Videogames: Further feminist theory

As part of our study of women in videogames, we need to develop our understanding of feminist theory.

We have looked at a range of feminist ideas earlier in the course including Laura Mulvey, Judith Butler, Angela McRobbie, the concept of post-feminism and more. We now need to explore this further by bringing in the work of bell hooks and Liesbet van Zoonen.

Notes from the lesson

Watch this short extract from Orange is the New Black star Laverne Cox interviewing bell hooks at The New School in New York:



bell hooks is a highly influential radical black feminist.

She sees feminism as a struggle to end patriarchal oppression - it should be a serious political commitment rather than a fashionable lifestyle choice. “Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression”

bell hooks also points to the importance of race and class when studying oppression.

Intersectionality

Intersectionality is defined as the common point of two forms of oppression and how they work against a particular group of people. For example, black feminism addresses both gender and race discrimination.

bell hooks suggests that race is so significant that the experiences of gender, class or sexuality-based discrimination cannot be fully understood without also considering race.

This is important when analysing power in society. For example, men generally have more power then women – but white, middle class western women generally have much more power than women from BAME backgrounds.

Liesbet van Zoonen

Liesbet van Zoonen is an influential feminist academic and linked gender roles and the media explicitly in her 1994 book Feminist Media Studies. Some of her key ideas:

• Gender is constructed through media language
• These constructions reflect cultural and historical contexts
• The objectification of the female body is a key construct of western culture (building on Mulvey – male gaze)
• If women have to be like men to be treated equally, then equality itself is repressive

Further feminist theory: blog tasks

Use our Media Factsheet archive on the M: drive Media Shared (M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets) to find Media Factsheet #169 Further Feminist Theory. Save it to USB or email it to yourself so you have access to the reading for homework. Read the whole of Factsheet and answer the following questions:

1) What definitions are offered by the factsheet for ‘feminism ‘and ‘patriarchy’?

2) Why did bell hooks publish her 1984 book ‘Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center’?

3) What aspects of feminism and oppression are the focus for a lot of bell hooks’s work?

4) What is intersectionality and what does hooks argue regarding this?

5) What did Liesbet van Zoonen conclude regarding the relationship between gender roles and the mass media?

6) Liesbet van Zoonen sees gender as socially constructed. What does this mean and which other media theorist we have studied does this link to?

7) How do feminists view women’s lifestyle magazines in different ways? Which view do you agree with?

8) In looking at the history of the colours pink and blue, van Zoonen suggests ideas gender ideas can evolve over time. Which other media theorist we have studied argues this and do you agree that gender roles are in a process of constant change? Can you suggest examples to support your view?

9) What are the five aspects van Zoonen suggests are significant in determining the influence of the media?

10) What other media theorist can be linked to van Zoonen’s readings of the media?

11) Van Zoonen discusses ‘transmission models of communication’. She suggests women are oppressed by the dominant culture and therefore take in representations that do not reflect their view of the world. What other theory and idea (that we have studied recently) can this be linked to?

12) Finally, van Zoonen has built on the work of bell hooks by exploring power and feminism. She suggests that power is not a binary male/female issue but reflects the “multiplicity of relations of subordination”. How does this link to bell hooks views on feminism and intersectionality?

Extension task

If you’re interested in some of these ideas, there is plenty more reading and watching you can do. For example, watch this TEDx talk by renowned Nigerian/American novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ‘We should all be feminists’:

The Factsheet questions must be completed for homework this week - due next Monday.

Videogames: Introduction - Women in videogames

Our final in-depth media topic is Videogames.

Our Videogames CSPs are Tomb Raider Anniversary, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and The Sims FreePlay.

These are in-depth CSPs and need to be studied with reference to all four elements of the Theoretical Framework (Language, Representation, Industries, Audience) and all relevant contexts.

This will be tested in Media Two exam – a 25 mark essay question.

Videogames: an introduction

The videogames industry is a huge media market – bigger than video and music combined. It is worth £3.86bn – more than double its value in 2007. Remarkably, these figures do not include mobile and free games such as Fortnite (which has over 200 million players worldwide).

With FIFA19, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 each selling more than 1m copies, it is important to consider the influence games can have on audiences and society.

Women in videogames

The representation of women in videogames has long been considered sexist. Female characters are rarely playable and usually reinforce traditional gender stereotypes. Games that did feature female characters presented them as damsels in distress or sex objects.

Lara Croft of the Tomb Raider series is one of the most iconic characters in videogame history. But while she is a strong, independent playable character, her appearance and costume turned her into a digital sex object.  

Tropes vs Women in Video Games

Vlogger and gaming expert Anita Sarkeesian has produced two series of YouTube videos documenting the representation of women in videogames.

