Images of women in popular culture

- Studies by media theorists: Erving Goffman, Sut Jhally and Jean Kilbourne focused on the ways women
are represented in popular culture, including music videos.
- In each of their studies, a pattern was found where women were typically depicted in subordinate,
subservient and male pleasing roles
- There may be exceptions but this representation is extremely common
- They concluded it reinforces sexism.
- Watch different music video clips to see if you notice any of the following representations of women:
(make a note of the videos that a particularly good examples to feed back to the class in the lesson)

1. Artificial look – Slim, tall, long legged, narrow hipped, breast implants, airbrushed, studio lighting,
computer enhancement. What is the impact of this on ‘normal women’? Is this a reflection of reality?

2. Dismemberment – Where parts of a woman are displayed, eg: just the legs, lips. Sut Jhally states this
fragmented image detracts from thinking about women as real people with intellect, feelings, dreams
and desires. Instead they become objects for consumption.

3. Commodification – Women presented as an object for male pleasure and consumption. A visual
association may be made between the product and the female form. Female and product become
equivalent and interchangeable and both are promoted as a pleasure object

4. The feminine touch – Men’s hands are more likely to be depicted grasping, clenching or holding
objects, in a practical activity. Women’s are more likely to be seen caressing conveying the idea that
the product is precious and desirable. A variation of this is self-touching; the woman’s body becomes
the precious product (again dehumanizing and objectifying)

5. Relative size – Height symbolizes social rank. If males and females were randomly paired together, 1
in 6 women would be taller. Women are almost always pictured to be shorter than men

6. Function ranking – what activities are being carried out? Men act, women help men act. Women tend
to be pictured in the supportive, assistant or decorative role.

7. Ritualization of subordination a) on the floor - deference may be symbolized by lowering

oneself, eg: bowing to the queen. To get down on a floor or bed puts a person physically lower than
others in a social situation and can indicate social identity. Combined with other body language (eg:
expressions of lips and eyes) can also convey a social identity as plaything for males, or as available for
the male gaze or male pleasure. b) the kiss – when a kiss or embrace is shown,
women are most commonly shown leaning back, submitting to the male advance. He is shown
initiating the encounter, she is shown passively welcoming the attention. Sut Jhally discovered in pop
videos women were often conveyed being pursued by men and often wanting to be chased and caught.
These representations convey the idea that sex is about male aggression and female submission.
c) woman as child – often shown as sitting on a male’s knee, or
being shielded and protected by the male. On some occasions we see them being lifted in the air just as
adults toss little children around. Alternatively we see them infantilised, coyly putting their finger in
their mouth, standing pigeon-toed or wearing little girl clothes or sucking on lollipops. Older women
are extremely under-represented in ads. The message for women here as Jean Kilbourne asserts is
“don’t grow up – stay passive, powerless and dependent”.
d) licensed withdrawal – whereby women appear to be
withdrawn from active participation in the social scene, symbolized by turning the face away, looking
dreamy and introverted or by covering the face, particularly the mouth with the hands. To understand
this more clearly, compare it to images of men in advertising, which stereotypically show them to be
active, engaged and in charge of the situation. They are not so much objects for others to gaze at, as
actors with occupations and professions.