ presents a relatable mode of address for the 1964 target audience. It specifically targets a female audience, working class, with aspirations surrounding home life. 
• The lexis ‘your kitchen’ constructs a stereotypical mode of address, reminding the target audience that they should be interested in kitchens. It constructs a sexist ideology, and reinforces contemporary hegemonic values.
• The masthead, and particularly the font is stereotypically feminine. It is serif, which has connotations of informality. The font itself looks handmade, and the creamy off-white colour brings out the model’s eyes and teeth, reinforcing her hegemonically attractive nature. It also constructs a hierarchy where white is the best and most important colour.
• The pinky purple background is stereotypically feminine, which constructs a sexist and gender essentialist ideology. 
• The slogan “world’s greatest weekly for women’ suggests that the magazine is the absolute best magazine they could read. This hyperbolic language serves the function opf shaming and excluding women who choose not to read woman. 
• The magazine is called ‘Woman’, a basic, simple and straightforward name for a magazine. It presents a condescending and blunt mode of address, completely at odds with competitors like Vogue. Additionally, the selection of ‘woman’ as opposed to ‘lady’ presents a more generic and straightforward approach. 
• The cover line “Are you an A-level Beauty” adopts a direct mode of address that requests that the target audience question if they themselves conform to beauty standards. The Beauty standards of the 1960s. An A-level is an academic qualification for young people. Beyond A-level there are degrees, masters, professorships… The implication of asking the audience this firstly suggests that they may not be. Additionally. The lexis ‘A-level beauty’ also infers that the ideal woman resembles a 16-18 year old. This is not an attainable beauty standard for most 30-50 year olds. 
• The unnamed cover model serves the function of an ‘ideal’ representation of beauty in 1964. She has been extensively airbrushed, removing spots, wrinkles, blemishes and even the veins in the whites of her eyes. Airbrushing was and is routine in women’s lifestyle magazines, which reinforces dominant ideological hegemonic beauty standards for women.
• The model presents a hypereal representation of women: more perfect than reality, it is still exactly what the target audience expects. 
• The model is completely unknown, and is constructed as being down to earth and relatable. Firstly shew has brown hair. She is not overtly sexualised, and she does not appear to be particularly confident. Her smile is staged and forced, and she seems somewhat uncomfortable and timid. She presents a relatable and friendly mode of address for the middle aged british working class audience 
• The cover line "British women have a special kind of magic” positions the audience with the same demographic as one another, and allows the audience to feel special. It also presents a dehumanising and fetishistic representation of British women, reducing them to a singular characteristic. This quality is defined by a man, reinforcing patriarchal hegemonic values.
• The model’s makeup is plain, and straightforward. The fact that she is wearing makeup reinforces hegemonic beauty standards. 

FACTS

1. published weekly by IPC, 1937 to present.
2. Set edition: 23-29 August 1964
3. Price: 7d (7 old pennies, approx 80p in 2018 money)
4. Women’s magazines became very popular in the post-war period and, in the 1960s, sales of women’s magazines reached 12 million copies per week. Woman’s sales alone were around 3 million copies per week in 1960.

Exploring ideology and expectations within the contents section

• A strong emphasis on home life and the private sphere
• The folios or sections of the magazine include fashion, home and cookery, suggesting that the expectation is that women are supposed to stay at home 
• Even the fashion stories reflect private home life: underwear and school clothes
• An expectation that women should pursue wholesome and traditional pursuits. Knitting, sewing… a simple, straightforward lifestyle
• An emphasis on innocence, girlishness, and infantilisation. Sexuality here is limited to being the ‘loveliest’
• A limitation on what is important to the female target audience. In the accompanying article, it is suggested that ‘finance often isn’t a widow’s main worry’ 
• The lexis of knitting and sewing permeates an ideology of patriarchal sexism. Even knitting cannot solely be for the female target audience, but most be accomplished for a man 
• Women are defined as vectors for male desires and expectations
• “A doctor's wife… the little club that she built has grown’, even difficult and complex subjects such as widowhood and bereavement are dealt with infantilising language 
• The caption ‘Present Kennedy's widow’ here reduces a complex and interesting woman to the status as the wife of an important man 
• Many of the interviews are men, reinforcing the ideology that men’s voices are more important. And there is even an ‘extra special… on men!’ feature, that further cultivates the perspective that everything a woman should do is for men 
• The magazine presents a stark heteronormative world. The only sexuality is heterosexuality. Illegal in 1964!
• Even the glamourous Jackie Kennedy's home life is discussed!
• The entire magazine constructs a hyperreal construct of women, a rep[presentation that seems more real than what is being represented. 