Vlogging as Feminist Frequency, the series are an important example of digital feminism (and a superb resource for Media students). However, as a result, she has been a target for online abuse and threats – most notably as part of the #gamergate controversy.

Women and videogames: blog tasks

Work through the following blog tasks to complete this introduction to women in videogames.

Part 1: Medium article - Is Female Representation in Video Games Finally Changing?

Read this Medium feature on whether female representation in videogames is finally changing. Answer the following questions:

1) How have women traditionally been represented in videogames?

2) What percentage of the video game audience is female?

3) What recent games have signalled a change in the industry and what qualities do the female protagonists offer?

4) Do you agree with the idea that audiences reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented within them?

5) What does the writer suggest has changed regarding recent versions of Lara Croft and who does she credit for this development?


Part 2: Tropes vs Women in Video Games – further analysis

Visit Anita Sarkeesian’s ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games Series 2’ YouTube playlist and watch ONE other video in the series (your choice - and feel free to choose a video from season 1 if you prefer). Write a 100 word summary of the video you watch:

Title of video: 

100 word summary: 


Part 3: Anita Sarkeesian Gamespot interview

Finally, read this Gamespot interview with Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency and answer the following questions:

1) What reaction did Anita Sarkeesian receive when she published her videos on women in videogames? You can find more information on this on Sarkeesian’s Kickstarter fundraising page.

2) How does Sarkeesian summarise feminism?

3) Why do stories matter?

4) How does Sarkeesian view Samus Aran and Lara Croft (the two protagonists from our upcoming CSPs)?

5) How has the videogame landscape changed with regards to the representation of women?

6) Why are Mirror’s Edge and Portal held up as examples of more progressive representations of women?

7) What are the qualities that Sarkeesian lists for developers to work on creating more positive female characters?

8) What is the impact of the videogames industry being male-dominated?

9) What did Sarkeesian hope to achieve through her ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games’ series?

10) What media debates did Sarkeesian hope to spark with her video series?

Optional extension task
To find out more about the online backlash and #gamergate, this Guardian feature links the online abuse to the American alt-right movement also credited with electing Donald Trump.

Deadline: Complete for homework what you don't finish in the lesson - due next week.

Coursework: Print magazine research and planning

The Print aspect to our coursework brief is as important as the video work you are currently filming. 

It is crucial that you research, plan and design print work that could comfortably holds its own alongside professional examples. You will also need to include a short paragraph regarding your print magazine work in your redrafted Statement of Intent. A reminder of the coursework brief is here, with the key tasks as follows:

Print
You should create 4 pages of a culture magazine. The magazine targets adult audiences who enjoy the analysis and critical discussion of popular culture.

You should create a front cover and a two-page feature on the genre you have chosen to work in.

You can choose the focus of the feature article but for example, the feature could offer a history of the genre, an analysis of the genre’s conventions or offer a critical discussion about some aspect of the genre such as its gender representations.

The front cover and the two-page feature should relate to the TV show you are promoting in task 1 in some way.

The third page should be one of the following:

• a contents page
• a single page advert reflecting the potential interests of the target audience
• a single page feature on a contemporary cultural product
• a single page providing a summary of recent cultural news items

What do you need to produce?

1) The front page for a new, original culture magazine that you have created:

• Title and masthead
• Selling line
• Cover price
• Dateline
• Main cover image and at least two further smaller images related to the content of the magazine
• At least 5 cover lines

2) A contents page (or one of AQA's alternatives listed above):

• Content that is appropriate to the conventions of the genre of magazine being created
• Each page to use original images as illustrations (the main cover image must not be repeated but the smaller images from the front cover can appear on internal pages)
• Internal pages should reflect the design codes and conventions of the genre of magazine being created

3) A double-page spread feature linked to your TV drama production as outlined in AQA's guidance above:

• Content that is appropriate to the conventions of the genre of magazine being created
• Original copy (at least 400 words)
• Each page to use original images as illustrations (the main cover image must not be repeated but the smaller images from the front cover can appear on internal pages)
• Internal pages should reflect the design codes and conventions of the genre of magazine being created

Print brief - overall minimum requirements

• A clear house style should be used in the presentation of all pages.
• A minimum of 7 original images should be included in the submission.
• All copy should be original and a minimum of 400 words should be
• submitted
• Work should be presented on pages that are an appropriate size or in proportion to the size of paper used by magazines

We recommend that all of the above should be A4 page size (with the double-page spread doubling up so A3 size).

Research and planning blog tasks

Create a blogpost called 'Print brief research and planning' and complete the following tasks to plan and prepare your print work:

1) Research magazine cover key conventions. Look over the magazine cover key conventions notes sheet and write which of these you will use for your magazine cover.

