Further feminist theories

1) What definitions are offered by the factsheet for ‘feminism ‘and ‘patriarchy’?

• Feminism is defined as the movement which aims for women to be treated equal to men socially, economically and politically and patriarchy is define as the male dominance in society

2) Why did bell hooks publish her 1984 book ‘Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center’?

Due to the lack of representation within the feminist movement, Bell Hooks wrote her 1984 novel, many of which were ignored outside the main aims of feminism. She also argued that gender-only equality can not be achieved and that there are many other factors to be considered in order to make feminism more inclusive.

3) What aspects of feminism and oppression are the focus for a lot of bell hooks’s work?

Sex, Class, Race and intersectionality.

4) What is intersectionality and what does hooks argue regarding this?

Intersectionality is the word used to describe aspects of social identities and related systems of privilege, inequality and racism that overlap or ' intersect. ' Bell Hooks claims that many social identity interactions can not be fully understood until racialization is taken into account.

5) What did Liesbet van Zoonen conclude regarding the relationship between gender roles and the mass media?

Van Zoonen concluded that a ' strong correlation between sex and interaction ' exists and that mass media contributes to measurable gender roles in advertisement, film and television. 

6) Liesbet van Zoonen sees gender as socially constructed. What does this mean and which other media theorist we have studied does this link to?

Van Zoonen argues that sex is the product of the experiences of ' man, social and cultural ' and the development of various connotations that have become implicit in specific gender identities. It ties to the concepts of ' Sex as a feature ' by Judith Butler. 

7) How do feminists view women’s lifestyle magazines in different ways? Which view do you agree with?

Feminists view magazines for women's lifestyles as either ' outdated and enforcing patriarchal ideologies ' or ' reaffirming modern-day femininity. ' 

8) In looking at the history of the colours pink and blue, van Zoonen suggests ideas gender ideas can evolve over time. Which other media theorist we have studied argues this and do you agree that gender roles are in a process of constant change? Can you suggest examples to support your view?

David Gauntlett spoke about gender constant changes, especially masculinity. I think gender ideas have evolved sharply, especially in recent years, with the infamous Gillette advertisement, the all-female Ghostbusters reboot and clothing brands deciding to market their clothing as unisex.

9) What are the five aspects van Zoonen suggests are significant in determining the influence of the media?

• commercial or public
• platform
• Target audience
• Genre
• media text

10) What other media theorist can be linked to van Zoonen’s readings of the media?

The encoding / decoding theory of Stuart Hall as well as the theory of reception as gender roles can be interpreted by different factors of social identity in a variety of ways. 

11) Van Zoonen discusses ‘transmission models of communication’. She suggests women are oppressed by the dominant culture and therefore take in representations that do not reflect their view of the world. What other theory and idea (that we have studied recently) can this be linked to?

Gilroy's ' Double Consciousness ' discussing the idea that the mass media is not depicting Black experience accurately. 

12) Finally, van Zoonen has built on the work of bell hooks by exploring power and feminism. She suggests that power is not a binary male/female issue but reflects the “multiplicity of relations of subordination”. How does this link to bell hooks views on feminism and intersectionality?

It addresses the intersectionality problem that is being discussed by bell hooks, with sexuality being only a portion of the cause of oppression. Oppression is much more nuanced and your identity consists of different attributes that can give you privilege or the opposite, it is impossible to make a sweeping decision without taking into account the historical and cultural meaning of the race