Media Studies

www.curriculum-press.co.uk Number 086

Applying Feminism
The aims of this Factsheet are to:
• give a historical overview of the different types of feminism
• outline the ideas of three feminists who have written about the
media, namely Mulvey, Wolf and Kilbourne
• offer a feminist analysis of a contemporary media form
Introduction to Feminism
Feminism can be broadly defined as the desire
for, and support of, a woman’s right to be treated
as a man’s equal in the social, economic and
political worlds. It is important to remember that
most feminists do not consider women to be
‘better’ than men but rather feel that patriarchy,
or male dominance in a society, is a hindrance to
women receiving the same treatment and benefits
as men. It is also important to remember that
men can be feminists too since feminism is about (http://en.wikipedia
desiring and supporting equality for women. .org/wiki/Feminism)
Feminism is often associated with the 1960s / 70s as this is when the
public became more aware of many feminist writers and social policies
and laws began to change to ensure more equality for women.
However, feminist ideas have been around for much longer.
• The third wave of feminism began in the 1980s and continues to
the present day. Since laws are now supposed to ensure equality
for women in the areas the second wave feminist were concerned
about, third wave feminists are concerned with negative
stereotypes of women, their right to control their own sexuality
(including how they dress) and reproductive issues such as
abortion and the availability of contraception. The most recent
example of third wave feminism can be seen in the SlutWalk
movement.
SlutWalks originated in April 2011 and are a feminist response
to the suggestion by a Canadian police officer that a female rape
victim’s choice of clothing encouraged her attacker. Michael
Sanguinetti suggested “women should avoid dressing like sluts”.
Those who take part in the SlutWalks march, either in their regular
clothing or dressed as ‘sluts’, often with banners proclaiming
feminist statements.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Slutwalk)

The origins of feminism

• The first wave of feminism came about in the early 1900s and
was concerned with creating equality between men and women.
It was based upon A Vindication of the Rights of Women by
Mary Wollstonecraft, which was written in 1792. First wave
feminist focused on legal inequalities such as voting rights and
property ownership and their cause was brought to public
attention through the suffragette movement.
• The second wave of feminism is mostly associated with the
Women’s Liberation Movement, which started in the 1960s. Now
that women had equal voting rights in America and the United
Kingdom, feminists were interested in ensuring equality
elsewhere in women’s lives, such as the workplace and family.
In addition, some second wave feminists were concerned with
the impact of pornography on women since the mass media was
becoming a bigger part of people’s lives.
Exam Hint:- Background content is useful to help you
understand the theory but it should not simply be regurgitated
in the exam. If you wish to use feminist ideas, make sure you
apply them to a media text or form. Use the analyses of music
video and Nicki Minaj further on as a guide on how to use
feminist approaches.
There are many different forms of contemporary feminism, reflecting
the many different types of women in the world and the range of
issues that affect them. Some feminists are concerned only with the
impact of patriarchy whilst others also see class and ethnicity as
important issues.

Type of feminism Description

Radical Feminism This type of feminism sees the cause of women’s oppression as men. It assumes that men deliberately exploit women as
this benefits them. One of the main aims of this theory is to address concerns over violence against women, especially in
sexual relationships.
Liberal Feminism This type of feminism is mainly concerned with gender socialisation in order to show that gender roles are not biologically
determined. The main aim of this type of feminism is to change the ways children are socialised into stereotypical gender
roles and to attempt to change social policy to improve the position of women within the family.
Marxist-Feminism This feminist approach looks at women’s oppression in relation to capitalism and the class system. One of the aims of
this type of feminism is to look at the role of domestic labour within capitalism, namely that women work in the home for
‘free’, and the role women play in producing the next generation of the labour force.
Black Feminism This approach is primarily concerned with black and Asian women’s experiences of oppression and exploitation. It
combines ideas about capitalism, patriarchy and anti-racism.
Postmodern Feminism This type of feminism is associated with third wave feminists. It acknowledges the diversity amongst women and
encourages individual women to find feminist ideas that combine with their own experiences of life to create a brand of
feminism suitable for them.

1
086. Applying Feminism Media Studies
www.curriculum-press.co.uk

Suffragettes and Suffragists

The difference between radical and liberal feminists can be seen in the historical example of suffragettes and suffragists. Both were
women’s groups interested in extending women’s rights in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but they had very different ways of
expressing and achieving their aims.

