Key Theory 8 - feminist theory - Lisbet Van Zoonen

Key Theory 8 - feminist theory - Lisbet Van Zoonen

Gender is constructed through codes and conventions of media products, and the idea of what is male and what is female changes over time. 

Women's bodies are used in media products as a spectacle for heterosexual male audiences, which reinforces patriarchal hegemony. 

1. Read the Alfred Hitchcock article and make notes on content, ideology and lexis. Make sure to pick out several (at least three) example sentences that you can ultimately quote in the exam!
2. Analyse two of the images included in this article. Consider shot type, costume, and especially the anchorage provided by the lexis of the captions. What ideological perspectives are being constructed?
3. How does this interview reflect the representation of women in 1964? How does it differ from how women are represented in 2018?
4. In what ways does this article confirm patriarchal hegemonic ideologies relating to women?
5. Research Alfred Hitchcock, particularly accusations made about him by the actor Tippi Hedren. Discuss your findings.

1. The lexis that is used is addressing all women as a group with words such as "they" and "they're". His ideology is that all British women are the same as "they're like snow-capped volcanoes". "Except her recipes. She keeps them to herself, even our housekeeper can't prise them out of her". "To me they're the most seductive creatures in the world".

2. One of the images in the article is a medium close up of Hitchcock and his wife. Hitchcock is wearing a suit to demonstrate his wealth and formality and the anchorage of the image is a caption that reads: "Naturally I chose an English girl for a wife".  The lexis in this caption constructs the ideological perspective that he cares more about the sex appeal of a woman rather than their personality because the phrase "an English girl" creates the idea that he doesn't really care who it is as long as she is English. Furthermore, there is another medium close up of an actress who is wearing a shirt that can be considered formal but it is also quite low cut to reveal some of her chest. Part of the caption of the image reads "tantalising beauty I call British." The lexis used here is effective because 

3. The interview represents women who lived in 1964 as much more like objects rather than humans. This is because he talks about British women as if they are his favourite brand of a specific product. Furthermore, the representation of women is that they can have successful careers but by using their bodies in the career. This is different from how women are represented now because now women are seen as much more of a person with more of a personality. In 1964 women could have been seen to have a personality but that personality trait was more sexualised than it is now.

4. In some ways the article confirms patriarchal hegemonic ideologies relating to women because quotes such as "naturally I chose an English girl" suggests that men have all of the power when choosing a woman to be with and the woman doesn't have a say in it at all. This confirms that in 1964 men were at the top of society and had power to manipulate women how they want. The fact that the article is talking about Hitchcock appointing certain women as actresses shows that even when women are allowed to have something good such as a prestigious job it is only on the say so of men.

5. Hitchcock was  famous film director active in the 20th century. When working on the film "The Birds" Hitchcock developed a love for actor Tippi Hedren which was not reciprocated. Due to this fact Hitchcock became increasingly angry with Hedren for not having a relationship with him and through himself at her in attempts at sexual advances. Hedren again rejected him