Debates in Feminist Research - week 8 (Monday 25th February)

This series of posts relate to a course I am currently taking as part of my Women's Studies degree. The aim of the course is to explore the key issues and debates in women's studies research.

For my assessment as part of this course, I am producing a critical journal, detailing my assumptions and realisations about women's studies research and about myself as a researcher. It will include some preparation work for classes and reflections on this preparation, as I discover new ways of researching.

NOTE: Please feel free to read this blog and comment freely. I am not presenting facts, this is a record of my thoughts and processes. However I will ask, given that this will form part of my assessed degree course, that you please seek my permission before citing any of this material yourself.

Negotiating person-centred research

This week we considered the potential uses of and potential problems which arise through person-centred research. We took Penny Summerfield's "Oral History as a Research Method" as a starting point from which to examine this in relation to our own person-centred projects.

So what is person-centred research? Put simply, it is research which focuses on a person and their experiences. Usually facilitated through interviewing, this research attempts to locate a person's significance in relation to others and to examine their place and their contribution to the world. It is distinct from text-centred and process-centred research in that it takes the person as the central aspect of the research as opposed to a text or a research process.

Where do we find sources of knowledge to conduct person-centred research?

There are many different sources available which can be used in person-centred research, interviewing being just one of them. These can include:

• Official documents (including birth and death certificates, marriage and divorce licenses, medical certificates, criminal records, the census). These sources are generally readily available from local records offices and national archives.
  
• Private documents (including letters, diaries, autobiographies, e-mails). However isues were raised in terms of both the accessibility of these artefacts - they would either have to be gifted by relatives or friends of the person being researched, or by the person themselves - and the likely class and status of a person who has extensive and accessible private documents. If these have been made publicly available, the person being researched is likely to be high-status. Thus the use of private sources for research is a preselection of who has been recorded in this way.
  
• Mass Observation Archive: This can be useful for providing accessible information about people's everyday lives.
  

It is also becoming increasingly common for researchers to deposit collected interviews in research libraries for use by others. There is a real need to record people's 'ordinary' everyday activites as these will not otherwise survive. The literature, art and other artefacts which may survive through into later periods is usually not representative of everyday lives and activites. Thus it is vital to continue to foster the increasing post-war interest in the 'ordinary person', offering a bottom-up view as opposed to the official top-down one.

How do we find respondents?

Penny Summerfield outlined several ways of locating respondents in her article, including advertising in national magazines, however the most successful method was snowballing. But using snowballing to locate research respondents can be problematic. As the respondents will usually be friends or family members, or will know each other through a group or organisation, snowballed respondents are usually similarly diverse and do not form a representative sample in terms of ethnicity, age, sexuality or class.

However whilst snowballing may be the most overt about potential skewings of data, it is important to realise that all forms of selection produce skewed data. By the necessary process of selection a researcher is leaving someone out, thus skewing the data. For example, content analysis, which appears to be more representative and less skewed than snowballing, still skews its data, even though it is less overt about it. A researcher must be explicit about the nature of the skewing which occurs, always set clear parameters and be aware of the limitations of the research.

Feminist Activism in York 1880-1960 - a methodological example

We were asked to bring along an example of a possible person-centred research project to facilitate thinking about some of the methodological issues discussed above.

My Project

Researching feminist activist groups in York, UK, 1880-1960. I would like to explore the kinds of women's or feminist groups which were actively campaigning for women's liberation and emancipation and the sorts of activities they were involved in. I would interview respondents exploring their own memories of their involvement in feminist activism and their memories of their mothers', grandmothers' and other family members' involvement. I would like to explore these memories in relation to reflections of what the respondents think of feminist activism in York now and how it has changed over the years and to allow modern-day feminist activists to (hopefully) look back at our 'first-wave' sisters and discover what day-to-day activities were really like for these women.

The immediate issue which was raised about this project was the huge time span. The period covered witnessed many changes in society, government and culture and thus the concept of activism may have altered over the years. I should therefore set more realistic parameters for this research.

