“Suffragette”, set in 1912, depicts the life and tribulations of the women’s rights’ group, also under the name of the “Suffragettes”. Using real life events, such as the death of Emily Davison and the leadership of Emmeline Pankhurst, as well as introducing fictional characters and events, the film explores the struggle in establishing and exploring the right for women to vote.

In order to resonate with a modern day audience and the everyday women, the central protagonist, Maud Watts, was created as a character who supports the movement. Although Emily Davison and Emmeline Pankhurst are both featured and heavily referenced within the film, it is considered that their individual stories’ would not engage the intended audience as well as one that had never before been told in cinema; the story of the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement.

Within the film, the major emphasis on representation lies within that of gender. Women are presented as underprivileged, second-class citizens, who should abide to a patriarchal society in which they are oppressed. Regardless of this, since the film’s protagonists are all female, women are positively represented as powerful, regardless of being restricted any power.

In contrast, men are represented negatively regardless of their high positions within the patriarchal society. Many of the men are presented as being vile characters, behaving atrociously to women. For example, Norman Taylor - Maud’s boss - is shown to sexually abuse his workers, regardless of some of their young ages, as well as to demean and punish them, forcing them to work long hours for little pay. They are also represented further as violent through the exploration of how they are viewed through the female characters eyes. For example, when Maud says: “We break windows, we burn things, because war is the only language men listen to.” However, regardless of this overwhelmingly negative representation of the male gender, it is also shown through characters such as Maud’s husband, Sonny, that not all of the men are evil but perhaps led easily by the social conventions of the patriarchal society at the time. Likewise, the most positive representation of men can be found in that of Edith’s - Maud’s friend, pharmacist, and the leader of the particular group of foot soldiers featured within the film - husband, Hugh, who supports his wife’s cause.

The struggles that the women face establish the narrative as one that tells a somewhat sad story, of torment and troubles, regardless of the sense of empowerment. This is also conveyed through the use of cinematography and other visual codes. For example, the use of cool midtones and low-key lighting is used almost continuously throughout the film alongside imagery that uses low saturations. The regular use of close-up shots ensured that the audience felt connected to the characters, able to observe their facial expressions and find an insight into their emotions. The use of long shots were also used, however scarcely, to emphasis the vastness of the movement - for example, in riot and assembly scenes. These visual and technical codes are all key in simulating a negative, disconcerting mood.

The use of various audio codes - non-diegetic sound, the emphasis on diegetic background noises, and music, included - were also all important in creating a sense of mood. A noteworthy example of sound being used effectively was where there was an absence of it. For example, within the scene in which Emily Davison is hit by a horse, there is a considerable length of silence. This forces the audience to focus on the reactions of the other characters and gives them time for the events to be processed, therefore creating a more effective scene.

The film uses a traditional linear narrative structure and leaves an open ending that allows the audience to use contextual information to complete the story. Likewise, it is important to note the symbolism of this open ending; the fight for women’s equality is not yet over. This symbolic meaning ensures that the film is still relevant and important in today’s society.

As what I can only imagine is an accurate portrayal of the events of the 1920’s which saw women from all backgrounds fight for their right to vote, I found “Suffragette” to be a film that successfully resonated with me, and I believe the entire of the rest of the audience, and offered a sense of empowerment in that standing up for what you believe in, standing up for your rights, and standing up for yourself is effective in making a change that is worth the sacrifices that need to be made. Feminism and gender equality is still a social issue today and I found that the film, particularly in the use of the end credits where the list of countries and the dates in which women were awarded the vote in the respective countries, effectively represented this fact.

Over the previous few years, "John Lewis" have become renowned for their poignant, heart warming adverts. Their newest is no exclusion to their familiar structure.

For starters, similarly to the rest of John Lewis' catalog of television adverts, the lack of diegetic sound and dialogue paired with the use of non-diegetic music is apparent within this advertisement. The use of the upbeat music creates a positive atmosphere. Furthermore, the song used - "Tiny Dancer", by Elton John - is already a well-known song, enforcing the familiar mood. Using already renowned songs within their advertisements is something that John Lewis is notorious for as many of the songs and covers of existing songs used within their adverts reenter the UK music charts due to the popularity of the adverts. Likewise, John Lewis' adverts also mostly contain the use of bright colours and this is not made an exception within their latest Home Insurance Advert where the colours adopt a warm tone. The main character is also dressed in brighter colours than her surroundings which makes her the focal point.