Liberal feminists - suffragists Radical feminists - suffragettes

The National Union of Women’s Some women felt that the
Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) was NUWSS were not making
formed in 1897 to unite several enough progress quickly
existing women’s groups who enough so they formed a
wanted the vote for women. They breakaway group called the
wanted to expand rights for all Women’s Social and Political
women and tried to achieve their Union. They believed
goals through moderate, peaceful strongly in what they were
and lawful means. They presented fighting for and were not
reasoned arguments at public afraid to use violent,
meetings and used petitions to raise confrontational and often
public awareness of their plight. illegal means to achieve their
aims. They wanted the same
(http://img4.fold3.com/img/thumbnail/32233244/400/400/ rights as men and their chosen way to reach this goal was
0_0_320_439.jpg) through ‘deeds not words’, most famously chaining
themselves to the railings outside Downing Street and the
houses of Parliament. (www.johndclare.net/images/women21.gif)

Feminism and the Media

The male gaze is still evident
Since the second wave, feminists have been interested in the role
in contemporary Hollywood
the mass media plays in oppressing women or hindering their pursuit
films, such as Transformers
of equality. Some feminists are concerned with the ways in which
(2007). Megan Fox is
women are represented in the media and the effect these portrayals
portrayed in a highly
may have on the women themselves as well as men’s attitudes
sexualised way for men in the
towards women. There are many feminists who have written about
audience.
the mass media but this Factsheet will focus on Laura Mulvey’s
views of classic Hollywood cinema, Jean Kilbourne’s analysis of
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_beuhg0sgwzA/
advertising and Naomi Wolf’s discussion of the expectation for
S6su14auyDI/AAAAAAAAACE/voW2YI-
women to be beautiful. ExxY/s1600/megan-fox-transformers.jpg)

Laura Mulvey’s analysis of classic Hollywood film-
making
Laura Mulvey wrote Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema in
1975 and it is probably the most well-known and most often used
piece of feminist writing for Media Studies students. Mulvey
posited that the cinematography of classic Hollywood films
objectifies women; the camera ‘looks’ at women as if were a male
and the woman is a desirable sexual object. She called this the male
gaze and suggested that women are either viewed in a ‘voyeuristic’
way, which makes them ‘whores’, or in a ‘fetishistic’ way, making
them ‘madonnas’ or virgins. Mulvey thought the only way to alter
the representations of women in film was to completely change the
cinematography of films by creating a new avant-garde style of
feminist film-making
The Outlaw, made in 1943, is
an example of Mulvey’s male
gaze. Jane Russell is filmed
for the sexual gratification of
male viewers.
( w w w. b l e e d i n g c o o l . c o m / w p -
content/uploads//2011/02/jane-
russell-the-outlaw.jpg?d9c344)
Mulvey’s ideas have been criticised by some who claim that the
notion of a male gaze suggests that female viewers cannot derive
any pleasure from watching Hollywood films. Critics claim that
women can enjoy watching films from a male perspective and Mulvey
does not take into account the complex variety of ways in which
audiences consume and enjoy films.
Jean Kilbourne’s analysis of advertising
Jean Kilbourne started analysing the representations of women in
advertising in 1979 with the documentary Killing Us Softly:
Advertising’s Image of Women. Since then she has updated the
documentary three times, most recently with Killing Us Softly 4 in
2010. (You can see extracts from this documentary on the Media
Education Foundation website.) As well as offering a feminist
reading of advertising, Kilbourne was also one of the first media
theorists to advocate media literacy as a means of preventing
problems she saw as being caused by the mass media, such as
eating disorders and addictions.
Much of what Kilbourne discusses in the Killing Us Softly
documentaries is the notion that advertising is selling more than
products; it is also selling ideas of what it is to be ‘normal’ in our
society. She claims that the advertising industry makes a women’s
appearance the most important thing about her.

