Identities: Feminism and new/digital media

A silent feminist Twitter protest gets mixed support

What was the initial incident or situation that sparked this example?
In protest of women's inability to speak out on Twitter without incurring some form of abuse. However, it seems many Twitter users, are skeptical that a day of silence is the appropriate response to bullying. Other women have responded on Twitter with more pro-active tags: #shoutback,#inspiringwomen, and #nosilence. 

Ched Evans: Who is 'Jean Hatchet' leading petitions against his return to football?

What was the initial incident or situation that sparked this example?

Ched Evans, the footballer convicted of rape, has faced criticism from fans and women's groups alike over his potential return to the sport. Ched Evans is a convicted rapist," she writes. "He does not deserve to return to a high profile and highly visible role in football whilst he still refuses to acknowledge his guilt, apologise to his victim and attempt to make clear his views to the fans who look up to him that what he did was wrong and they should not traumatise her or other rape victims.

NDM News

How Facebook changed our friendships

Maybe in some senses this is the new face of friendship. I would like to send more physical letters. I would like to do the emotional work required to stay involved with my “real” friends. But Facebook makes it so easy to keep in touch with and to have brief but genuinely meaningful contact with the people I care about that for once, no one gets forgotten, and the list of people who actively matter in my life just gets longer and longer.

Five facts that show how the advertising industry fails women

• Females make 85% of all purchasing decisions, yet are woefully underrepresented in creative jobs in advertising
• 88% of young female creatives say they lack role models

• 70% of young female creatives says they have never worked with a female creative director or executive creative director

•  70% of young female creatives are working in a 75% male-dominated department

• 60% of young females say they believe advertising is a career that doesn’t support young families

• 10% of young male creative are working in an all-male department

No More Page 3

1) Research the No More Page 3 campaign. Who started it and why?

2) What are the six reasons the campaign gives for why Page 3 has to go?

3) Read this debate in the Guardian regarding whether the campaign should be dropped. What are Barbara Ellen and Susan Boniface's contrasting opinions in the debate?

Barbara Ellen:
The problem with the No More Page 3 campaign is it began at a point where society was evolving. To carry on the campaign now will just mean that Page 3 carries on, if only infrequently. And there, arguably, a lot of other far more serious, demeaning or damaging things in the world that women don’t consent to we could be campaigning about.

Susan Boniface:
t’s bizarre to defend it on the basis that there are “worse things” – there’s no sliding scale for institutionalised sexism. Nor does it matter that, compared to other pornography, the photos are “tame” or “lame” – women’s bodies are neither lame nor tame.

4) How can the No More Page 3 campaign be linked to the idea of post-feminism?

The No More Page 3 campaign would be linked to the idea of post-feminism because it is a step in which women are being empowered as they are no longer being sexualised in the paper. However, this empowerment is short-lived due to the fact those images would be accessible online. 

5) What are your OWN views on the No More Page 3 campaign. Do you agree with the campaign's aims? Should the campaign continue?

I think that the eradication of Page 3 would be a positive thing in society as it would alter the perspectives of women published in newspapers. When Page 3 comes in topic of conversation, the immediate thought would be nude women. By this being removed, it would face post-feminism in the right direction. The campaign should continue and the reason for there being more important issues isn't a good enough reason to abandon the campaign. The fact is, there will always be inequalities and problems, but we should create solutions and fix problems arising one at a time, no matter how big or small. 

6) Do you agree that we are in a post-feminist state or is there still a need for feminism?

There is definitely a need for feminism. We live amongst a culture where audiences are desensitised from the objectification of women. The representation of women in music videos alone show how women are seen as a trophy or a sex object. 

Media Magazine: Feminism

1) Read Playing With The Past: Post-feminism and the Media (MM40, page 64 - our Media Magazine archive is here).

2) What are the two texts the article focuses on?

• Pan Am 
• Beyonce-Why Dont you love me?

3) What examples are provided from the two texts of the 'male gaze' (Mulvey)?

Beyonce's star construction perfectly encapsulates the contradictions of post-feminist culture, simultaneously declaring herself as an independent woman, whilst objectifying herself for the camera and the ‘male gaze’. Dress codes are highly sexualised, e.g. high waisted knickers which not only allow audiences, mainly men to appreciate or gaze at Beyonce's 'credentials' but also the vintage fashion on offer. 

 The drama Pam Am does has it's characters objectify themselves by using their looks and outfits to overpower the men in the series. Whilst the show was aware of the struggles of women in the 1960's, it glosses over it and still upholds the mainstream views of women that oppress and restrict them to their bodies being used for the male gaze. 

4) Do texts such as these show there is no longer a need for feminism or are they simply sexism in a different form?

I think that there is still a need for feminist groups because of the representation of women in these texts. These texts present how in this day and age, women are still being objectified in the media through the flaunting of their bodies as well as their sex appeal. Furthermore, I think that this illusion that women empower themselves through embracing their sexuality and therefore portraying it openly like in this case Beyonce, would not help the mind sets of audiences. In fact, it would desensitise the objectification of women, and could be interpret as a cultural norm.  

