Representation theory

Liesbet Van Zoonen

Bell Hooks

Judith Butler

Feminism:

- Started through Suffragette movement which fought for the vote for women. 

- First Wave - 19th and early 20th century UK & US - improved rights for women in marriage and property. 1918 = Women over 30 owning property could vote. 1928 = All women could vote. 

- Sex equality act was not passed until 1975.

- Second Wave - 1960s and 1970s - extended the fight beyond political rights to education, work and the home. In 'The Feminine Mystique' (1983), Betty Freiden argues women were restricted to role of housewife and mother, giving up on work and education. 

- Third Wave - 1990s to present - widened feminist movement to all women (Race, ethnicity, Class).

Laura Mulvey - 'The male gaze' 1975 - Majority of films are viewed from perspective of a heterosexual male. 

- Key words = Voyeurism (Practice of obtaining sexual gratification from observing others), Fetishism and Objectification (Degrading someone to object).

Todorov - Narratology

The idea that every story has the same pattern;

1) Equilibrium - Where everything is happy and good

2) Disruption - A problem occurs

3) Recognition - The main character realizes the problem

4) Repair - The character begins to fix the situation

5) New Equilibrium - The character has a new, better equilibrium - their life is better after the journey

Jean Baudrillard - Postmodernism

The idea that in a postmodern culture, the boundaries between the 'real' world and the world of the media have collapsed and that it is no longer possible to distinguish between reality and simulation.

The idea that in a postmodern age of simulacra we are immersed in a world of images which no longer refer to anything 'real.'

The idea that media images have come to seem more 'real' than the reality they supposedly represent (hyper reality).

Postmodernism = After modernism

Modernity was serious

Post-modernity has a sense of humor and irony

In media:

- Intertextuality is post modern

- Self-referential = Breaks the 4th wall

- Style over substance - looks good rather than has depth

- Fragmentation of time and space and personal identity and temporality = Future is bad.

- Copying, pastiche or homage - recreation 

- Irony