Representation of Gender in the Media

Female Representation

1) A sexualised, objectified female in advertising - Grand Theft Auto 5 promotional art

 The demographic audience for the game GTA 5 consists mostly of young (teens as young as 11 to adults as old as 25, despite the game's 18 rating), straight males of the B to F socio economic demographics. This is due to main focus of the GTA game series being on the criminal and violent lifestyles taking place in well-known American cities. In the games, women are prominently objectified and commonly antagonised, as well as rarely presented in a positive way, and so far none of the protagonists in the GTA series has been a woman, despite the presence of women in the crime underworld of cities being no less prominent. The use of objectification of women in the games makes these young men - who have yet to be in a position of any sort of authority - feel more empowered in the fictional world, as the game's protagonists have prostitutes and women readily available in the games to be treated in any way the person behind the controller sees fit.
This advertisement consists of a long shot of a white, blonde, young woman in a bikini, posing with her phone. This poster has been the poster most commonly used to advertise GTA 5, most likely since its controversial nature would bring attention to the franchise before the game's release. Her bikini exposes most of her skin, and the red colour brings attention to the only parts of her body that remain covered. She fits the stereotype of an attractive woman, as she's visibly thin, has flawless skin, large breasts, small facial features, a gentle tan and long blonde hair. The focus of the viewer's gaze is aimed for her chest, as the position of her in the photo places her chest to be in the centre of the image. The only way in which the poster links back to the objective and plot of the game is the background, which matches the setting of the fictional city based on Hollywood. However the woman who is the main focus of the poster doesn't seem to show any particular relevance to the storyline.

2) Domestic woman in a film or TV show - Lois Griffin from Family Guy

The demographic audience for Family Guy consists mainly of Americans of the C and lower socio economic demographics, with a narrower focus on teenagers and youth of both genders. Family Guy is a sitcom, and therefore has an episodic plot, almost always focusing on the Griffin family, of which Lois Griffin is a member of. She is the wife of Peter Griffin and the mother of their three children. Her portrayal throughout the series is mostly shown to be a carer for Stewie, the youngest child, as a full-time mom. She is a white, ginger woman, with a curvy figure and she's usually seen wearing red lipstick, earrings, a teal shirt, beige trousers and flat shoes - which suggests a casual appearance leaning onto a formal side. Aside from her large nose, her features are typical of a stereotypical suburban mother, as she isn't portrayed in a neither an attractive or unattractive way, though her lipstick and earrings might suggest that at least she tries to look nice.

As her job as a mother is mostly centred around taking care of the baby, she isn't seen out of the house as often as the other family members throughout the show. Her appearances and gags are often focused around housework and nurturing the needs of Stewie and her lazy husband Peter. Her role in the show seems to also focus on being the one to whom the other characters turn to for advice, which further stresses her portrayal as a stereotypical woman and mother - maternal, mature and understanding.

3) Post Feminism - Lilly Allen's "Hard Out Here" (2013)

Post feminism: Music Video: Lily Allen – Hard Out Here

The video begins with a scene where the singer is undergoing a liposuction. As a man in a suit, looking over her operation spews negative comments about what brought her to the hospital bed, she answers back with ‘I had two babies’, but is ignored. A television screen showing dancers wearing revealing clothes is also shown as part of the mise-en-scene.

The scene shifts to her dancing with the same dancers as shown before, as she sings the chorus ‘It’s hard out here / For a bitch it’s hard’, which is meant to represent how hard it is to be a woman in today’s patriarchal society. Some other lines in the song include ‘Forget your balls and grow a pair of tits’, which is a collocation clash to emphasise her intention to surpass males in the song and video. By ‘forget your balls’, she is disregarding the importance of men to encourage the message that females are just as important and tough as men, but it may also encourage men to see society from a woman’s point of view.

One of the most influential scenes of the music video is near the end, as Lily Allen is shown in the foreground of a bunch of balloons which spell out ‘LILY ALLEN HAS A BAGGY PUSSY’ which is a clear reference to a similar scene of Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ and the controversy that it has caused earlier within the year for its sexist lyrics and motifs – the inclusion of this scene in Allen’s video is a backlash at the encouragement of date rape and further stresses the feministic theme of the song.

Lily Allen’s demographic would be assumed to be fans of her music from the late 2000’s when she debuted. After taking a hiatus from music at about 2009, she came back in 2013 with this song, which possibly caused a shift in her demographic to a more female-focused one, as her new feminist-centred image has likely pushed away some of her male fans who struggle to agree with her views.