Locating respondents

I would seek respondents who were active in feminist groups during the period, or women who have memories of other family members' involvement. I acknowledge that it may be difficult to locate a representative sample of respondents for this project, given that the period I am researching is quite far in the past thus I may need to confront the 'problem of survival' (Summerfield, 49). My main method for locating respondents is likely to be snowballing, with an awareness of the data skewing issues for this method. A valuable starting point for this could be current feminist activist groups who have kept in touch with former members or with women who have been involved in feminist activism in the past. Given that this research is geographically specific, it is possible that respondents are either themselves current residents of York or may have family or friends who are local residents. Therefore advertising in local newspapers, shops, cafes, Post Offices and on local radio would be useful. Current local feminist groups' own historical sources might also prove useful.

I was encouraged to begin to look at local archives, such as the Feminist Archive North and council archives for local organisations. Another valuable resource was pointed out to me - residential homes and sheltered housing. However the ethical and practical considerations for this were stressed. In order to interview residents, I would need to contact a manager. Whilst I first considered that this would be most appropriate in writing, it was suggested that this could be ineffective without any previous personal contact: people are much mroe likely to respond if they are approached directly. Thus a personal face to face visit or a phone call may be more appropriate.

Transcribing

Most researchers end up working from a transcript of their interviews, as this is generally easier. However doing this makes this research into a form of textual analysis. Some critics, notably Alessandro Portelli have warned of the danger of losing the interviewee's 'voice' in the transcript by ignoring nuances of tone, inflection and volume in the recorded voice (Summerfield, 51). Sometimes issues of translation cause problems, as there is not always a direct translation from one language to another.

The linguistic conventions in the way we talk are culturaly specific - certain types of narratives produce certain stories and follow a particular narrative structure. Thus there are underlying assumptions which a researcher and a respondent will make about the interview and the questions an interviewer asks can influence the respondent's answers. In selecting a criterion on which to base a research project, you are asking respondents to rearrange how they form their lives around this criterion, for example sexuality. This may give a false dominance to this criterion or this aspect of their lives as it may not be the way they would interpret their own lives.

The interaction between interviewer and interviewee is also significant in that age and outward appearance can make a profound difference to the dynamic of the interview and thus to the interviewee's responses. Even in a text-based interview, for example via e-mail or through a chat room, your positionality is still visible in the language you use and don't use (slang, technical terms, abbreviations).

Interviewers can project their own norms through their questioning, forcing people into telling a certain story.So researchers must seek neutrality as much as possible, so as not to lead the respondent astray or to restructure their response and mould it into something it is not. However the source materials themselves also produce norms, in that they are informed by normativity and this affects the stories they can tell. There are multi-layers of norms which affect person-centred research and these norms of narrative will be unspoken and implicit.

Reflections

I found this class interesting and useful in terms of thinking about my research proposal. By pointing out the potential problems I might encounter, I could alter my research proposal and methodology to make the most out of this research. In light of this class I would like to reformulate my research proposal as follows:

Researching feminist groups in York, UK 1939-1945

Altering the proposed period of research is a way of recognising the limitations of research and also an attempt to locate a purpose for the project. By locating the research period firmly within the parameters of the Second World War, this research project will provide valuable evidence about York residents' experiences during the war and how this affected feminist activites, an area where (as far as I know) there has been little research.

I will try to identify feminist groups which were active at the time through various sources including (but not limited to):

• newspaper archives
• Council archives
• local archives (the Feminist Archive North)
• current feminist groups' own source materials

Hopefully these sources will indicate the number, size, main activites and geographic location of these groups. Using this information, I can attempt to locate respondents for interview, and their interviews will hopefully furnish my factual research with valuable details.

I will use snowballing techniques for my research, beginning with current local feminist organisations, personal contacts and further contacts through my first few respondents (hopefully). I will also advertise this research in Post Offices, shops and on local radio. I will use the valuable resource of residential care homes and will approach these directly to seek respondents.

Hopefully, this project would be completed within nine months to a year, so I would estimate that I could conduct 10-15 interviews within this period, with suitable time for writing up and analysing data.

If anyone would be interested in this project I think it is a valuable one which I would be very happy to do!

Debates in Feminist Research - week 7 (Monday 18th Febuary)

This series of posts relate to a course I am currently taking as part of my Women's Studies degree. The aim of the course is to explore the key issues and debates in women's studies research.

For my assessment as part of this course, I am producing a critical journal, detailing my assumptions and realisations about women's studies research and about myself as a researcher. It will include some preparation work for classes and reflections on this preparation, as I discover new ways of researching.

