Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Feminism & Pop Culture

Many of you have heard about the Bechdel Test. It was developed by cartoonist Allison Bechdel to address gender representation in popular media and goes as follows.


Now, the Bechdel Test is among the criteria that discerning media consumers can use to examine the representation of gender in popular culture (along with Mulvey's critique of 'the male gaze' and McRobbie's response to 'post-feminism'). Here's something that's kind of alarming.
Now, there's a long tradition of feminist-oriented fan-created remixes of popular culture--and in particular, Star Trek. For decades, (mostly heterosexual female) Trek fans have produced 'slash' vids (and 'slash'-fiction) in which Kirk and Spock were engaged in a homosexual relationship. What's interesting about these vids is that...
  1. They involve female audience's appropriation of male-dominated popular culture (often) to make a critique of patriarchal institutions, gender relations and media's representations of gender and sexuality.
  2. These practices long predated the YouTube, iMovie, or even the consumer Internet.
This recalls Mulvey's discussion of 'alternative media.' She writes,
"However self-conscious and ironic Hollywood managed to be, it always restricted itself to a formal mis-en-scene reflecting the dominant ideological concept of the cinema. The alternative cinema provides a space for a cinema to be born which is radical in both a political and an aesthetic sense and challenges the basic assumptions of the mainstream film."
On that note, here's a feminist fan-vid (also made before YouTube) remixing Disney cartoons and other popular media (Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson's Creek, etc.). In what way does this piece 'challenge the basic assumptions of the mainstream film' and, by implication, commonly held assumptions about gender relations in contemporary society?


Because Disney films are particularly fun to pick on, there are a number of feminist cut-ups/mash-ups/remixes/remakes of princesses.




There is quite a bit of documentary media that critiques representations of women in mainstream media.



And then, there are examples of media that attempt to provide a voice for the voiceless women and girls around the world who continue to struggle with (often institutionally-sanctioned) marginalization and (often violent) oppression.



And then, of course, we have Hermione.

No comments:

Post a Comment