Backlash:
The undeclared war against american women
By susan Faludi
Monday 10 September 2007
http://www.middleweb.com/MWLISTCONT/MSLmeangirls.html
this lettter about the article is pinpointing some of the blame of girls behaviour these days to the media and the types of tv programmes being broadcasted and is the reason why we see our teenagers acting in certain ways
this lettter about the article is pinpointing some of the blame of girls behaviour these days to the media and the types of tv programmes being broadcasted and is the reason why we see our teenagers acting in certain ways
An article in our local paper bemoaned the "current" state of our girls. The article spoke of a rash of new sociological studies that are about to be published and went on to applaud our new willingness to discuss the negative aspects of female behavior. I was steamed and sent the following letter to the editor:
Jane Eisner's piece on girls in Sunday's paper, "Girls will be (mean) girls, and maybe that's part of maturing" (3/24), reminds me of the classic nature vs. nurture argument that inevitably lets adults off the hook for their roles and responsibility toward children. Can girls be mean? Has every woman experienced betrayal at the hands of another female? Instead of asking ourselves these seemingly rhetorical questions, why don't we step up to the plate and look at what we are doing to girls in our families, schools and in the media? What messages are we modeling when a major network launches new shows like The Bachelor, where women get to "compete" for the prized eligible man? How many diet, hair color and make up commercials does the average girl see in a week, a month, a year? Why are assertive males viewed as leaders, while assertive females are cast as loud, aggressive, unpleasant, unladylike and undesirable? Contrast these messages with the number of positive female role models we promote in our textbooks and schools, there's no comparison. Girls are not all "sugar and spice," and never have been, but they are also not inherently mean and evil. There is nothing "new and noteworthy" about the willingness to discuss the alleged inherently negative traits of females. Tales of evil, scheming, "curious" women like Eve, Pandora, the wicked stepmother, and the rest, are part of our collective consciousness. Our girls, and our boys, will become the best that they can be when we give them the room to grow and the supports they deserve. The problem is far from new, and the solution isn't a big mystery, we just need to face up to our roles in the process.
Jane Eisner's piece on girls in Sunday's paper, "Girls will be (mean) girls, and maybe that's part of maturing" (3/24), reminds me of the classic nature vs. nurture argument that inevitably lets adults off the hook for their roles and responsibility toward children. Can girls be mean? Has every woman experienced betrayal at the hands of another female? Instead of asking ourselves these seemingly rhetorical questions, why don't we step up to the plate and look at what we are doing to girls in our families, schools and in the media? What messages are we modeling when a major network launches new shows like The Bachelor, where women get to "compete" for the prized eligible man? How many diet, hair color and make up commercials does the average girl see in a week, a month, a year? Why are assertive males viewed as leaders, while assertive females are cast as loud, aggressive, unpleasant, unladylike and undesirable? Contrast these messages with the number of positive female role models we promote in our textbooks and schools, there's no comparison. Girls are not all "sugar and spice," and never have been, but they are also not inherently mean and evil. There is nothing "new and noteworthy" about the willingness to discuss the alleged inherently negative traits of females. Tales of evil, scheming, "curious" women like Eve, Pandora, the wicked stepmother, and the rest, are part of our collective consciousness. Our girls, and our boys, will become the best that they can be when we give them the room to grow and the supports they deserve. The problem is far from new, and the solution isn't a big mystery, we just need to face up to our roles in the process.
Media Audiences
To whom is the text addressed? what is the target audience?
Teenage girls ages 12-19
What assumptions about the audiences characteristics are implicit within the text?
the audience of this movie would be aspirers as the young teenagers would be looking up to the girls in the movie and would want to be just like them
What do tou know or can you consume about the likely size and constituency of the audience?
I assume there is a very wide audience for this text as it was accessable to all american teenagers aswell as the UK and had a massive amount of success when it was release
How do you as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and the evaluation influenced by your age, gendre and background?
i read the text as a typical teen movie with accurate stereotypes of young females.im within the target audience of this text and do find text like these to my likeing
To whom is the text addressed? what is the target audience?
Teenage girls ages 12-19
What assumptions about the audiences characteristics are implicit within the text?
the audience of this movie would be aspirers as the young teenagers would be looking up to the girls in the movie and would want to be just like them
What do tou know or can you consume about the likely size and constituency of the audience?
