Representing Gender: Women

Introduction

The representation of women in the media has been one of the most heavily theorised areas of Media Studies. From the pin-ups of mid-twentieth-century magazines to contemporary Instagram influencers, representations of femininity are a site where ideology, identity, and power visibly collide. For AQA A-Level Media Studies, three theorists dominate this area: Laura Mulvey, Liesbet van Zoonen, and Angela McRobbie. You also need to understand historical shifts, intersectionality, and the critique of postfeminism.

Laura Mulvey and the Male Gaze

Laura Mulvey's 1975 essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema is a foundational text in feminist film theory. Writing about classical Hollywood cinema, Mulvey argued that mainstream film is structured around three "looks":

1. The camera's look at what is filmed
2. The look of male characters at female characters within the diegesis
3. The spectator's look at the screen

In classical Hollywood, Mulvey argues, all three looks are coded as male. Women are positioned as objects "to-be-looked-at" — a condition she famously called to-be-looked-at-ness. Men are positioned as the bearers of the look; women are the visual spectacle.

The male gaze has three consequences:

• Scopophilia: Pleasure in looking, with women as the passive object.
• Narcissistic identification: Male spectators identify with the active male protagonist.
• Fetishistic/voyeuristic pleasure: Women are dismembered by the camera (close-ups of lips, legs) or positioned as threats to be punished.

Element of the Male Gaze	Example
Lingering close-ups on female body	Scenes in James Bond films
Female character introduced as spectacle	Slow pans from feet upward
Male protagonist drives narrative	Women as rewards or obstacles
Passive female gaze	Women looking at mirrors, waiting

Mulvey's essay has been extended, critiqued, and updated, but its core insight remains central: looking is political, and mainstream visual culture has historically been structured around male pleasure.

flowchart LR
    A[Camera] -->|Codes as male| B[Gaze]
    B --> C[Female Character as Spectacle]
    B --> D[Male Character as Active]
    C --> E[Male Spectator Pleasure]
    D --> E

Liesbet van Zoonen and Feminist Media Theory

Liesbet van Zoonen's Feminist Media Studies (1994) offers a sophisticated account of how gender and media interact. Her key claims, required for AQA, include:

• Gender is constructed through discourse — including media discourse — rather than being simply biological.
• The display of women's bodies as objects is a recurring feature of Western media.
• In mainstream visual culture, women's bodies signal different meanings from men's: passivity, decoration, availability.
• Feminist media practice can intervene by producing alternative representations.

Van Zoonen also stresses that gender is performative and relational: femininity only makes sense in relation to masculinity, and both are defined and redefined across time and culture.

Importantly, van Zoonen differs from Mulvey in emphasising audience reception and resistance. Women audiences may read objectifying texts with irony, pleasure, or critique. Feminism is not only about producing different images but about reading existing images differently.

Mulvey	van Zoonen
Focus on textual structure (camera, narrative)	Focus on discursive construction and reception
Male gaze as dominant in classical cinema	Gender display varies historically and contextually
Pessimistic reading of spectator positions	Allows space for feminist resistance
Psychoanalytic framework	Discourse-theoretical framework

Angela McRobbie and Postfeminism

Angela McRobbie's concept of postfeminism (developed in The Aftermath of Feminism, 2009) is essential for analysing contemporary representations of women. McRobbie argues that postfeminist media culture:

• Takes feminism into account — acknowledging that women are now formally equal
• Then dismisses feminism as no longer necessary
• Celebrates individual empowerment through consumption (the "I can wear stilettos because I choose to" argument)
• Reinstates traditional femininity under the guise of free choice

McRobbie calls this a double entanglement: contemporary media acknowledge feminist gains while simultaneously undermining them. The apparent "empowerment" of shows like Sex and the City or influencer culture can mask a deeply consumerist, individualist ideology.

Crucially, postfeminism is not post-patriarchy. Women are still judged on appearance, sexual availability, and consumer choices — but these demands are now framed as personal freedoms rather than social obligations.