The cinematography contains an array of shots but most of the camera work tracks the character using a mid-shot. This successfully ensures that the character is continuously the focus of the advert and that her expression is able to be seen. However, a variety of other camera angles and shots ensure that the advertisement does not grow visually tedious. For example, the use of a long shot breaks up the fluidity of the advertisement, causing the audience to stay alert. This also links into Todorov's theory of equilibrium where a narrative starts off with a familiar and comfortable setting and is disturbed - this is disequilibrium - before returning to the familiar state of equilibrium.

As for the content of the advertisement, the family represented is  white and middle classed. From the presence of the father, son, daughter, dog, cat, and pictures of the mother, we can assume that it is also a nuclear family. Notably, the actors within the other John Lewis adverts portray the same white, middle class attributes. This links to the fact that John Lewis target a middle class audience, however this also shows that the company sorely under-represents other ethnicity, races, and cultures.

As a whole piece, the advertisement is carefully considered and uses various visual, technical and audio codes to successfully attract and enthrall the intended audience, conveying the appropriate marketing message. 

Media plays a key role when it comes to creating and enforcing social norms and stereotypes, mostly due to the fact that it is so widely consumed and difficult - if not impossible - to escape in the modern age. 

Gender stereotypes, like all stereotypes, contain a truth that applies - or has applied - to a small minority of the people within the respective gender. Likewise, although they are perpetuated by the media, they thrive and exist because society chooses to accept them. 

These gender related expectations are introduced at an early age, with examples of them displayed in abundance through the use of media; in television, advertisements, and magazines to name a few examples. Within catalogues, young girls are seen to be playing with “Barbie”s and other dolls, as well as “playing house” with their easy-bake-ovens, and young boys are presented to be playing with toy cars and their “Action Man” or “GI Joe”. Through the repetitive exposure to these images, children often grow up to believe that dolls are “girls toys” and cars are “boys toys”, among other things. Likewise, it establishes the expectation that girls and women should be able to cook and look after the home later in life.

The problem with the media distributing and enforcing such stereotypes where it is easily consumed by children is that much of what young people learn is determined by indirect influences such as what they see in books and what they watch on television. At young ages, their mind is easily influenced and the media is one of their primary sources of knowledge. Before they even enter a world where they are free to choose the person they want to be, children are taught who they should be.

Furthermore, once these gender roles are established and the consumer is at a more mature age - as a teenager, perhaps, when their thoughts are just as easily influenced - the stereotypes of how each gender should behave, rather than simply what they should indulge in, are exposed within the media targeted at this demographic. Primarily within the use of print media such as magazines, the female gender is represented as usually one of two things: a housewife who is expected to perform domestic chores or a sexual object whose purpose is the service of men. Continuously, women are represented as weak and as a second-class citizen, especially in comparison to men who are portrayed as dominant figures, enforcing the concept of a patriarchal society.

Another example of the way that women are stereotyped as sexual objects can be found in the evidence of the famous “Page Three”, featured in newspapers such as The Daily Star and, most notoriously, The Sun. The page famously features women who have been hyper-sexualised, wearing little to no clothing and posed provocatively. This enforces the concept that women exist primarily for sexual purposes and to entertain a heterosexual male audience. This was described in the theory coined by Laura Mulvey, ‘The Male Gaze’, which explains how women are portrayed as objects whose main purpose lies to attract and serve a heterosexual male demographic and how this teaches women to undervalue themselves and men that they must be attracted to women who are portrayed like this. This same concept is presented throughout most magazines - regardless of the gender of the target audience. Likewise, the images displayed within such magazines create unrealistic, unhealthy expectations that form the beauty ideal within society. Women are taught through the media that they are not beautiful unless they adhere to a certain set of guidelines concerning their appearance and physicality.

Similarly, men are also stereotyped within media. Since appearing “vulnerable” or “weak” is considered to be a trait of women, men are often looked down upon following any sign of “weakness” or emotion. Men who display emotion are often made fun of. Although this is found most often within television and film, this is also expressed with the use of articles. For example, the headline from “Geekenstein” - an online blog - that reads “20 Movies That Even Real Men Cry At” enforces the concept that “real men” are not men who cry often or show signs of emotion. This emotional detachment is associated with masculinity, just as masculinity is also related to machismo, independence, aggression and violence. These expectations can force men to believe that they are not sufficient should they not live up to the macho stereotype. Within the media, this is supported within the number of models featured within magazines, advertisements, and on television who sport muscular physiques and appear strong and well-built.

These trends and expectations of each gender can prove very damaging, affecting the self-confidence of individuals and forcing them to reevaluate their self-worth if they do not fit into the defined gender roles.

