FEMINIST THEORY - LEISBIT VAN ZOONEN

• We get our idea about gender from discourse which is communication from the media
• Perhaps when we see damsels in distress in media forms we start to believe that women are weak and vulnerable.
• Perhaps when we see males in fearless, heroic roles we start to believe they are courageous and honourable.
• She also believes our ideas on gender change depending on the historical and cultural context. In the 1950s for example, women were expected to be housewives and mothers, whereas now in the 21st century, women can be seen increasingly in the workplace and in high tier job roles.
• She believes that women are often objectified in the media.
• Women are seen as commodities - something that makes money
• Men: presented as individual and more suited to business and politics. Whereas women are presented as more nurturing and domestic.
• Mens bodies: Seen as spectacle, something they have worked hard to achieve. Whereas, women's bodies are seen as a commodity and something we should lust over, and not something that the woman has worked hard to obtain.