NOTE: Please feel free to read this blog and comment freely. I am not presenting facts, this is a record of my thoughts and processes. However I will ask, given that this will form part of my assessed degree course, that you please seek my permission before citing any of this material yourself.

Exploring 'Women's Voices': Feminist Film Studies and Cultural Studies

This week, we explored feminist film theory and cultural studies to analyse representations of women in film and TV and consider the 'tricky question' of portraying 'women's voices'.

I will begin with a summary of each of the three articles we read, then I will offer a consideration of the film Baise-Moi in relation to one of the article's arguments. I will follow this by outlining potential methodologies for researching film and which methodology I would use. Finally I will reflect on the exercises and class discussion and offer some of my thoughts and ideas for further exploration.

Summary of reading material

Citron, Michelle et al. "Women and Film: A Discussion of Feminist Aesthetics". New German Critique 13 (1978): 82-107.

The contributors to this article discuss ways in which films and film theory are placed and place themselves within feminist discourse. They consider female visual pleasure and varying ways of watching and decoding films for pleasure, highlighting the limits of Mulvey and Johnston’s influential theories. They consider the advantages and disadvantages of varying methodologies of interpretation, mainly Marxist analysis v. liberalism. Finally they discuss the extent to which film-making can be explicitly ‘feminist’ through collective film-making or participatory cinema film (99).

Stacey, Jackie. "Feminine Fascinations: A question of identification?". Stargazing: Hollywood Cinema and Female Spectatorship. London: Routledge, 1994. 126-175.

Stacey identifies the multiple ways women identify with film stars in order to show that existing theories, based on psychoanalysis, are limited. She distinguishes between cinematic identification (devotion, adoration, worship, transcendence, aspiration and inspiration) and extra-cinematic identification (pretending, resembling, imitating, copying). She highlights the distinctions between fantasies and practices of identification and redefines theories of similarity and difference in identification.

Thornham, Sue. "Feminist Media and Film Theory". Contemporary Feminist Theories. Ed. Stevi Jackson and Jackie Jones. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998. 213-231.

Thornham provides an overview of feminist cultural and film studies since the 1960s, tracing a pathway through Friedan, Tuchman, Pollock, Mulvey and Johnston. She follows media and film studies through structuralism and psychoanalysis and finally into more audience/spectator based cultural studies. She identifies four central issues:

1. the power of the media
2. our own capacity for agency
3. the means we choose to answer these (above) questions
4. the kinds of knowledge we wish to produce and the ways we wish to use it.

A reading of Baise-Moi with reference to Citron’s theory of a distinct women’s filmmaking.

I would like to consider the film Baise-Moi (2001) co-directed by Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi in the context of Citron et al.’s idea of a distinct ‘women’s film-making’. (Poster image from
[accessed 18 February 2008]).

‘Exploring themes of gender, sexuality, race, rape, class, violence against women, poverty and punk rock, Baise-Moi turns the tables and puts women in the role of sexual aggressor. Based on Despentes’ novel of the same title, Manu and Nadine lose their last tenuous relationship with mainstream society when Manu gets raped and Nadine sees her only friend being shot. After a chance encounter, they embark on an explosive journey of sex and murder. Perhaps as revenge against men, perhaps as a revolt against bourgeois society, but certainly in a negation - almost joyful in its senseless violence - of all the codes of a society which has excluded, raped and humiliated them. Controversial for its violence and real sex scenes: a vividly nihilist road movie set in France’. ("Film Synopsis", [accessed 17 February 2008])

Citron says that ‘women’s content is different, but a lot of women’s films are formalistically just like films that have always been made’ (97). This film was certainly described as ‘original’, however it does remind me of Tarantino’s films’ audacious violence and sex (see poster for Death Proof, Tarantino's latest film, image from <http://www.horrorphile.net/death-proof> [accessed 18 February 2008]). I also feel a large part of my reaction to this film was do with the fact that I knew this film was directed by women. If I hadn’t, I might have had a more negative view of the sexual explicitness and representation of the women on screen. I still find certain parts of this film problematic in this sense. Therefore I am not sure if the content of this film is especially unique to women: not all the violence is against men – women are also killed in this film.

