Van Zoonen built upon Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory. To begin she made a clear distinction between sex and gender, a stance that was radical at the time. She argued that your sex is biological, your gender is behavioural.
Van Zoonen’s theory suggests that gender is constructed by the media through stereotypes and portrayal of gender roles. The media believes this reflects dominant societal values (men in charge). However, this is unfair because the media is run by men.
Constant negative portrayals of women in the media reinforces a patriarchy; Society ran by men, for men. With women being oppressed as a result.
Little girls are only exposed to certain gender roles. They are often encouraged to be motherly, soft, and gentle. In turn they are discouraged from enjoying things with a more aggressive or violent nature that boys are exposed to (think of toy guns, action films, violent video games). Van Zoonen argues that these gender roles in the media influence how feminine or masculine people behave in the real world.
Take a look at the representations of the female characters in these two adverts. What is each saying about the role of women in society?
John Lewis, 2010
Verizon, 2014
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