2) Find at least five culture magazine front covers (either current or former magazines) aimed at a similar target audience to your project (adults interested in popular culture). For each one, pick out one design idea that you could use in your own print work. Some examples you may wish to look at include the Guardian Guide, Sunday Times Culture magazine, Time Out, The Face, the Radio Times, Aesthetica, the move and Paper:

3) Find at least three contents pages from culture, lifestyle or music magazines on Google images. How are contents pages designed? How do they use a combination of text and images to create an effective design?

4) Find at least three double-page spread features from culture, lifestyle or music magazines on Google images. How are they designed? How are text and images displayed? What design tricks can you borrow from your examples?

5) Read at least three example features from newspapers and magazine to learn the format, writing style and content for a culture magazine. You may wish to use the following to help you:

Guardian review of The Morning Show - new Apple TV drama (500 words)

Time Out - The 10 Best TV shows of the week (1,500 words)

Benedict Cumberbatch hints at female future (250 words)

Planning, sketching and writing

1) Plan a title and slogan for your new, original culture magazine. Sketch out possible designs for the masthead - font, style, colour etc.

2) Plan the content for your magazine front cover. Your double-page spread will be the main story but what other cover lines, images and more will you include on the cover?


3) Write a list of the all the features, regular sections and more that will appear on your contents page. If you've chosen to produce a different internal page, plan that here instead.

4) Create a spider diagram or bullet point list of all the issues or topics your TV drama addresses. How can you use this information to create a main feature for your culture magazine about your TV drama that will appeal to your target audience?

5) Write the text for your double-page spread feature. This needs to be a minimum of 400 words and be completely original and feature an aspect of your TV drama. Make sure you include a headline, subheading and any pullout quotes or sidebar contents. 

6) Produce an A4 sketch of your front cover including the key conventions and design tricks you have studied in existing magazines and then planned in planning task 1 above.

7) Produce an A4 sketch of your contents page. This can be a single page of A4 or alternatively a double-page spread (A3).

8) Produce an A4 landscape sketch of your double page spread design now you have chosen the subject matter.

Photoshoot

1) Which of your main characters will appear on the front cover of your magazine?

2) What image or images do you need for the contents page?

3) What image or images will you use for the double-page spread? Remember, you need seven different original images across the print brief.

4) Write a shot list for the photoshoot. Make sure you plan a variety of camera shots you will look to capture - medium shots, close-ups etc.

5) What costume, props or make-up will you require for the photoshoot?

Use the next two weeks of lessons plus homework to complete these planning tasks - due date is your class's photoshoot (confirmed by your coursework teacher).

OSP: Final index

We are now at the end of our Online, Social and Participatory media unit and need to create an index to ensure we have completed all the work set. 

You'll have a January assessment on this topic and the weekly stories you've been collecting for Teen Vogue and The Voice will provide excellent examples and evidence for your exam essays. 

Online, Social and Participatory index

This process is an excellent start to your revision for the Media Two exam in the summer as well as your upcoming January mock exams. It will also highlight if you've missed anything through absence or trips and allow you to catch up before we get fully into the next topic. 

Your index should include the following:

1) OSP: Clay Shirky - End of Audience blog tasks
2) OSP: Teen Vogue - background and textual analysis
3) OSP: Teen Vogue - audience and representation
4) Baseline Assessment learner response
5) OSP: Teen Vogue - industry and social media
6) OSP: Hall and Gilroy - media theory
7) OSP: The Voice - blog case study
8) OSP: The Voice and Teen Vogue news articles (minimum 4 from each)

For your index, the text should link to YOUR corresponding blogpost so you can access your work on each aspect of the case study quickly and easily. This also means you if you have missed anything you can catch up with the work and notes and won't underperform in the exam due to gaps in your knowledge.

Index due date: next exam lesson.

Coursework: Filming deadline

We are currently completing tutorials or written feedback on your Statement of Intent and coursework progress. Now, you need to complete your filming.

This half-term will go quicker than you expect so it's vital that we get on with the filming immediately.

You must have your filming complete by Monday 2 December. 

After filming is complete, you will need to edit your TV drama trailer prior to your rough cut deadline at Christmas.

In lessons, you will be working on the print brief so will need to edit in free periods or at home.

Good luck with your filming - remember to strive for professional standards and include as many different locations, scenes and moments of tension as you can as you are creating a trailer for the whole season of your drama.

Briefing Sheets For Cinema Trips

'Booksmart' at The Vue Cinema, Finchley Road: Tuesday 12/11

'Blinded By The Light' at The Empire Haymarket: Wednesday 13/11

Coursework: OFCOM - Pre-Watershed Guidelines

Make sure you review your current planning, filming and editing to check that everything adheres to the OFCOM guidelines for pre-watershed broadcast.

Failure to comply with these restrictions will mean you'll be penalised in your final mark...

OFCOM - Pre-Watershed Guidelines