How does Zoe Sugg use media language to construct re-presentations of gender?
The following notes were made by two separate groups, so some repetition will feature. Which is great, because repetition is revision!
Feminist media theory in a nutshell - gender is constructed through media language, with the primary function of any media product being to represent female bodies as sexual objects. We should actively resist the sexist representation of woman as a political act
Therefore, when discussing representations of gender in media products, absolutely everything should be related to media language and specific examples!
Zoe Sugg presents a complicated and frequently contradictory representation of femininity, and therefore presents a resolutely postmodern mode of address
- Sugg’s frank discussion of her nipples subverts Van Zoonen’s notion of the male gaze, and in fact completely subverts the idea that women’s bodies are sites of sexual objectification. Her frank discussion borders on abjection with the lexis ‘cratered’, ‘hurt’ and ‘cracked like an egg’. This intimate mode of address forms a binary opposition between the sexual context of female presenting nipples and the grotesque image of a cracked nipple. The hegemonic function of a female nipple is to provoke sexual desire, yet Sugg clearly contradicts this hegemonic assumption, and therefore presents an unconventional representation of femininity
- The MES of Sugg’s dress is reasonably revealing, yet avoids sexual connotations due to featuring no cleavage. Her dress has frills, with this leading aspect of MES having connotations of stereotypical femininity. The colour white has connotations of purity and innocence, which is further anchored through the pastel MES of flowers. This stereotypically, performatively feminine mode of address additionally reinforces Sugg’s child-like persona. Sugg’s looks significantly younger than her real age, which helps her to appeal to her audience. Yet her innocent and child-like address once more forms a binary opposition, as Sugg has had one child, and is pregnant with another. Therefore Sugg presents a complex, contradictory and potentially confusing mode of address to her audience.
- Zoe Sugg presents a hegemonically straightforward and potentially conveniently marketable representation of being a woman. Sugg’s self represents and defines herself as a woman not through a detailed exploration of her own sexuality, but instead through the complex set of ideologies of pregnancy, family, and her distinctive use of makeup. This straightforward representation allows Sugg to appeal to her broadly less educated and socially conservative audience.
- Zoe Sugg metonymically defines herself and her gendered identity not through a complex set of performances, but instead through her womb, and through her status as a pregnant woman. Sugg’s progression from a young fashion and lifestyle vlogger to a mother charts an interesting and at times compelling set of metonymical self-definitions, that presents the preferred reading that women are not women until they become a mother. This highly conservative mode of address once more will appeal to her fans
- Sugg self-represents through the MES of her costume and her makeup. While her shoulders are bare, here they do not symbolise sexuality or sexual availability. Instead, her hegemonically attractive body here functions as a stereotypical site of aspiration for her primary target audience of middle class white women.
- Sugg is clearly pregnant with her second child. The ideological implications of her motherhood status are clearly related to her carefully self-constructed identity, where being pregnant symbolises the ability to create new life, as well as her maturity and living up to hegemonic societal expectations. By becoming pregnant and sharing this information with the world, Sugg is coveting hegemonic societal expectations of being a woman, and therefore reinforcing a Judeo-Christian ideological perspective.
- This stereotypical representation of gendered identity will clearly appeal to her young female target audience, and the preferred reading is that Sugg is a role model, and presented a definitive and agreeable life choice.
- Sugg does not advocate certain other alternative lifestyles. While she is not currently married to Alfie Deyes, her monogamous relationship by default excludes other lifestyles such as polyamory and child-free lifestyles
- Her dress has connotations of sophistication, maturity and an almost angelic mode of address, which is reinforced through her smooth delivery, and gentle hand gestures. However, this persona forms a binary opposition with Sugg’s status as a sexually active adult woman. Additionally, by being unmarried unmarried, Suggs models an alternative lifestyle while never explicitly advocating this. This clear contradiction is glosses over in a hyperreal mode of address which will certainly appeal to her fans
- The graphic description of her bleeding and cracked nipples splitting open ‘like an egg’ presents abject and upsetting mental images that provide a counterpoint to the idealised representation of motherhood that many vloggers present . This helps Sugg present a relatable and complex representation of both motherhood and femininity
- Zoella is defining herself as a women, not through a complex set of intensifying features, but instead through her metonymic status as a woman, which is defined and reinforced through her ability to get pregnant
