Research Report-Theoretical Context

 I have been exploring the Medias and men’s influence on women, particularly looking at the way they should look, the way they are used to sell products and women’s body language.  These ideas have been developed through many theorists particularly i believe the most important are:

·         Freud’s theory of sexual fetishism

The idea that we are born male or female, but masculinity and femininity is something you earn and are taught through whether it be through societal norms produced and inscribed in the public eye by the media

·         Foucault’s theory of the gaze and Laura Mulveys theory of the male gaze

    I consider that Diamond and Quincy’s book feminism and Foucault is hugely related to my idea as it talks about women as objects under Foucault’s theory of the ‘male gaze’. Women are born into a society where a certain look has already been set out for them by the male. Through both the male and popular culture we are urged to look a certain way, dress a certain way, walk a certain way and if not we do not fit into society and in some ways I believe we are cast out as an outsider. Through Foucault’s theory of the gaze we are always being watched and judged as he suggests we are always conscious and aware of people’s judgements and ‘gaze’.

Femininity

   I have also looked at many books on femininity in which I believe these have helped me develop my ideas of how media influence women’s bodies particularly the politics of women’s bodies, and Naomi’s wolfs book ‘the beauty myth’.

Rose Weitz in politics of women’s bodies describes femininity is something you learn whether it be through media but by the pressure of the media and men “We are born male or female, but not masculine or feminine. Femininity is an artifice, an achievement”(page) Naomi wolf describes the way in which advertising and media rely on making women feel bad about their bodies and finding solutions which earn them money. These theories and ideas have helped me gather a better understanding of my chosen topic and what I want to get out of my photographs. One thing that I learned from these theories is there is such a strict rule about what is perfect and what is not that I realised I want my photographs to go against these rules.