Representation of women and Cyborgs

Cyborgs- half human/ half machine (term only used within the sci-fi genre).

A cyborg is like binary opposition because its both human and robot (two opposite things).
Blade runner- SCOTT

  • her skin is sliver (robotic) however her figure is identical to female.
  • she's got autonomy but is also automaton. 
Autonomy- having control over your own life.

Automaton- something/ someone with no control over themselves (a robot for example).


representation of things that don't exist.
ideologies are related to beliefs- shown through representation. 

Representation- a producer shows something again- people, groups, society and their values and ideologies.

Producers goal is to manipulate the audience into believing something or feeling a certain way about something. (cultivates an ideology into the audience's minds).


What roles do women/ synths adopt in "Humans"?

  • Maid/ housewife (domestic roles)/ butler/ care giver- they're all slaves as they don't get paid.
  • Stereotypically attractive.
  • Humans and robots play the role of a mother (Anita takes role of motherhood).
  • Sex worker.
  • O.D (the robot boy) plays the role of George's friend and "son"- more sentimental and different role to sex worker/ maid.
  • Professional female role (Laura is a lawyer).
  • Rebellious teenage daughter.


The brothel scene/ closing montage

  • Representation of gender- maternal (shown through the long shot of Anita holding Sophie and kissing her forehead).
  • Anita kidnaps the child- binary opposition from being maternal. 
  • Binary opposition between Anita and Laura- Laura gives Sophie her toy giraffe when she sleeps but when Anita kidnaps Sophie, she drops the giraffe.
  • Slow zoom at Nisca's face, especially her eyes- to make audience feel uncomfortable to understand that Nisca feels pain.
  • Male that has sex with Nisca seems blunt, cold and controlling- makes audience sympathise with Nisca. He looks like a stereotypical dominant male who likes using sex workers.
  • Patriarchal nature shown in Laura's husband as he doesn't listen to Laura when she tells him how uncomfortable she feels having Anita. He says something like, "the synth stays", as if she has no say.
  •  In the final scene, Nisca is getting raped because she can't consent so she does what the male tells her to do.
  • Sex robots cultivate the idea that rape and sexual assault aren't bad for those who like using sex robots- used to make the audience upset as the scene is anti-rape.
  • Anita is sexualised and objectified. Sophie ays "i hops she's pretty"- an expectation that the synth is a woman as she says "she." She's treated like a doll- Anita's physical attractiveness is aspirational for Sophie.

Madonna/ Whore Complex:
  • "Madonna" refers to the virgin Mary- binary opposition with the word "whore".
  • Sigmund Freud developed a theory to explain men's anxiety towards women's sexuality, suggesting that men define women into one of two categories: the Madonna (women he admires and respects) and the whore (women he is attracted to and therefore disrespects). 
  • Anita is seen as a Madonna as she is dressed in a non-sexualised dress and acts unprovocative. She is unable to reproduce.

Polysemic- media product with many different meanings

  • Anita is often referred to as "it" by Laura.

What is Humanity?
Globalisation- importing products from around the world (due to technology).
  • The way in which we dress, educate ourselves, travel and define ourselves is done through technology.
  • Humans use language to communicate.
  • Humans feel empathy.
  • To be inquisitive is to be human. We always want to understand everything like how other animals communicate with each other.
  • Education- to make ourselves better.
  • Humans want to be right about everything.
  • We feel love.

How does this refer to Humans?
  • Binary opposition
  • Anita is objectified and sexualised. Often referred to as a "stupid machine" by the women of the family as if they're jealous of her looks. the males refer to her as "attractive" and "pretty".
  • If we feel bad for how Anita is treated, then that means she must be human.

Gender Performativity

What is gender performativity?

What examples are there of "gender as performance" in Humans?


