Representation Essay Question

It has been said that media representations often reflect social and political concerns of the age in which they are created. Discuss

Over the years, media representations have been constructed in order to reflect the zeitgeist of different years. Notably, the rise of the femme fatale in the early 1940s and 50s challenged the earlier representations of women as housewives, with films such as 'Double Indemnity' (1944) representing women as being powerful and seductive. Nowadays, the constant celebrification of celebrities, reflects social concerns, as the audience are obsessed with celebrities and are able to approach them , with social networking sites such as Twitter bridging the gap between the audience and the celebrity. In music videos, women are subordinated and sexually objectified, as evident in Rihanna's video 'Rude Boy'.Yet, specific media representations may reflect important social and political concerns, such as obesity. The growth of shows based around healthy eating and exercise, for example 'The Biggest Loser' are an example of the social concern, as obese people are often misrepresented as being undesirable and lazy or even marginalised as token characters in films or television shows.

The emergence of the femme fatale in the 1940s and 50s reflected the social and political concerns of that age, as women were being constructed as being dominant and powerful, in contrast to their stereotypical representation as housewives, as seen in television advertising, for example Fairy washing up detergent. Evidently, the film noir genre signified women as the seductive, yet dangerous characters, as seen in 'Double Indemnity' (1994) where Phyllis Dietrichson plays a beautiful yet dangerous femme fatale character, who threatens male superiority. The emergence of the femme fatale certianly confounded fears in men about women having power, as men tried to maintain the status quo by having more power, as evident in television advertising, where 35% of the TV charcters were female in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. However, in the 1970s, women stood up for equality to men and resorted to marches and publicity stunts such as 'burning their bras' in order to speak out against patriachy and misogny towards women.

Likewise, media representations reflect the social and political concerns the age in which they are created, as women in music videos are objectified and subordinated as sex objects. Music videos by Rihanna signify women as sex objects, as they are positioned around the dominant male and are dressed in revealing clothes such as bikinis. As Goffman states, "Men are shown in positions of intelligence. Women are physically portrayed in sexual or reclining poses with blank or inviting expressions." Therefore, women are subordinated in music videos and are dismembered by the use of close up shots to their bodies, such as the breasts or the legs , therefore men gain scocophilic pleasures out of watching women . In contrast, specific videos by Lady Gaga challenge the representation of women, as in her video 'Alejandro', she is constructed as being dominant and powerful, as signified by her black leather costume and position on a higher throne. The video challenges the representation of men, as they are subordinated and objectified, as signified by the fact that they are wearing women's tights and are chained by collars.

The representation of obesity in the media reflects the zeitgeist of the current age, as this issue is regarded as a moral panic in society, with campaigns by the BHF ( British Heart Foundation) to encourage people to exercise and be healthy by eating the right type of food. Moreover, obese people across the media have been marginalised and stereotypically represented as being lazy, greedy and undesirable, as seen with 'Fat Bastard' in Austin Powers , the Obese zombie woman who eats fingers in 'Doghouse', Peter Griffin in Family Guy and other misrepresented stereotypes. As Stanley Cohen suggests, "obese people are treated as folk devils who violate societal values of self control". Therefore, obese people have themselves to blame for their appearance and should be marginalised in society. In most films and television programmes, the obese person is often the 'token character' who is included in order to be ridiculed by the audience for their appearance. Similarly, obese people are also 'ostracized' or expelled from fictional platforms such as magazine advertising due to their appearance.

In conjunction to this, the media representation of obese people reflects a political concern, as well as a social concern, as the UK government is trying to limit obesity by enforcing campaigns to urge obese people to exercise and turn to eating healthier foods such as fruits and veg, e.g. Five a Day. However, alternative representations of obese people in the media shows how determined they are to become thin, for example The Biggest Loser and Supersize vs Superskinny fairly represents obese people as being focused and determined to shed the pounds for personal reasons and are supported by professionals and trainers to achieve thier goal. In these shows, the working class obese people are given a chance to represent themselves positively.

In conclusion, media representations do reflect social and political concerns of the age in which they are created, as they are reflecting the zeitgeist of the age, with representations of women, obese people and celebrities reflecting the audience's desires to what they want to see. By including obese people on television, the audience get a chance to see that obese people desire to want to be thin and have a right to be accepted in society. Similarly, women in specific music videos should be dominant as oppossed to passive.