Representation of

Females

By Millie, Jenny,

Olivia and Katy

Laura Mulvey’s Theory

Laura Mulvey’s theory is stating that women are

objectified and viewed through the eyes of a heterosexual

male. This male would then be seen as active, which would

be looking and the woman would be passive, meaning she

is being looked at.

This theory can be applied to our production because

she is in the male gaze for Jack, the male character of

interest, although she doesn’t actually know she is in

the male gaze of Jack. However, when she changes her

image, this theory can no longer be applied to our

film, as she is no longer in the male gaze but

sexualising herself in hope that she is in the male

gaze.

Janice Winship’s Theory

This theory states that the female is complicit in creating the

ideal version of herself for a male audience, because of the

gratification she will receive.

This applies to our production because she does indeed create

what she thinks is the ideal version of herself, in the hope of

receiving the gratification she wants. However, this method of

Arabella’s fails, as the gratification she receives isn't what she

was hoping for.

David Gauntlett’s theory does not apply to our production, this

is because this theory states that women are in control of their

sexuality, however their sexuality isn’t for men, it’s for

themselves. This doesn’t apply to Arabella because she is

controlling her sexuality for Jack, her love interest, not

necessarily because she wants to. However, it could in the end

be read as this theory because by the new equilibrium, she

realises that sexualising herself was a mistake, therefore she is

then in control of her sexuality because she has learnt whether

to use it or not, making her refer to Gauntlett’s empowered

female.

Judith Butler’s Theory

Butler argues we are born a certain sex, but gender is

performance. A man is not inherently masculine or a

female inherently feminine. We perform aspects of

different genders. Gender does not exist outside of these

performances. For example, the act of wearing make up

defines a person’s gender, rather than their gender

defining the act.

This applies to our production as Arabella, our main

protagonist, is quite masculine, in a sense that she is a

very clumsy, tom-boy like character who isn’t interested

in stereotypical female activities.

Some of our representations for our

production could be viewed as

challenging, for example Arabella is

proved wrong to change for Jack, which

links in with independent production

because it is a bit unexpected, yet is in

control at the end of the film . However,

having said this, she still ends up

finding love, which in this case is the

new equilibrium , which could then be

viewed as a traditional hegemonic

narrative.

Theorist Research