Applying 'Feminine Mystique' and the 'Male Gaze' to our Production

Feminine Mystique

The ideology behind the feminine mystic theory according to Betty Friedan (who contributed to this feminist ideology), implies that it is there to keep women in a subordinate position. They were required to put their children and husbands welfare before their own goals and achievements in life. One of our side story's is follows the life of a teenage mum. This portrays an element of Feminine Mystique as she is the one in charge of looking after her child, putting their needs first before her own, although we want to show than Hanna is educated and is juggling being a mother as well as following her aspiration.

Male Gaze

In the media women are often presented to exist for mens visual pleasure, thus encouraging commonality of nudity. To apply the 'Male Gaze' theory, we may choose to interview some females in the vox pops that are dressed in a certain way and have a type look that conforms to the stereotypes of females who comply to the 'Male Gaze'. If we chose to have a female presenter, we may chose to portray them in a way that also conforms to the 'Male Gaze' theory. We can do this by styling them to look sexy or chose someone who has a seductive nature about them which will show when presenting the show.

Female gaze

The idea of the 'Female gaze' can also be incorporated into our production as, we could have a handsome presenter who females may look upon in a sexual way. Although in my opinion this theory does not work the same way with men, as they objectify women much more than woman do. This is because society encourages women to show flesh as it is considered as 'sexy', even to the extent where it is provocative, which is why there is a commonality of nudity by women, more than men in the media. In our documentary we could have a female presenter who is dressed in a more revealing outfit but it would be inappropriate to have a topless male presenter, which would be us objectifying him, although if a women shows flesh it becomes the 'norm'. This is why females are more likely to be objectified as it has been made 'OK' by society.