OUGD501 - Context of Practice: The Gaze and The Media Task

Choosing one example of media, analyse femininity/masculinity using 5 quotes from the text 'The Look.'

Source

This Lynx advert is a perfect example of how the media has portrayed women as being 'stay at home wives' who are in charge of maintaining the happiness of their husband's after their long day of work. According to Coward R 'marriage, for instance often operates to secure women's labour and reproductive capacity to the advantage of men.' (Coward, 2000, P35) In other words, what he is saying is that men are the ones who benefit. 

In this instance, the woman is confidently bent over removing the dinner from the oven and the gaze is 100% met by the male audience. This therefore makes the man staring at her, feel as though he doesn't have to work to impress her at all as she is right where he wants her to be. It also implies that she is in control. Coward R suggests 'Women in the flesh, often feel embarrassed  irritated or downright angered by men's persistent gaze. But not wanting to risk male attention turning to male aggression, women avert their eyes and hurry away. Those women on the billboards, though; they look back. Those fantasy women stare off the walls with a look of urgent availability.' (Coward, 2000, P34) Here, he is suggesting that the camera is working as an extension of the man, and the fantasy world and consumer culture make it acceptable to look at women. It is also a safer option for men as they don't have to deal with any negative consequences.

 

According to Coward R 'sex-at-a-distance is the only complete secure relation which men can have with women. Perhaps other forms of contact are too unsettling.' (Coward, 2000, P34) This suggests that society is becoming more based on fantasy and implies that men would rather admire from afar as there is no rejection involved. They are also more in control of this 'fantasy woman' than they would be in day to day life. This power then gives men a false sense of confidence and they take a voyeuristic approach towards women, as 'voyeurism is a way of taking sexual pleasure by looking at rather than being close to a particular object of desire, like a Peeping Tom.' (Coward, 2000, P34) Peeping Tom's can always stay in control. So this system of sexually objectifying images of women is about patriarchal society being in control.

Cleverly, if a woman was to look at this advert, they too would feel in control to a certain extent as the caption 'can she make you lose control?' has been included. However, to feel in control, like the woman on featured in the advert, the audience must first look like her. So women begin to feel like 'each area requires potions, moisturisers, conditioners, night creams... we could well be at it all day' (Coward, 2000, P38) and as a result, the increased anxiety brings with it a whole consumer industry, which initiates a mass cycle of profit.