I assume there is a very wide audience for this text as it was accessable to all american teenagers aswell as the UK and had a massive amount of success when it was release
How do you as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and the evaluation influenced by your age, gendre and background?
i read the text as a typical teen movie with accurate stereotypes of young females.im within the target audience of this text and do find text like these to my likeing
Media values and ideologies
Hetrosexual ideology
Mother of Regina George is shown to be an unfit mother as she promotes sex to her daughter and exposes her children to things they shouldnt be seeing at their age, shows american values from mothers towards their children.Makes you think that she is to blame for what Regina has turned into and the way she thinks
Ideologies of body image and that you will only be popular if you look pretty and that if your ugly you dont really matter
Towards the end of the movie ideolgies that are given of from the movie is that you dont have to be pretty to succeed in life, its all about the person inside
Hetrosexual ideology
Mother of Regina George is shown to be an unfit mother as she promotes sex to her daughter and exposes her children to things they shouldnt be seeing at their age, shows american values from mothers towards their children.Makes you think that she is to blame for what Regina has turned into and the way she thinks
Ideologies of body image and that you will only be popular if you look pretty and that if your ugly you dont really matter
Towards the end of the movie ideolgies that are given of from the movie is that you dont have to be pretty to succeed in life, its all about the person inside
Media Representation
Who is being represented?
Teenage girls and todays societyIn what way?how image and popularity are connected - the better you look to other people the more popular you are
Is the representation fair and accurate?
in a way it is correct and fair but it is exagerated within the movie.This is an accurate representation of teenage girls in America and the UK these days.Too many teenagers are too obsessed with the way they look and try their hardest to be the best looking girl in their school.In mean girls they turn an african home schooled girl into one of the plastics just to keep thier image up.Image is everything to them.The plasticcs are also represented as uneducated and braindead meaning they have let their obsession with themselves interfere with their schoolwork.This is proven in the movie when Cady use to be good at maths but as soon as she turned plastic and had her interests in a particular guy her school work suffered for it
What opportunities exist for self representation by the subject?
There is opportunities for self representation as Cady shows to be a plastic with a brain as she wins a spelling Bee competition and increases her test scores by the end of the movie
Who is being represented?
Teenage girls and todays societyIn what way?how image and popularity are connected - the better you look to other people the more popular you are
Is the representation fair and accurate?
in a way it is correct and fair but it is exagerated within the movie.This is an accurate representation of teenage girls in America and the UK these days.Too many teenagers are too obsessed with the way they look and try their hardest to be the best looking girl in their school.In mean girls they turn an african home schooled girl into one of the plastics just to keep thier image up.Image is everything to them.The plasticcs are also represented as uneducated and braindead meaning they have let their obsession with themselves interfere with their schoolwork.This is proven in the movie when Cady use to be good at maths but as soon as she turned plastic and had her interests in a particular guy her school work suffered for it
What opportunities exist for self representation by the subject?
There is opportunities for self representation as Cady shows to be a plastic with a brain as she wins a spelling Bee competition and increases her test scores by the end of the movie
Media institutions
What is the institutional source of the text?
Paramount pictures (american institution)
Is the source a public service oor commercial institution?Whst difference does this make to the text?
it is commercial therefore isnt being created to necessarily educate buy is to entertain. This makes a difference to the text as information put into the movie doesnt need to be correct and can be used to give own opinions from director or writer.This could determiine the many stereotypes being made in the movie
What is the institutional source of the text?
Paramount pictures (american institution)
Is the source a public service oor commercial institution?Whst difference does this make to the text?
it is commercial therefore isnt being created to necessarily educate buy is to entertain. This makes a difference to the text as information put into the movie doesnt need to be correct and can be used to give own opinions from director or writer.This could determiine the many stereotypes being made in the movie
Genre
To which genre does the text belong to?
American teen movie
Generic conventions?
Teen slang is used to identify with target audience
Clothing is typical of a teen movie, teenage drss code
setting - high school, prom
Music is typical of this genre, mainstream rock pop and rnb
characters (actors) such as lindsay lohan usually play these roles
Generic themes
Girl moves to a new school makes friends who are not so trustworth but has backup friends to lead the way, girls meets a guy and falls for him but it is not that simple..
To what extent are the characters generically determined?
heroine is portrayed as innocent
villian is the popular girl who most people see her as bitchy and caniving
the guy she falls for is good loooking charming and often mislead by the villian
To what extent are the audiences generic expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text?
generic expectations are fulfillled within this movie as the typical stereotype of teenage gilrs and a normal high school full of teenagers is shown in the text
Does the text feature a star, a director, a writer ect who is strongly associated with this genre?
lindsay lohan - who normally plays the role of a girly teenager
she has ginger hair making her perfect for the role of not fitting which is eased with her good looksSunday 9 September 2007
Narrative
How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?