There has been much criticism in the press over recent years concerning gender stereotyping - ironically, as they are the ones who are often found to be enforcing them - and even more criticism across social media. Because of this, advertisements that defy gender stereotypes have received considerable media attention. For example, the new Pot Noodle television advertisement that challenges gender stereotypes in terms of occupation.



Stereotypes cannot be escaped and most likely will not be eradicated in the foreseeable future due to their ability to create a standard that is accepted throughout society. The use of stereotypes ensures that brands can effectively communicate with their preferred audiences and offer familiar material that they can relate with. Regardless of this, the use of gender stereotypes in particular can prove damaging to both men, women, and those who are androgynistic. It is oppressing the voices, opinions, and personalities of individuals who are afraid of defying these preconceived ideas of how they should behave and appear and creating unhealthy ideals that young men and women aspire to.

The way that society is represented within print based media texts relies considerably on the institution that distributes the texts. In almost each case, the way certain demographics and social issues are represented within such texts are heavily influenced by the political stance of the distributor.

For example, during the newspaper coverage of the 2015 General Election, British newspapers were found to endorse particular parties and candidates. The tone of their articles would therefore favour the party who shared their political ideologies, resulting in generally bias reporting across most popular newspapers. In previous elections such endorsements proved to affect voters behaviour and newspapers have become notorious regarding where they sit politically, attracting like minded readership. Notable examples of this would be when “The Independent” changed their political stance in the run up to the 2015 General Election from their traditionally centre-left ideologies and support of the Labour party to back a centre-right Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition. Because of this, the paper lost many readers to competitor “The Guardian”. The paper’s new political stance heavily altered their representation of particular parties, demonising the Labour party and the Scottish National Party (SNP) in saying that “any partnership between Labour and the SNP will harm Britain’s fragile democracy.” Furthermore, they positively represented the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative party, stating that “another Lib-Con [Liberal Democrats - Conservative] Coalition would both prolong recovery and give our kingdom a better chance of continued existence”.

The use of stereotypes also play a vital role in representation and creating propaganda. Enforcing stereotypes within text is one method that many newspapers and magazines use to represent demographics, social groups and events. For example, an article in the British magazine “ShortList” used existing stereotypes to represent the demographic that music festivals appeal to. Since print based media is often at the disadvantage of being unable to use moving image and sound, relying mainly on text, imagery is created using such stereotypes that the reader is already aware of. In a recent article ShortList relied on the stereotype of festival-goers being irresponsible, somewhat dangerous but fun and entertaining: “[...] you’re climbing a tent pole, screaming at the top of your lungs and drinking pint after pint of scrumpy [...]”. The use of this stereotype enforces an easy image that is familiar and relatable to the reader.

Stereotypes are also used to represent more generic demographics, such as gender, age or race. Young people are often misrepresented within media by using an array of different stereotypes. Particularly the portrayal of teenage boys as “yobs” or “ferals” within newspapers act as a stereotype that affects reality. Because of such negative representation, many adults and fellow teenagers are directed into being intimidated and frightened of teenage boys, particularly when arranged in groups. The stereotype of teenage boys perpetrating crimes and smoking and drinking on street corners have negatively affected people’s initial perceptions of the entire demographic, regardless of the truth. Likewise, this stereotype can also be applied to all teenagers - although not so prevalently. This is evident in a number of ways, including how many shops allow only two students in at a time. The way that newspapers represent teenagers can be somewhat to blame for the social stigma regarding young people. For example, during the 2011 London riots that took place across England following the death of Mark Duggan, a man who was shot dead by police, the coverage portrayed many of the looters and rioters as teenagers yet there was found to be a range of ages, genders and races involved in the riots. This is an example of how the media affected the public’s opinion regardless of the facts.

Women have also suffered from a number of representations within media. Often, they are portrayed in domestic situations such as being a housewife or mother. Alternatively they are objectified as sexual objects with the purpose of entertaining a (mostly) heterosexual male audience. Laura Mulvey coined the phrase “the male gaze” in her essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” which discusses this. The male gaze refers to how men are made to view women and how women are made to view themselves. She also constructed the theory of fragmentation which describes how, through the use of cinematography, women are objectified as pictures of women used in the media display only parts of their body, rather than their whole body, and often exclude their face. Although Mulvey’s theory originally referenced film media it also relates to print based media such as magazines and advertisements.