An analysis of the Alfred Hitchcock interview

Summary - what is the focus of this interview? What is this interview about?

The interview focuses on Alfred Hitchcock, a noted film director and celebrated auteur. Hitchcock. Examples of Hitchcock's famous films include Psycho, Vertigo, The Birds, Rear Window and so on.  The article, however, focuses on his process of casting hegemonically attractive leading women. Instead of hearing about Hitchcock's film making techniques, we instead hear about an old man playing dolls with sexually attractive women, a clear example of objectification 
The interview takes the form of a longform monologue by the noted film director and auteur Alfred Hitchcock. Examples of Hitchcock’s cinema include Vertigo, Frenzy, To Catch A Thief, Rear Window, Psycho, The Birds. However, rather than discuss films, the article is mainly about how British women sexually appeal to the director. It also discusses his casting process, which seems to involve actively objectifying his actors.

Context - What historical allegations have been made against Hitchcock?

Hitchcock sexually assaulted Tippi Hedren, star of The Birds and Marnie. Tippi also asserted that Hitchcock abused her on set, forcing her to endure shoots with live birds for days on end, in revenge for not sleeping with him. He also ensured Hedren was blacklisted in Hollywood, something only a powerful man could achieve. He signed her up for a contract, then refused to give her work. He used his power and influence to force young actors to have sex with him. All this was committed under the shelter of an apparently happy marriage. 

Other examples of high profile sexual manipulators in positions of significant power include Jimmy Saville, Jeffrey Epstein, Donald Trump, Roman Polanski, P Diddy, [REDACTED], Dan Snyder, John Laester, Joss Whedon, Stephen Hawking, Andrew Windsor, Harvey Weinstein, Ghislaine Maxwell… These men (and woman) used their immense power, money, influence in order to silence victims. This is clearly an extreme form of patriarchal hegemony. The patriarchy creates a system where men are able to abuse their power with relative impunity.

An analysis of the shower scene in Psycho - how does this technically audacious sequence inculcate certain attitudes toward women? How does media language construct this?

• Women are constructed as inferior, and vulnerable towards men. A binary opposition is therefore being constructed with men as superior, and women as inferior. Here superiority is constructed through the act of murder.
• The woman, Janet Leigh, is presented as a shock value for the audience. The main character, the big star, the beautiful woman, is presented purely as a spectacle for the audience, and their death is made more shocking as a result. 
• Leigh is naked throughout the entire scene. Here her body constructs a site of spectacle for the assumed male gaze. Additionally her nudity encodes exploitation and vulnerability, reinforcing a reality where women are submissive and vulnerable 
• The shower scene in PSYCHO is regarded as one of the most iconic in cinema history, and through it’s structure..
• Marion Crane is constructed as weak, defenceless and vulnerable.
• The nudity of the protagonist constructs her vulnerability. Yet it also constructs her as a sexual object. Here sexualisation and the violent death of a woman are presented as a thrilling spectacle, reinforcing Van Zoonen’s observation of women as spectacle.
• Stereotypically, women are presented as vulnerable. Throughout the film, Marion is built up as a character, before this is stripped away, literally and symbolically. 
• The sequence constructs violence against hegemonically destructive women as being a thrilling spectacle
• This violence and technical audacity is not considered in the article at all

Quotes and analysis - what quotes strike you as being problematic (hooks)? How do these problematic quotes construct women?