Citron cites Iskin and Raven’s conception of female film-making as a process, whereas male art is more attacking ("Through the Peephole: Toward a Lesbian Sensibility in Art". Chrysalis 4, (1978): 19-31). Certainly this film shows some degree of process through Despente’s novel, the adaptation of the novel into a film script and into the direction of the film. Despentes says that ‘I proposed to Coralie that she co-direct the film as she and I shared the vision of a feminist battle, an avant garde battle, as well as certain fondness for provocation... To reclaim women's rights over their true sexuality, to seize it back from the male gaze. It's always men who have a problem with a woman's sex: that's their problem, not ours’ (Despentes, Virginie. "The history of Baise-Moi, [accessed 17 February 2008].) Thus it could be argued that this film is fulfilling a feminist purpose as part of this process.

Citron also highlights participatory cinema film, where film-makers interact with their ‘subjects’. This film was co-directed by Trinh-Ti, an actress and the lead roles were played by former porn actresses therefore there is perhaps a reflexivity between director and cast. But although the film was shot on digital film without artificial lighting, giving it a low-budget feel, the film is clearly fictional. However as the film is based on a book, which was written by the director, perhaps the interaction here is between the director and the novel as ‘subject’; Despentes does state that ‘it was vital that the film should remain faithful to the spirit of the book.’

What methodology would you choose for a project on 'researching women's voices'?

I found Citron’s claim interesting: ‘a definite methodology has an underlying assumption – one of objectivity, with rules which tell you how to interpret every situation. I don’t see how any kind of feminist perspective can give a methodology; at best it can give a perspective’ (93-94).

For a project on exploring women’s voices, I feel that it is important to acknowledge that there may be a range of varying possible ways of ‘reading’ and ‘analysing’ a film. Thus I personally think that a methodology which privileges the interpretations of a wide audience would be most appropriate, such as the audience research which Stacey proposes. I would hope to achieve a wide range of varying and sometimes conflicting ‘readings’ of media, which I could then use to inform a study.

Studies of film and TV gain weight and social import by asking questions which reach further than the ‘cinematic experience’ and explore the reach of the media into ‘extra-cinematic’ space. Therefore I would hope that this methodology would reveal answers about respondent’s identification with the media, their appropriation of certain aspects of it and the relevance of it to their everyday life (for example how does watching Eastenders four times a week structure the rest of the day’s activities?) (Image from [accessed 18 February 2008]).

Thinking practically, if I wanted to undertake audience research, I would devise questionnaires and perhaps follow-up interviews. This would hopefully minimise my impact as a researcher. I would hope to show that the text’s meaning is not immutable, but is determined by those consuming it and will be interpreted differently every time (see Hobson in Thornham, 223).

I would ask the following kinds of questions:

1. Do you talk about what you watch with friends/family? How often?
2. Which films/TV programmes do you watch regularly?
3. Are there any films/TV programmes that you never watch?
4. How often do you re-watch film/TV programmes? Why do you think you do this?
5. How do you decide whether to watch a certain film/TV show or not?

These more general questions might perhaps allow me to identify patterns of watching and begin to identify the choices people make when watching TV and films.

I will explore the complex decision-making process involved in choosing a methodology in more detail in my 'reflection' section below.

Reflections

There were some really interesting ideas expressed during this class, particularly with regards to the complexities of research methodology.

We tried to list as many different ways of researching film as we could and then discussed the benefits and drawbacks to each. All of us seemed more in favour of audience research, though it was pointed out that textual analysis, whilst often ignored, is the most common research method in film studies. We discussed questionnaires, surveys, interviewing, focus groups, observation and online research and the ways researchers can attract respondents, i.e. through magazines, fan groups, web sites etc. The difficulty in finding a representative sample was also discussed, with a general agreement that although this is not always possible, researchers should ensure they are aware of the potential effect this might have on their research. We also discussed the varying ethical considerations of each methodology.

The main points I drew from this discussion were:

• The most important things to decide before beginning audience research is what kind of information do you want? This will allow you to structure surveys and interview questions accordingly.
• If you are interested in observing how people interact then focus groups can be very useful. However group participation can affect the dynamic of the group, so a researcher must be aware of this potential shift.
  
• I was quite intrigued by the idea of social watching/social reading presented by Stacey. However it was pointed out in class that the research she undertook is now almost fifteen years out of date! I would find it very interesting to explore the ways in which our viewing habits have changed since then (DVDs, online viewing) and compare this with the social viewing habits of Stacey's sample.
  

