Feminist Analysis (Part 1)

Women have gained more and more rights and power over the past 50-100 years and they are still fighting to gain more equality and rights in other countries. Women have often suffered from the stereotypes that are imposed on them. Some of the most obvious ones are that women are objects of men, weak and fragile while men are seen as powerful, rational, and the subjects that own women.

In this week's lecture, we were shown 3 videos about how the media portrays women in postmodernism as the typical materialistic girl. The first video we see is Marilyn Monroe, known as a major sex symbol, singing Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend (1953). In the video we can see the presence of the "male gaze" and she was the center of attention the entire time. With the "power" that she has, this video doesn't seem like it is portraying feminism at all because firstly, she is wearing revealing clothing - showing off her body , secondly, the message of the song expresses that diamonds are a girl's best friend which enforces the stereotype that women are all materialistic and thirdly, she was the center of attention and wherever she went, all the men had their eyes fixed on her.