• “They’re like snow capped volcanoes” - The lexis - they both objectified others and women. Here women are compared to volcanoes. He suggests British women are modest and gentle on the outside, but are lustful and sexually promiscuous on the inside. He infers that the women he desires are sexually avoidable to him. 
• “My kind of star has a special magic” - a kind of magic that can only be discovered and shaped by Hitchcock. Without his casting and his keen eye, these women would amount to nothing. Yet this also reinforces the ideology that to be powerful is to be hegemonically attractive. This magic includes being blonde, being submissive, and being willing to work with his demands. 
• "Perhaps it's because I'm such a happily married man I can look at women objectively"  - deciding for himself he is able to differentiate between these women using his patriarchal hegemonic values. Hitchcock’s wife here functions as a tool, a shield to provide him respectability
• "Naturally I chose an English girl for a wife..." - Here the word girl has an infantilising function. It presents his adult, older wife as being a naïve child. Additionally, the lexis chose is dehumanising and reduces his wife’s autonomy to a mere choice he made
• "Personally, I find this far more intriguing than the Latin brand of sex appeal that puts everything in the shop window" - Hitchcock spends time differentiating European in to very specific and stereotypical categories. The shop window analogy constructs an explicit sense of entitlement and extreme sexualisation
• "The time I've spent grooming actresses has never been wasted" - Grooming has especially negative connotations. Here, women are at best compared to horses, which must be brushed to be made beautiful. This is a prime example of dehumanisation, objectification, and is extremely problematic. Here Hitchcock constructs a narrative where he controls, shapes and makes them do what he wants. This constructs Hitchcock as being superior to his female stars, reinforcing patriarchal hegemonic values. 
• “What British women need is a little less respect and a little more … admiration” - Hitchcock here excuses sexualisation and problematic sexual behaviour, suggesting that we should be sexualising women more!
• "naturally I chose an English girl for a wife..." “I quickly snapped her up” - suggests a level of surprising objectification, almost like selecting a pair of shoes. The lexis ‘girl’ is infantilising… 
• "The time I've spent grooming actresses has never been wasted" - The lexis grooming has clear implications of manipulation. Now the term has clear implications of sexual assault and manipulation, especially of children and the vulnerable. Here the term grooming is used on the context of physical grooming, which still has negative, physical connotations, denying these women agency. It suggests that Hitchcock is the sole source of success for these women, a clear example of patriarchal hegemony. 
• “They’re like snow capped volcanoes” - listed as the pull quote, this suggests that the ideology of this quotation is particularly important for the producer. Ideology refers to ideas and beliefs, and they always a site of manipulation. It anchors the idea that this ideology should be accepted. Here ‘they’ refers to British women, and instantly others British women as being different from Hitchcock. By othering British women to the British female target audience, it explicitly informs the audience that they are different, isolating the target audience. The simile suggests that British women are calm and beautiful on the outside, yet inside are hot, eruptive, lustful and sexually available. This suggests that the combination of modesty and sexual availability was particularly appealing to men in the 1960s "Personally, I find this far more intriguing than the Latin brand of sex appeal that puts everything in the shop window".
• "Britain, of course, is a male dominated society" - presented as an absolute hegemonic norm

Reconstructing reality - how do the messages and values presented in this article construct dominant patriarchal hegemonic worldviews for the target audience… AND WHY?

• The article consistently reinforces a hegemonic patriarchal worldview, where women exist solely to be looked at, and even the selection of beauty is left up to an expert, privileged man (Hitchcock). More confusing from a modern perspective is why contemporary audiences may wish to read this article, which is the main cover story and the key attraction of this issue. 
• Contemporary audiences may wish to read the writings of an intelligent, sophisticated and powerful man. The selection of photos, presented in a film strip presents Hitchcock as a stereotypically sophisticated middle aged white man. His lexis is broadly formal, authoritative, which partly comes through his age , and his writing is confident and casual, and sophisticated. It reinforces the worldview that men are in a position of intellectual superiority over women. In fact, the interview carefully sexualised women using sophisticated lexis in a manner that the contemporary target audience may not understand, further othering and also sexualising them.
• Additionally, the normalisation of sexual subjugation was common at the time, meaning contemporary audiences would accept this sexualisation as a hegemonic norm. 
• Some women would find this offensive and misogynistic. However, these views were less commonplace and less normalised, and there would be less of these women. These women may keep their unpopular views to themselves. Forcing people to be silent for fear of embarrassing or ostracising themselves is a clear mechanism of hegemony
• By presenting a sexist, hegemonic worldview, the magazine actively isolates and upsets the audience, constructing a toxic relationship between the magazine and the audience, ensuring that they must buy it week after week. This is reinforced through the constant depressing and upsetting messages though out the magazine (“are you an A-level beauty - makeup to work miracle”)
• The article demonstrates a clear patriarchal hegemonic worldview, which is normalised through the repetition of this value. This ideology has been cultivated over many years, and it ultimately excuses the sexist behaviour demonstrated by Hitchcock. 
• The magazine simply displays the hegemonic norms of the. Som,e women would find this article sexist and problematic. However, most women would simply accept the hegemonic, normal representation of women and men. 
• It ensures financial security. While the article may seem sexist by a modern standard, it simply reflects hegemonic values nof the time. By presenting a simple and straightforward ideology, the magazine minimises risk and maximises profit by target by targeting a mainstream, mass audience.
• Some feminists, who oppose the values of the magazine may still read the magazine, to discover what patriarchal oppression is being enforced on them. However, this still means that people outraged by the magazine are still reading it.