“Media representations are just reflections of reality, not constructions or distortions.”

One of the reasons that media representations are fascinating areas of study is that there are a myriad of contrasting and complex ideas out there, with equally contrasting theories. When we are considering the representations of certain groups of people, we have to consider how their collective identities are constructed. This is particularly interesting in the representation of women, which I have studied in connection with film, TV advertising and magazines. The question of whether those representations are reflections of the way women ‘really’ are, or whether they manipulate the way we see women, is constantly up for debate.

As theorist David Buckingham states, “Identity is an ambiguous and slippery term”. The collective identity of women has been a particularly newsworthy in recent months. In 2014, celebrity actress and UN Global Women’s Ambassador Emma Watson’s impassioned speech on gender equality to the United Nations to kick of the ‘HeForShe’ campaign which became a trending topic on media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Roland Barthes’ theory of semiotics is highly important when observing the representation of women in the media. This can again be observed in film when looking at examples such as the clothing worn in ‘Wasp’ (Andrea Arnold- 2003) and ‘Les Miserables’ (Tom Hooper- 2012). The prostitutes in ‘Les Mis’ along with the mother from ‘Wasp’ are seem wearing revealing clothing with heavy makeup. This reinforces the concept of women having to appear in an overly sexualised manner to be seen as attractive by men, something which the media use to this day  with airbrushing and photoshopping; women are being pushed further and further to achieve a higher standard of unattainable ‘perfection’.

An example of where this ‘perfection’ is being pushed is in the magazine ‘Women’s Health’, this magazine emphasises a ‘perfect’ and idealistic lifestyle for women. It provides them with diet plans and fitness regimes in order to gain and maintain a slim figure, which the magazine implies is more attractive to men.  The front cover generally shows a toned female wearing limited clothing, such as the November 2014 issue with Saturday’s member Frankie Bridge and titles such as ’50 best beauty buys’ and ‘Burn fat 24/7’ which pushes women to beautify themselves in order to fit in with society and be attractive to men. Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' theory, which applies to all media,is relevant here because women are being invited to see themselves through the eyes of men and make themselves into something that they think men will enjoy.

‘Cosmopolitan’ is another magazine which pushes women to question their identity. The magazine calls itself ‘The Bible for young women', which suggests that it is essential reading for their target audience, which the media kit identifies as 18-34. In the November 2014 issue there is an article called ‘Taylor Swift on Feminism, Famous Friends and single girl freedom’ which presents how 'Cosmopolitan' is tackling today issues such as feminism and women rights. Celebrity, Taylor Swift epitomises the 'Cosmo Woman' as a strong, successful business woman (who is also beautiful and slim!). This fits in well with Blumler and Katz's 'uses and gratifications' theory as women can read the magazine for social interaction, information and entertainment from the relatable features on 'real women' as well as aspiring to the images in the fashion and diet pages.

One area where representation of women has been problematic over time is in TV advertising. Advertisements tend to uphold the status quo, while encouraging consumers to buy products to improve their lifestyle. In a series of Fairy Liquid advertisements from the 1960s to the present day, women are represented in a traditionally idealistic way, which may not be considered as a reflection of reality. For example in the 1960s adverts, an idealistic home mother is presented, who is looking after her little girl (who will also grow up using Fairy Liquid) and doing the washing up. The whole range of adverts are set in the kitchen at the sink, with the emphasis on how the product makes your hands soft, as if that is a priority for women. The mother is shown doing educational activities with the little girl at the end of the advertisements such as playing with blocks or reading nursery rhymes. The actors in the adverts are extremely ‘well spoken’ and use received pronunciation, this emphaisises that the people who use the product have high standards and therefore the product must be good quality too. This, I believe is not a true reflection of reality as Fairy have used a very stereotypical view of women at home. The advertisements are presented as if, if you use Fairy Liquid, your lifestyle will change and you will have a much cleaner and less problematic life.  This applies to Judith Butler’s theory of ‘Gender as a performance’ as the woman in the advert is performing to the stereotypical manners and standards of women in the 1960s, playing up on her gender. This pushes the women watching to play up on their gender too, being a perfect housewife, looking after children and of course washing up using Fairy Liquid.

The Fairly Liquid adverts reinforce a stereotype, which does suggest that they are constructing or at least distorting reality for the purpose of selling a product. Over time, films have been much criticised for doing the same. In films such as ‘Vertigo’ (Alfred Hitchcock- 1958), Laura Mulvey’s theory of male gaze is clear, which presents his ‘ice women’ in such a sexualised manner due to the male camera shots of the female body which he believes appeals to the male viewers. His ‘icey blondes’ as the main women in his films,  are presented as the ‘damsel in distress’ with a male figure who has to come to the rescue. This style has lead some to criticise Hitchcock as a misogynist (women hater) who misrepresented women by not allowing them to be strong independent characters. 

There have been a lot of films about strong, independent women in the past few years, however in ‘Divergent’ (Neil Burger- 2014) this is taken to a new level where gender is not an issue and men and women are totally equal. The female protagonist, Tris, is presented as a strong independent woman and presents a much stronger interpretation of women as just as powerful if not more so than men. Throughout the film the female characters are presented as being on the top spots of the ranking board. Which we can link to the fact that the writer Veronica Roth, wants to present the strong female side which despite being fantasy film is present in today's society.  Therefore as a fantasy it does distort reality, presenting a dystopia which clearly in not even attempting to reflect reality.

In conclusion, I believe that to an extent media representations are just reflections of reality. However much the media may attempt to reflect reality it is impossible as the media is being created for a purpose and a certain audience so there has to be some reconstruction in order for the audience to buy into the idea. In the future the media is still likely to distort reality as even now, the most popular films are not total reflections,and even in the future people are going to watch films and read magazines in order to escape reality and adverts will still reflects the status quo trying in influence consumers to buy their product with their idealistic yet distorted representations.