Van Zoonen: Feminist Perspectives in Media

Now that we have started to understand how ideology works we now need to extend our knowledge to other critical media theories. One of the theorists the Specification asks us to look at is the concept of patriachy by Liesbet van Zoonen.

You can read her original essay, Feminist Perspectives in Media, here: Zoonen_Liesbet_van_-_Feminist_Perspectives

According to Van Zoonen the media represent women with stereotypical images and this behaviour reinforces ideological concept of what it means to be a woman. The media does this because they believe it reflects dominant social values (dominant ideology) and male producers are influenced by this. All of this contributes to the concept of a patriarchal society. 

Let’s explore the different types of feminism.

Liberal Feminism

Radical Feminism

Socialist Feminism

What are the Waves of Feminism?

Check this site for a brief introduction to the waves of feminism. It outlines the Three Waves. 

But wait, there’s now a FOURTH WAVE?

This is a pretty good discussion of the so-called Fourth Wave. It’s all about the use of online activism and something called, intersectionality.

Intersectionality

Wikipedia offers a really good introduction:

Later on in the week we will be looking at Judith Butler and her theories of gender. So, if you want to get ahead then start research in your Private Study time.

The purpose of doing all this is so we can analyse news media with depth and sophistication and offer a detailed exploration of how news media portray and represent ideas, values and beliefs.