5) Choose three words/phrases from the glossary of the article and write their definitions on your blog.

Feminism – A movement aimed at defining,establishing, and defending women’s rights and equality to men. 

Third wave feminism – Was a movement that redefined and encouraged women to be dominant and sexually assertive.

Post-feminism – An ideology in culture and society that society is somehow past needing feminism and that the attitudes and arguments of feminism are no longer needed. 

Beyonce-Why don't you love me

1) How might this video contribute to Butler’s idea that gender roles are a ‘performance’?

Gender roles as a performance would be seen in Beyonce satirising traditional female roles. For example, her burning the cooking, and her sweeping and dusting the house. Moreover, Beyonce takes up this 'femme fatale' persona seen when she is smoking the cigarette and drinking liquor. This portrays how women are able to create a more masculine image. This contributes to Butler's theory as it shows how gender isn't down to biology but an ideal constructed by society.

2) Would McRobbie view Beyonce as an empowering role model for women?

McRobbie could view Beyonce as an empowering model for women. This is down to her success as a female artist in the music industry. But not only her success, but her ability to remain relevant, and constant in releasing music that is creative and memorable. Furthermore, Beyonce's confidence in wearing such outfits would definitely show how she's an empowering model for women as she is shown to embrace her femininity.  

3) What are your OWN views on this debate – does Beyonce empower women or reinforce the traditional ‘male gaze’ (Mulvey)?

Using Beyonce as an example is difficult because she could fit on both sides of the argument. On one side yes, she reinforces the male gaze through the clothes she wears and the choreography on her shows and music videos. However, she is empowering because she is a woman with unbelievable talent. She could even be seen as an inspiration because she made a good life for her and her family even when she wasn't born into big money. 

NDM News

Twitter tackles the free speech conundrum

When Twitter last week removed the blue tick of a writer (Breitbart contributor Milo Yiannopoulos) for breaching its newly created guidelines for speech and conduct on the platform, it pointed the way to a different future for social speech. Anything no longer goes. Protection of and respect for dissent and free speech is one of the key tenets of democracy. It is an important balancing of rights and responsibilities which deserves searching and lengthy debate, even on Twitter. 



By Twitter becoming stricter in its guidelines to tackle hostile and offensive behaviour, it in turn has sparked debate whether users are still able to utilise their freedom of speech or if Twitter has become too strict. Graphic video's will also begin to get censored for example the corps of the child on the beach and the IS executions. However, the distinguishing line is still very vague and unclear.  

Daily Mail takes full control of Australian  

The Daily Mail has ended its joint venture with Nine Entertainment and taken full control of its Australian news and entertainment website.e two companies, which described the decision as mutual, announced the joint venture in 2013 with the newsroom opening in Sydney on 1 January 2014. Martin Clarke, the chief executive of the Mail Online’s global operation, said the fast-changing digital market meant 100% ownership was the best model. The Daily Mail Australia has approximately 2 million monthly readers and has operations in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Taking full control of the Australian business brings it in line with the Daily Mail’s US and UK digital operations, which are wholly owned by DMGT.

By the Daily Mail accumulating this Australian site, it would present Pareto's Law that the minority of producers serve the majority of consumers. Moreover, it would present Marxism as the big companies get bigger and dont allow small business to grow.  

NDM News

Diversity on television is not just a black and white issue

The fact that men outnumber women two to one on television, that women disappear almost completely after the age of 50, that there are hardly any disabled presenters on air of any age, or that black men are only listened to about the industry’s lack of diversity once they’ve become really famous in America; none of it is all that funny. Actors moaning about racism and women about sexism – none of it is new. After a campaign led by Sir Lenny Henry, the BBC pledged to increase the number of black, Asian and minority ethnic people on air by more than 40% as long ago as June 2014, as well as to almost double the number of senior managers from those groups who work at the corporation by 2020. Women have long made up 50% of the population, but 40% of Londoners are now from an ethnic minority, and other minorities – whether disabled, transgender or just other – are making their voices heard. And where better to get your voice heard than in the media? 

Why does the tech industry ignore the elderly in favour of the Snapchat generation?

The tech industry needs to stop being so dunderheaded about technology for the elderly. For the past decade, the industry has been laser-focused on transforming life and work for one rocketing market segment: 25-year-olds with money. It has routinely avoided, underestimated or remained ignorant about the world's other rocketing market segment: old people and the family members who take care of them.Combine technology such as Hearbuds with GPS and facial recognition technology, and older people could get reminders in their ears about where they are and who they are talking to. Driverless cars should be a giant leap for older people. To stop driving is to give up the freedom to go out to lunch or visit a friend at any time; that limitation ends with driverless cars. You could be 100, nearly blind and have the reflexes of a Galápagos tortoise, but you could whistle for your Google car and tell it to take you to the nearest speakeasy. Put these developments together, and it's possible to make the experience of getting old radically different a decade from now – as different as it is to be young in 2016 compared with being young in the dark ages of 2006, pre-iPhone. Imagine existing as a teenager when all you could do on a phone was text.