Finally I would like to end with a reflection of 'resistant reading': our discussion of this in class really got me thinking.

Should a resistant reading of a text be more valuable than a 'face-value' reading?

Is there always a resistant reading or do we take some films at face value?

Can we valorise a pleasurable, 'simple' watching experience, without assuming or forcing a feminist reading?

I feel these questions are particularly pertinent to Baise-Moi, the film I chose for consideration, as this film is graphically violent and sexual thus is perhaps not the most evidently feminst film. However because we know that the film was directed by two women, we assume that the film is not to be taken at face-value, but that it has a hidden 'resistant' reading, which our cultural capital will help us to understand. Our cultural capital can make things which might seem inappropriate otherwise more acceptable: for example, the sexual violence against women in Baise-Moi seems more acceptable as we know this film is directed by two women, thus we assume they include this for a reason and not just misogyny.

[We watched an extract of Charming Augustine, a film by Zoe Beloff and were asked if we thought it was a 'feminist' film (see above image from <http://www.zoebeloff.com/pages/Augustine.html> [accessed 18 February 2008]). We discovered that it was precisely the cultural capital which we had about the film's background and context which allowed us to consider it as a feminist film. This film is asking for a higher degree of cultural capital in order to understand it (interestingly the filmmaker did not consider this to be a feminist film).]

There is always a balance to strike in film, TV and cultural studies between types of watching/reading - 'high' reading and 'low' reading. I think that the gap between them is not as wide as some 'resistant' readers would like to think:I would be interested to explore further the ways in which we all draw both resistant and face-value pleasure from our watching/reading and this is what makes our watching/reading experiences unique and validates audience research.

Debates in Feminist Research – Week 5 (Monday 4th February)

This series of posts relate to a course I am currently taking as part of my Women's Studies degree. The aim of the course is to explore the key issues and debates in women's studies research.

For my assessment as part of this course, I am producing a critical journal, detailing my assumptions and realisations about women's studies research and about myself as a researcher. It will include some preparation work for classes and reflections on this preparation, as I discover new ways of researching.

NOTE: Please feel free to read this blog and comment freely. I am not presenting facts, this is a record of my thoughts and processes. However I will ask, given that this will form part of my assessed degree course, that you please seek my permission before citing any of this material yourself.

Interpreting Visual Cultures

This week we were learning about how to interpret and use visual culture in research. We did this through analysing two advertisements. I will outline the comments I initially made on the adverts, then the varying methods and techniques introduced through reading and during the class for analysing visual culture, then I will reflect on what I have gained from this session and my responses to the ideas which came out of the session.

Advert 1

Look at the landscape and the buildings. What messages is the ad trying to convey about the advantages of golfing in Kenya?

It seems, particularly the building on the left, that the style is emulating European stately style, often seen at prestigious British golf courses. Having said this I am not sure if these are indeed typical buildings in Kenya. However from a British perspective, these buildings are not unfamiliar and could be interpreted as presenting a 'home away from home', just with the benefits of great climate and lots of space.

What is the ad trying to tell us about the two men in the foreground? What is significant about their dress?

Given the traditional 'western' views of golfing attire, the white man is dressed more appropriately (although still quite informally for some golf clubs). However this only serves to highlight the dress of the Kenyan man more - although this is Kenyan attire and is arguably more appropriate in Kenya, because this is a golf course in a traditional western style, with western buildings and undoubtedly a western clientele, the western man looks more at ease.

I would also like to highlight the fact that they are both men: golf is notoriously exclusionary towards women and the choice of using a male Kenyan here instead of a female Kenyan (indeed all the women in the background - maybe two - can be said to be partnering men on the course as neither have gold bags of their own and there is no woman in Kenyan dress). Therefore the Kenyan woman becomes particularly invisible in this advert as the male Kenyan becomes the cultural representative.

How can we decode the masculinities of the two men? Is one more masculine than the other? How can we tell?

This is going to be very much a culturally specific interpretation, as body language and its meanings vary hugely from culture to culture. From a western point of view, I would argue that the Kenyan man is presented as much more effeminate than the western man. The Kenyan man is wearing a sarong-type garment, interpreted by the west as a feminine clothing item, he is wearing jewellery, has sandals, earrings, and is much slimmer than the western man, which are all markers of femininity in the west (whether they should be or not is another question).

