Understanding Media: Representation - LECTURE 1

This week we had a lecture introducing ideas about representation, and it made me realise how digital media acts as a great history book when exploring how socio-political ideologies have changed over time. In the lecture we were shown a clip from a well-known comedy film called 'Carry on: Camping', I had been previously aware of this film, as I know my parents are big fans of it. In the clip we were shown a group of women in bikinis, who are being gazed at by a group of men, though they are being admired for their physical attributes the scene still manages to ridicule them. The women are presented as 'air-headed', as the focus remains on their bodies, and how pleasing this is to the men surrounding them; this is intended to create a comedic effect. Older generations which include my parents see this as comedic, because that sort of slapstick, yet still offensive style was the norm in the 60s, yet in this day and age it would cause a lot of controversy, and also just wouldn't be viewed as very funny. This is due to the examples of great female representation that we now see in the media, our lecturer juxtaposed this clip with a music video for the song 'PYNK' by artist 'Janelle Monae'. The video could almost be seen as a response to pieces of media like 'Carry on: Camping', as the video doesn't require the need for the male gaze to sexualise women. In fact Monae shows women that they can sexualise themselves, and therefore be proud of their sexuality through her powerfully feminine music video. She re-appropriates the feminine identity, and uses it to empower women, which has the complete opposite desired effect that 'Carry on: Camping' has. This lecture really displayed how the media can be used as a platform to either empower on degrade women, however with the current social and political climate there leaves no more room for sexism, as we will constantly combat it, and choose to simply build each other up instead. Slapstick sexism has gotten old.

Videos referenced:
Carry on Camping scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UklIMCtUxTU
PYNK- Janelle Monae: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaYvlVR_BEc