For example, the clothing brand “American Apparel” have been repeatedly criticised for their hypersexualisation of women within their advertisments. The way the company represents women - in particular young girls - is often referred to as “The Lolita Effect”, the title of which originates from the book Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. The term is used to describe the advertising industry’s exploitation of women at increasingly younger ages, setting unrealistic standards in terms of sex and sexuality for young girls. Much of the controversy around the American Apparel advertisements lie in the fact that many of their models are below the age of sixteen. The essence of these advertisements act as perfect visual examples of both the damaging ideals created by the media as well as of the male gaze and how women - including young girls - are over-sexualised.

A prime example of the media portraying women as sexual objects and enforcing the ideals of a patriarchal society where men “own” women can be found in this advertisement. Like Mulvey’s theory of fragmentation suggests, only certain body parts of the women in subject are displayed. The positioning of the male model above the woman suggests that men have higher rank over women and asserts a dominance which could suggest that men are entitled to women’s bodies. This is a common theme throughout the American Apparel advertisements and many have claimed that it “promotes rape culture”. Likewise, the little of the female model we can see adheres to the socially constructed beauty ideals with the hairless, clear skinned, long legs.

An example of how these advertisements enforce and conform to the expectations of both genders, and over-seuxalise woman, are in the way that they advertised this shirt. Whilst the shirt is the same - or very similar - the way each model wears it differs greatly. The male model wears the shirt traditionally - buttoned up - and his posture is what might be considered “normal”. The way the female model is positioned, however, is different in the way that it is far more suggestive. Additionally, this is portrayed by the way that the models shirt is unbuttoned.

Magazines are renowned for creating similar unrealistic stereotypes in terms of beauty. One of the biggest controversies regarding this is the way that many fashion magazines represent women. More often than not, the models featured within beauty and fashion magazines are young, slim, white and conform to the media depicted images of “beauty”. This is described in The Beauty Myth, written by Naomi Wolf, which suggests that images used by the media present a particular “beauty ideal” that women must live up to and men must desire. Wolf believes that “the gaunt, youthful model [has] supplanted the happy housewife as the arbiter of successful womanhood” which suggests that this stereotype is currently the most common in association to the female gender.

Take, for example, this cover of “FHM” - a men’s lifestyle magazine. The image displays the model (in this case, Diana Vickers) in a suggestive pose with the use of direct eye contact, tilted hips and her chest pushed out. Likewise, Vickers is wearing minimal clothing which again sexualises her. This relates to the male gaze and how females are being projected as a male fantasy rather than a realistic portrayal. It is also notable that the model fits in with the media dictated conventions of “beauty”.

Magazines are also notorious for airbrushing - or “Photoshopping” - their models to create such unrealistic images that define the social expectations of beauty which explains why the feminine ideal is seemingly so impossible to achieve; for it is fabricated itself.

Alarmingly, females are not the only demographic to be misrepresented, underrepresented or stereotyped within print media. Within mainstream magazines, African-American models are sorely underrepresented. Most models gracing the covers of magazines found on the high street follow the same conventions, one of them being that they are white. The magazines that have the highest visibility and are claimed to have the biggest impact on society’s beauty ideals show a majority of white models. Since most women’s magazines are targeted to the “average woman”, this suggests that those who are not white are not deemed as normal. Likewise, headlines and text support the connotations of these images - or lack of. White skin is considered “the norm” and this is promoted by headlines such as the one featured in the magazine “Essence” - targeted at African-American women - that states “Black is Beautiful”. Not only is this headline displayed on a magazine exclusively for African-American women, which suggests that it is not a common opinion among women of other races, the fact that it is needed to be declared further connotes that it is not an opinion of the masses. Furthermore, “White is Beautiful” would not be needed to be written on the cover of a magazine since it is taken for granted as white people are often portrayed as superior to black people. This underrepresentation shows that media representation does little for equality.

Many social issues are controlled by the representation of the media. In cases where all facts have not yet been released, newspapers use of stereotypes to aid the public’s opinions. Likewise, the institutions and organisations in control of distributing text plays a valid role in affecting the representation of social issues. For example, cases such as anti-austerity riots are often reported with minimal information as not to negatively represent the state and government. In the May of 2015, following the general election, the anti-austerity riots were not reported by most mainstream newspapers for over twenty-four hours with information being released via social media alternatively. This led to questions regarding how much control the Government has over the media we consume.

In conclusion, media, however informative and factual, usually always contains a degree of fiction or fabrication. This is evident in the way that institutions and distributors control the media and how stereotypes are used to affect the connotations of texts. Whilst there is much truth in print based media, it is important to realise that it is simply a portrayal of reality rather than real life written in black and white terms. Media is created with a purpose - to tell a story or share a message - and the use of both text and images in print media is a prime example of how the representation of events and demographics can aid the purpose.