Contrarily, the western man is stocky and plump, implying wealth; is wearing a corporate logo on his hat and labelled clothing (on his left sleeve). He is standing almost straight on to the camera, in a 'confident' stance (why do we think it is a confident stance?) and is teaching the Kenyan man, in a parallel of male intellectual superiority over women. Therefore this western man conforms to western ideals of the affluent, influential man.

However it would be interesting to see if other cultures would characterise this relationship differently? For example would the distinction between their builds mean something different in Kenya or elsewhere? Is teaching always a superior to inferior process?

The ad is also trying to convey something about cultural exchange. Is this an equal exchange?

I would argue no, this is not an equal exchange. The only aspect of Kenyan culture which is accepted by the western man is the spear, which he is holding loosely and casually, implying he does not place that much value on it. He is much more interested in the golf club (the object of the west) which he is directing the Kenyan man how to use. Furthermore, the Kenyan is presented as being much less at ease using a golf club than the western male is holding the spear - he may be holding it casually, but he does not look ill at ease.

I have already mentioned above too, that the kind of people who are likely to use the club will be affluent westerners, given the landscaping and buildings - that grass will need a lot of water! I would imagine that the relationships between westerners and Kenyans here are likely to be customer (master)/ servant relationships.

How can we use post-colonial theory to shed a critical light on the central message and values of this ad?

[It was suggested by other students that the Kenyan man is being presented as 'other' to the white western male]. would take this idea of the Kenyan man as other further and suggest that the western man, whilst not particularly the ideal of an attractive western man (according to the media), is presented as masculine and affluent in opposition to the Kenyan. Thus the Kenyan acts as a foil, representing everything that the western man is not.

This postcolonial idea of the native 'other' can be elaborated to show the extent to which western and native ideologies and constructions of power collide to eliminate women. Many western golf courses restrict women's access and women are often the most disadvantaged in many world societies and cultures (though I don't know the specifics of Kenyan society). Therefore both the western man's patriarchy and the Kenyan man's patriarchy work together to make sure woman is elided.

The Kenyan is furthermore shown as not belonging - directly behind him is a castle-like building. Going on the old adage 'an Englishman's home is his castle', even though this is in Kenya, the Kenyan is made to look out of place and thus ridiculous.

Advert 2

Again, begin by considering the landscape. Where is the ad set (identify the landmarks) and what has happened?

I think the mermaid is lying on the Arc de Triomphe so maybe this is flooded Paris? Although the background seems to be artificial: a theatre backdrop of the set for a photoshot perhaps, implying that we shouldn't take this literally as flooded Paris, but we should extract certain assumptions and associations that the author wishes us to make between the images and Paris - love, lust, sensuality, glamour.

Are they floating in perfume? Has she flooded Paris with her scent?

Why is the woman in the centre of the ad a mermaid? And what is she doing?

[Examples were given by others of the traditional ‘siren’ image of mermaids.] However I thought it was significant that she is wearing an officer's hat and is using a megaphone to call. This implies she perhaps has more agency and control over the situation than we would traditionally ascibe. Or perhaps this is playing on the fear that mermaids sank ships in order to get at the sailors.

What can we infer about the men in the water? What has happened to them? What are they doing and where are they looking? Can we tell anything about their identities?

Both men are attractive (according to western media) thus can be seen as suitable love/lust partners/objects for the mermaid. Interestingly, both are wearing hats which are usually worn by lower status sailors than the hat she is wearing, implying she may be the one in control.

[During the class, some people suggested that the sailors are reminiscent of gay identity and contribute to queer the advert. I found this a very interesting aspect of the analysis.]

What about the bottle of perfume? Why is it dressed in a metal-looking corset? What do we know about the history of corsets? Who is well known for wearing a corset like this one and how does that affect out interpretation of it?

Wikipedia says:

'A corset is a garment worn to mold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes (either for the duration of wearing it, or with a more lasting effect).'

Usually historically worn by women to appear fashionable, interestingly Wikipedia also highlights the corset's place as contemporary fetish wear:

'Aside from fashion and medical uses, corsets are also used in sexual fetishism, most notably in BDSM activities. In BDSM, a submissive can be forced to wear a corset which would be laced very tight and give some degree of restriction to the wearer. A dominant can also wear a corset, but for entirely different reasons such as aesthetics.'