Key theory 10- Judith Butler, theories of gender performativity

-Identity is a performance, and it is constructed through a series of acts and "expressions" that we perform everyday.
-While there are biological differences dictated by sex, our gender is defined through this series of acts. These may include the ways we walk, talk, dress etc.
-Therefore, there is no gender identity behind these expressions of gender.
-Gender performativity is not a singular act, but a repetition and a ritual. It is outlined and reinforces through dominant patriarchal ideologies. 

Why is it controversial?
Christians may disagree as they believe in set genders (e.g: Adam and Eve- male and female).


Key theory 11- bell hooks
-Argues that feminism is a struggle to end patriarchal oppression and the ideology of domination, and that position of the underrepresented is by class and race as well as gender.
-"women in lower class and poor groups, particular those who are non- white, would not have defined women's liberation as women gaining social equality with men since they are continually reminded in their everyday lives that all women do not= share a social status."


What examples are patriarchal dominant hegemonic codes in humans?
  • Anita is a woman and Joe is in control of her, her main handler.
  • He buys Anita to help around the house as his wife ism't always around- like he's replacing Laura with Anita.
  • The father refuses to take Anita back when Laura tells him to.
  • Laura feels threatened by Anita. She says "don't do that, thats my job"-as if Laura enjoys being a housewife.
  • The man in the brothel doesn't' view the synth as a human as he bluntly tells her what to do and she just listens without giving consent. She clearly looks like she's in pain physically and emotionally making her "human".
  • Joe is the number one primary user, meaning he's expressing his dominance.
  • The salesman who sells Anita is a male- aspects of slavery?
  • Most of the people of colour in the show are synths- references to slavery.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Riptide (intertextuality)

Image
How does the video to Riptide encode feminist ideology? Presents a parody of sexism in music videos (close up "how to photograph girls," connotes that women are purely presented to be looked at by a heterosexual male audience). Many shots of women in stereotypical male clothing (low angle mid shot of a woman holding arms in a gesture that connotes power). Mid shot of blonde woman bound in mise-en-scene of tight ropes connotes the restrictions that women face in society, and is critical of the notion of women as the "weaker sex" (connotative of "being tied down" with maternal responsibilities etc).  The video lacks anchorage which forces the audience to make own assumptions, simultaneously providing sexual gratification for male heterosexual audience, but also consistently informs the audience that scopophilia is creepy and not ok. Its an ironic representation of patriarchal hegemony (mid shot of man standing in front of woman with a torch in an ex
Read more

Target audience for Assassin's Creed III: Liberation

Pen portrait for the target audience for Assassin's Creed III: Liberation (age, gender, class, lifestyle, cultural capital…) Age: 14-20 Gender: Male Class: Working class Lifestyle: Student Cultural capital: Nerd- no cultural capital Merchandise Some items of merchandise will only appeal to a niche audience  Fan's way of demonstrating to the world that they're a hardcore fan of the video game.  How does Assassin's Creed III: Liberation ands UBISOFT use technology to maximise audience consumption and to ensure sales? Social media promotion  Rereleases of the game on more consuls (play stations, ps3, pc etc). Trailers What happens if you play too many video games? Attitude towards things/ other people change- e.g: if you play too much grand theft auto you'll become violent. Square eyes You become antisocial, developing an inability to interact with others in real life. You'll become stupid  This is an audience theo
Read more

Attitude + Stream Publishing

Image
Attitude + Stream Publishing Attitude is published by stream publishing limited They are an independent, specialist publisher They are vertically integrating by buying attitude, however they bought attitude to reduce their competition in order to avoid risk Attitude's target audience Attitude has a target audience who are "professional" which suggests they have cultural capital. The use of the word "professional" suggests they have a more financially stable job than the average person. As well as that gay people are more likely to have expendable income as they are less likely to have children than heterosexual people. The words "they are very style conscious" is a popular  gay stereotype. The reason Attitude are very stereotypical is for financial gain as it allows the audience to be sold.  The only reason Attitude exists is because the consumer  audience buy things.The inside over double page spread  is £157,000 for the Uk Vogu
Read more