Radical Feminism
1) Women are usually seen as inferior to men in society; therefore, radical femnism aims to destroy this sex-class system as all forms of women's oppression is due to male supremacy.
2) These feminists challenge society by rejecting standard gender roles.
3) These concepts were first developed in the late sixties as a significant part of second-wave feminism.
Marxist Feminism
1) Describe the basis of women's subjugation.
2) Apply theories to women and their roles within the family.
3) Marxists believe in dismantling capitalism (as it is said to be the root of women's oppression) in order to acheive equlity in society which will, in turn, liberate women.
Dual Systems Theory
1) There are two systems of exploitation/oppression:
- Capitalism
- Patriarchy
Therefore:
- Exploitation in capitalism = Class
- Exploitation in patriarchy = Gender
Post-modern Feminism
1) Believe that the differences between males and females should be celebrated.
2) They accept that there are both males and females in this world and instead of trying to take the roles of men and trying to be their equals, we should use our gender to our advantage as they use theirs.
Feminist Theory and Film
Feminism is a social movement which has had an enormous impact on film theory and criticism.
Cinema is taken by feminists to be a cultural practice representing myths about women and femininity, as well as about men and masculinity.
Claire Johnston
1) Among the first feminist critics to offer a sustained critique of stereotypes from a semiotic point of view.
2) Investigated the myth of 'Woman' in classical cinema.
3) Women are negatively represented as 'not-man'. The 'woman-as woman' is absent from the text of the film.
Laura Mulvey
1) The fascination of Hollywood cinema can be explained through the notion of scopophilia (the desire to see) which is a fundamental drive according to Freud.
2) Sexual in origin is what keeps the spectator glued to the silver screen.
3)Mulvey’s theory is based around the pleasure and desire to look by integrating structures of voyeurism and narcissism into the story and the image:
- Voyeuristic visual pleasure - produced by looking at another (character, figure, situation) as our object
- Narcissistic visual pleasure - can be derived from self-identification with the (figure in the) image.
Scopophilia
2) Sexual in origin is what keeps the spectator glued to the silver screen.
3)Mulvey’s theory is based around the pleasure and desire to look by integrating structures of voyeurism and narcissism into the story and the image:
- Voyeuristic visual pleasure - produced by looking at another (character, figure, situation) as our object
- Narcissistic visual pleasure - can be derived from self-identification with the (figure in the) image.
Scopophilia
1) A structure that functions on the axis of activity and passivity. This binary opposition is gendered.
2) The female character is passive and powerless: she is the object of desire for the male character
2) The female character is passive and powerless: she is the object of desire for the male character
Male gaze
1) Within the narrative of the film male characters direct their gaze towards female characters. The spectator in the theatre is made to identify with the male look, because the camera films from the optical point of view of the male character.
2) There are three levels of the cinematic gaze:
- Camera
- Character
- Spectator
All of these objectify the female character and make her into a spectacle and in classical cinema, voyeurism connotes women as 'to-be-looked-at-ness'
2) There are three levels of the cinematic gaze:
- Camera
- Character
- Spectator
All of these objectify the female character and make her into a spectacle and in classical cinema, voyeurism connotes women as 'to-be-looked-at-ness'