The audience go through the teenage life of 15 year old Cady as she moves to a new school after being home schooled in africa, the audience watch the process of her findiing friends and learning about the world of high school for female teenagers
How are characters delineated?what is their narrative function?how are heroes and villians created?
Cady is shown to be the hero as she is the innocent one from the start and doesnt know a thing aout where she is going.Although she looks angelic Regina George is the villian yet we only discover this half way through the film.we get an idea of what type of person the characters are when Cady's friend is introducing everyone to her so it is nmade clear by that.
What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mis en scene, editing ect within the narrative?
the iconography such as the fashion clothes on the popular people and the not so fashionable clothes on the unpopular people brings the typical narrative of a teen movie along with the prom scenes and the house pary scenes and also the library scenes when it is being used as a form of seduction.The genre is straight away shown with the use of this iconography along with the music surrounding the movie which is teen rock and pop
What are the major themes of the narrative?what values/ideologies does it embody?
ideologies of body image and how important it is to look good
How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?
The audience go through the teenage life of 15 year old Cady as she moves to a new school after being home schooled in africa, the audience watch the process of her findiing friends and learning about the world of high school for female teenagers
How are characters delineated?what is their narrative function?how are heroes and villians created?
Cady is shown to be the hero as she is the innocent one from the start and doesnt know a thing aout where she is going.Although she looks angelic Regina George is the villian yet we only discover this half way through the film.we get an idea of what type of person the characters are when Cady's friend is introducing everyone to her so it is nmade clear by that.
What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mis en scene, editing ect within the narrative?
the iconography such as the fashion clothes on the popular people and the not so fashionable clothes on the unpopular people brings the typical narrative of a teen movie along with the prom scenes and the house pary scenes and also the library scenes when it is being used as a form of seduction.The genre is straight away shown with the use of this iconography along with the music surrounding the movie which is teen rock and pop
What are the major themes of the narrative?what values/ideologies does it embody?
ideologies of body image and how important it is to look good
Media Representation
Who is being represented?
Teenage girls and todays society
In what way?
how image and popularity are connected - the better you look to other people the more popular you are
Is the representation fair and accurate?
in a way it is correct and fair but it is exagerated within the movie.This is an accurate representation of teenage girls in America and the UK these days.Too many teenagers are too obsessed with the way they look and try their hardest to be the best looking girl in their school.In mean girls they turn an african home schooled girl into one of the plastics just to keep thier image up.Image is everything to them.The plasticcs are also represented as uneducated and braindead meaning they have let their obsession with themselves interfere with their schoolwork.This is proven in the movie when Cady use to be good at maths but as soon as she turned plastic and had her interests in a particular guy her school work suffered for it
What opportunities exist for self representation by the subject?
There is opportunities for self representation as Cady shows to be a plastic with a brain as she wins a spelling Bee competition and increases her test scores by the end of the movie
Who is being represented?
Teenage girls and todays society
In what way?
how image and popularity are connected - the better you look to other people the more popular you are
Is the representation fair and accurate?
in a way it is correct and fair but it is exagerated within the movie.This is an accurate representation of teenage girls in America and the UK these days.Too many teenagers are too obsessed with the way they look and try their hardest to be the best looking girl in their school.In mean girls they turn an african home schooled girl into one of the plastics just to keep thier image up.Image is everything to them.The plasticcs are also represented as uneducated and braindead meaning they have let their obsession with themselves interfere with their schoolwork.This is proven in the movie when Cady use to be good at maths but as soon as she turned plastic and had her interests in a particular guy her school work suffered for it
What opportunities exist for self representation by the subject?
There is opportunities for self representation as Cady shows to be a plastic with a brain as she wins a spelling Bee competition and increases her test scores by the end of the movie
Saturday 8 September 2007
The school is surrounding the 'popular' girls..glorifying them just because they are pretty.this reflects the pressured teeenage world of having to look good in order to be accepted and be popular.They are also dressed in a way that shows their legs which means your body has to be in shape and perfect aswelll in order to be popular
This image shows a typical representation of female teens who are amongst our generation today.The are wearing lots of make up,have fashionable clothes on, have faces which are not smiling..looks moody, and there are four of them in a group in which one of them is the leading hence lindsay lohan being more in front than the others..they are not seen as equal people as it all depends on their popularity..this reflects the teenage life in todays society
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