2
086. Applying Feminism Media Studies
www.curriculum-press.co.uk

Women feel they must strive for perfection but feel guilty and
ashamed when they cannot achieve the absolute flawlessness they
are being told is ‘normal’. Kilbourne uses several examples of how
images in advertising are manipulated to make the women in the
adverts appear perfect. For example, images of Jessica Alba used in
a Campari advertising campaign were heavily edited to reduce the
size of her waist, hips and thighs whilst maintaining the size of her
breasts.
(http://hollywooddame.
com/2008/12/08/jessica-alba-
photoshop-before-and-after-photos/
photoshopped-jessica-alba1-before-
and-after/)
Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth
Wolf’s ideas in The Beauty Myth (1991) follow on from Kilbourne’s
analysis of representations of women in advertising. Wolf claims
that the notion of ‘beauty’ is entirely socially constructed and
patriarchal. By this she means that men in a given society create
rules of what is considered beautiful in women but this alters from
culture to culture. For example, for Western women, blond hair, a
slim figure and flawless skin are considered beautiful but in
Mauritania, West Africa, women are seen as beautiful if they are
obese and have stretch marks. In the introduction to The Beauty
Myth, Wolf states: “The more legal and material hindrances women
have broken through, the more strictly and heavily and cruelly images
of female beauty have come to weigh upon us. During the past
decade, women breached the power structure; meanwhile, eating
disorders rose exponentially and cosmetic surgery became the
fastest-growing specialty. More women have more money and power
and scope and legal recognition than we have ever had before; but
in terms of how we feel about ourselves physically, we may actually
be worse off than our unliberated grandmothers.” Wolf believes
that, even though women have achieved more equality in terms of
voting rights and regulations in the work place, male dominated
society continues to oppress women by making them focus to such
a great extent on how they look and whether they are ‘beautiful’.
Feminism and Music Videos
The representation of women in R&B and hip-hop videos has been
an area of contentious debate for feminists in recent years. Many
feminists have looked at the lyrics and images used in these musical
genres and there has been disagreement about whether the women
portrayed are victims of patriarchal oppression or empowered female
role models.
Writing on www.theroot.com, a website aimed at a black audience
and covering news, opinions, politics and culture, writer Akotot
Ofori-Atta discusses some of the more provocative rap songs about
women that have caused widespread offence amongst feminists,
such as the 1992 Dr Dre song Bitches Ain’t Shit which refers to
women as “hoes and tricks”, both slang terms for prostitutes. She
goes on to mention the controversy around Tip-Drill by Nelly, the
title itself being a colloquialism for an ugly girl with an attractive
body. In the video, Nelly is seen to swipe a credit card between the
buttocks of a female dancer wearing a bikini, suggesting she is can
be paid to be ‘used’. Whilst the video’s co-producer, Harold Hardee,
claimed the video was “not really reality”, feminist media theorists
such as Sut Jhally believe that the representations of women in
music videos can have an impact on the behaviours of people in
real life. For example, in his documentary Dreamworlds 3: Desire,
Sex and Power in Music Video, Jhally refers to the Puerto Rican
Pride Day on July 11, 2000 in Central Park, New York where
celebrations descended into chaos as men sprayed drinks over
passing women and ripped off their clothes. Jhally juxtaposes the
images from the real life events with footage from hip-hop videos,
which show very similar events taking place but, as Jhally points
out, the women in real life are not enjoying the experience. (Extracts
from the documentary can be viewed on the Media Education
Foundation website.)
Nelly’s video for Tip-Drill caused controversy due to its
disrespectful treatment of women.
(image captured from Tip-Drill
music video)

Exam Hint:- If you are going to use the ideas of Mulvey,

Kilbourne or Wolf, make sure you apply them yourself to your Scenes reminiscent of a music video were seen during Puerto Rican
own choice of texts. Many of the examples these theorists used
Pride Day in New York’s Central Park.
are out-of-date now so you will need to ensure you have
contemporary examples to support your points.

Activity
Find an example of a print advert that
portrays a woman, such as the one below,
and carry out a feminist analysis. Is there
evidence of Kilbourne and Wolf ’s ideas
that women are told they must be flawless
and perfectly beautiful? Do you think the
image has been manipulated to make the
woman look more stereotypically
attractive? How might the advert make
women feel about themselves and about
other women? (www.coronacomingattractions.com/sites/default/
files/news/keira_knightley_chanel_ad_2009.jpg) (image captured from Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex and Power in Music Video)