A corset gives a traditional, feminine shape, historically desirous to men. Thus this implies to a consumer that if you wear this perfume, men will find you sexually attractive.

I think perhaps this question might be hinting at Madonna: the conical breasts designed for her by Jean Paul Gaultier, the creator of this perfume). Whilst to some extent this image is now a comical one (you can buy plastic imitation breasts in some nightclubs), it still has a status of representing a powerful and attractive woman (Madonna was found recently to be the richest female musician).

What is the overall message of the ad? Could this ad be described as ‘Feminist?’

Is this advert presenting the mermaid as powerful? To answer this, I would combine the signifiers of the hat and megaphone together with the sailors' hats and the fact that she is physically higher up than them on dry land which is where they need to be. For me, all these combine to indicate that she is in a position of power. However I do agree that even if this does imply more power, this advert is massively heteronormative and the only power she is allowed is in her influence over men who are swimming in her scent (so to speak).

Methods

We read an article by Don Slater "Analysing cultural objects: content analysis and semiotics" to identify the main methods of visual analysis: content analysis and semiotics.

Content analysis ‘at bottom...measures frequency, and typical research questions might be: ‘how prevalent in soap opera are sexist images of women?’ (Slater, 235). ‘A content analysis is rather like a social survey of a sample of images, rather than of people, using a tightly structured and closed questionnaire’ (235). However the drawback of content analysis is that it cannot explore nuanced meanings of visual analysis.

Semiotic analysis might be more suited to nuanced meanings as it is more open-ended in it aims and investigations. Semiotic analysis derives from Saussure’s theory of structural linguistics.

A crucial step in understanding semiotic analysis is the step between denotation and connotation. ‘Denotation...is the perceptual, ‘first-order’ level of signification, the level at which we might talk about what the picture is literally a picture of’ (Slater, 240). However the image will also connote a ‘range of higher-level ideological meanings’, thus semiotics is ‘not simply the description of sign systems, but the analysis of this process of ‘mythologisation’ whereby conventional social systems of meaning come to appear natural’ (241).

Adverts use these codes (cultural codes) to make people buy products by encoding messages which connote certain things for them. Thus, for example, the perfume advert above connotes glamour, gay identity, sensuality.

However all signs are polysemic, thus there is a possibility for misunderstanding and resistant readings. Furthermore, a signifier has different levels of meaning: in class the example of the word ‘cow’ was given. This word can be multiply used to signify both an animal and an insult.


Stuart Hall created a model for this encoding and decoding, concluding that the encoding and decoding must match in order to get the identity or message that we want to read. (Image from <http://www.aber.ac.uk/ media/Documents/S4B/
sem08c.html> [accessed 4 Feb 2008]) If the technical infrastructure (means), relations of production (class) and frameworks of knowledge of the creaters do not match those of the consumers then there is a distinct possibility of misunderstanding. There is a need for a common language, a need to match class, means and knowledge. In order for the technical infrastructure of the consumer to match that of the creator, the consumer needs to have a TV!

We all have a certain amount of cultural capital (knowledge we have in order to understand certain connotations), however some will have more than others. The more cultural capital you have, the easier it will be to decode connotations.

This can be closely linked with the distinction between high and low culture - low culture interests (such as soap operas and romance novels) have often been aligned with women's interests. Thus we all bring certain assumptions about high and low culture to our readings and understandings.

Reflections

I found this class really interesting and drew some particular questions/ideas which I would like to explore further out of this class:

• To what extent is visual data real/fake? Are people's real selves being portrayed or is this a performance. [Some class members drew upon the theatre style backdrop of the perfume advert to suggest that the roles being played out in this advert were performative, referencing Judith Butler's theory of 'gender performativity' perhaps].

• I found it quite challenging at first to draw distinctions between the methods of visual analysis, however following the class I would be very interested to using both methods either separately or perhaps simultaneously to see the advantages and disadvantages of each method in practice.

• From our reading, I was particularly interested in ideas around the gaze in advertising (Zoonen, Liesbet van, 'Spectatorship and the Gaze', Feminist Media Studies) and I would be interested in following this further with specific examples in visual culture.

Overall I really enjoyed this class and I am pleased at the skills and knowledge that I have been able to draw from it. Hopefully I will get a chance to use them!