3
086. Applying Feminism
It is not just male artists who feminists have seen as portraying
women in a negative way. One woman, who uses the name
NineteenPercent on her YouTube channel, offers a feminist analysis
of Beyonce’s Who Runs the World (Girls), which she points out is
factually incorrect. She says the message in the song only serves to
distract young girls from real issues of female oppression that mean
they do not, and currently cannot, ‘run the world’. For example,
NineteenPercent asks Beyonce how girls can ‘run the world’ when
95% of recorded domestic abuse victims in American are female and
American women are paid, on average, 78% of what men earn.
The video for Beyonce’s Who Runs the World (Girls) can be viewed
at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBmMU_iwe6U&ob=av2e
NineteenPercent’s feminist response Who Runs the World (Lies)
can be viewed at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=p72UqyVPj54&
feature=channel_video_title
Activity
Choose a music video and analyse the representations of women
in the song lyrics and the video imagery. Are they derogatory
towards women? Is the gender of the artists relevant to the
messages about women that are evident? Can you offer a
feminist reading of the song?
Other feminists are less concerned with what male hip-hop artists
are saying about women and believe the focus should be on female
artists working within the music industry. For example, Joan Morgan,
who refers to herself as a ‘hip-hop feminist’, believes that feminists
should not be spending time analysing lyrics and finding sexism
within them because that has been done too many times before and
everyone knows it is there. She believes it is more important for
feminists to focus on ‘respectability politics’ by which she means
the ways that women, especially black women, are kept from freely
expressing their sexuality by notions of what is decent and
respectable.
Acknowledgements: This Media Studies Factsheet was researched and written by Helen
McDonald. Curriculum Press, Bank House, 105 King Street, Wellington, TF1 1NU. Media
Factsheets may be copied free of charge by teaching staff or students, provided that their
school is a registered subscriber. No part of these Factsheets may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any other form or by any other means, without the prior
permission of the publisher. ISSN 1351-5136
4
Media Studies
www.curriculum-press.co.uk
Case Study – Nicki Minaj
The female rapper Nicki Minaj is a good example of
‘respectability politics’ and shows how a female hip-hop artist
has divided opinion over what it is to be a feminist in
contemporary hip-hop. For example, Gwendolyn D. Pough
claims that simply by being hip-hop artists, women like Lil’ Kim
and Nicki Minaj are disrupting the male dominated genre.
However, alternative views claim that the overtly sexualised
style of Lil’ Kim and Minaj actually panders to male fantasy and
does little for women’s equality. Writing on the feminist blog
Gender Across Borders, Menda Francois says of female rappers:
”female rappers’ feminist leanings are often severely undermined
by their own pseudo-masculinity”, by which she means female
rappers are trying to be like male rappers. This can be seen in
Minaj’s song Stupid Hoes, which refers to women who have
criticized her using the same negative terms that male rappers
have previously used to refer to women.
Minaj has caused such volume of debate since she combines
notions of femininity that are usually seen as separate, namely
the virgin and the whore. For example, much of Minaj’s look is
childish and doll-like and her movements and facial expressions
in her videos can be seen as emphasizing this. She has even been
represented as a Barbie doll, in a sealed box complete with
accessories, to promote her free mixtape download Barbie World
released in January 2010. In addition, Mattel made a limited edition
Nicki Minaj Barbie doll in December 2011 to auction for charity.
Nicki Minaj often portrays Mattel made a Minaj Barbie
herself as doll-like. doll in December 2011.
(www.israbox.com/uploads/posts/ (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-
2010-12/1292509059_nicki- images/855/barbb.jpg/)
minaj.jpg)
However, juxtaposed with this is Minaj’s style of rapping which
is explicit and sexually provocative. She uses profanity and
insults in much the same way that mainstream, male gangster
rappers do which is at odds with her Barbie doll persona. This
combination of masculine and feminine traits is expressed by
Minaj in her song Roman’s Revenge, which starts with the line “I
am not Jasmine, I am Aladdin”, referring to the characters in
Disney’s animated children’s film Aladdin, and rejecting the idea
that, despite her appearance, she is a ‘Disney princess’.
Some feminists would claim that Minaj is undermining herself
and other women by using imagery usually associated with
female oppression and by becoming masculine to succeed in a
male dominated industry. For example, the Barbie imagery
emphasises appearance over all else and the use of terms like
‘bitch’ and ‘hoe’ replicate unacceptable male behaviours.
However, postmodern feminists would claim that Minaj is
combining elements of her personality to create her own brand
of feminism. She enjoys the femininity associated with dressing
up in a ‘girlie’ way but has a tough and aggressive side to her
too. Postmodern feminism would support this approach as Minaj
is being the women she wants to be with no apologies to either
men or women.