'One Size Fits All'

This video highlights the impact of the stereotypical 'perfect body image' in Western society as it proves that the expected body size for these clothes is unattainable for most women. In this video women from size 0-18 try on clothes labelled as being 'one size fits all' and the results, as expected, show that only the smallest sized women could fit comfortably into most of the clothes given to them. This supports the Western ideal of having to be skinny to be attractive and shows the unrealistic standards set for women in the beauty/fashion industry. A lot of the clothes, especially skirts, were too tight for most models, including women size 6/8 which is already a below average clothes size. The average size for women is 14 and almost all of the 'one size' clothes shown in this video wouldn't fit anyone larger than a size 0, which is the typical 'model' size. When asked about the sizing, one woman who wears a size 6/8 claimed 'When I didn’t fit into it, it made me feel like something was wrong with my body' which highlights how this unachievable body image can affect the self-esteem of most women and make them feel like it is their fault that they don't fit into the stereotypes of the 'ideal' woman.

Lost Boys - Theoretical Perspectives

Feminist Perspective:

• Only 2 female characters - predominantly male
• Mother dependent on males - becomes single mother and has to rely on living with her father and having her children to look after eachother
• Her storyline revolves around finding a male companion and being a mother
• Caring persona - gives money to teenagers looking for food in bins, helps child looking for mother
• Perceived as weak - chased by dog and relies on her son to help/save her, plays no role in helping fight vampires at end of film - male characters have to protect her
• Relies on males throughout the entire film
• Star also dependent on males - returns to vampires when they call her away from Michael
• Male Gaze 
• 'The Lost Boys' - no mention of girls or focus on missing females
• Plight of females is neglected
• Mother is loser in divorce, finds a man  to solve her problems
• Sons need male role model - mother's fault sons weren't under control due to them not being given a male role model
• Star has to be saved and looked after by Michael and plays no part in fighting vampires
• Both females' only purpose in film is to find romance - Star doesn't kill Michael because she loves him

Post-Modern:

 

• Blurred genres
• Challenges generic conventions of vampires - mode of address/discourse
• Teenagers as vampires - identity
• Signifies the breakdown of marriage
• Entertainment as surveillance
• Troublemaker image
• Negative representation by the adults - represent the adult audience - mother allows them
• Shop owner/grandad/security guard dislike the teenagers
• Portrayed as 'cool' - aspirational image - role models to teenagers watching the film - media
• Amplification spiral / moral panic
• Generation gap - fighting eachother not the bourgeoisie
• False construct
• Lost boy represents fear of teenagers

Marxist:

 

• Zizek - police officer 'I told you, not on the boardwalk'
• Suggests not in public - amplification spiral
• Do not affect the tourist dollars - effect on the tourist industry - choosing profit over people
• Teenagers a threat to capitalism
• Capitalism needs a scapegoat - teenagers in this film
• The other is a fear used to create scapegoats for capitalism
• Lost Boys represents lost in society/lost in capitalism
• Bourgeoisie vs Proletariat

Lost Boys Notes

• Fairgrounds - environment of young people - negative representation
• generally a place for family entertainment
• Rejection of authority - on the boardwalk
• Post-modern - teenagers as vampires 
• Graffiti - no respect for the law 
• Punk representation - fits stereotype of being a violent/aggressive genre
• Poverty - kids eating from bins
• Protagonists represent audience
• Foreigners/homeless represented as the strange - empathise with song (people are strange - The Doors)
• Stereotypical teenager image - motorbike, weightlifting, unruly, ignore authority
• Protagonist - divorced, single mum - social taboo in 80s
• Aspects of horror genre - taxidermy, blood / texas chainsaw massacre
• 'Wild Kids' - 'They're just young' - protagonist accepting towards teenagers 'unruly' behaviour
• Film represents a fear of teenagers in our society - consuming popular culture
• troublemaker image - Edward Said the 'other'
• Changing identities of vampires from rich, white count to teenagers
• Stereotypical teenagers (smoking weed listening to Jim Morrison) which challenges the usual stereotypes of vampires
• Teenagers given obvious negative vampire image - causing mayhem, motorbikes, fangs etc, whereas adult vampires only have subtle hints towards them being vampires (e.g. grandad wearing sunglasses indoors, putting stake in the ground, having his section of the fridge) - teenage vampires are the only ones represented as troublemakers 
• Girl called Star - hippie name
• Mother 'hey, aren't we friends anymore?'
• Test parents patience - biological need
• Male bond between grandad and Michael mentioning sexual conquests
• suggests you need to be afraid of people in power - city hall
• Head vampire represents bourgeoisie and other vampires represent proletariat - need to kill head vampire in order to change the other vampires back to humans
• Stratification - social division
• 'The American way triumphs'
• Agreed narrative conventions - vampire needs to be invited in
• Certain vampire conventions - garlic, holy water, stake through the heart, mirrors, killing people, immortality, drinking blood
• 'Kids Sam's age need discipline' - Bourgeoisie
• Their rebellion challenges the people in power
• Edgar and Allan Frog - play on Edgar & Allan Poe

Hacktivist - False Idols -Marxist Song

Lyrics:

We see through your disguise
False idols in our eyes
We're stronger
We are the

We ain't gonna lose no sleep if you hate us
Now we're in way too deep on our way up
Think we're gonna stop because a fake don't rate us?
Boris Johnson c**t aint gonna save us
Keep taxing our wages
We just spit raps in faces
Tryna bridge gaps but we are lab rats in cages
Trapped in
Sick without a vaccine
Contagious
So they wanna stay away from us because of our behaviour
Well I don't f**king blame ya coz we're not just entertainers
Stay away from the radius
I spit shrapnel that will give you a face lift
Do you catch my drift?
Hacktivist causing a crisis
Let a politician chat sh*t as I murder the riff

We see through your disguise
False idols in our eyes
We're stronger
We are the
The voice of a generation
Lost in discrimination
They step to the stage with nothing to say but waste
The voice of a generation
Lost in discrimination
They step to the stage with nothing to show but fame

Better know we're setting the pace
Everybody wants money
Nobody wants change
From council estates on minimum wage
How the f**k did we get here on the main stage?
We won't follow mans lane
Clockwork Orange
They can't wash my brain
Think I give a f**k about fame?
I'll be on the road playing shows with my mates
All we need is humanity in this human race
Others see black and white but we see grey
If you read between the lines you can relate
When the kids start shooting at their class mates and their parents blame GTA
Selling guns in shops was the first mistake
So don't talk to me about fate

We see through your disguise
False idols in our eyes
We're stronger
We are the voice
The voice of a generation
Lost in discrimination
We are the voice
The voice of a generation
Lost in discrimination
We are the voice

The voice of a generation
Lost in discrimination
They step to the stage with nothing to say but waste
The voice of a generation
Lost in discrimination
They step to the stage with nothing to show but fame

Lily Allen Music Videos: The Fear

This song is aimed at discussing the media and its influence on the public as well as suggesting celebrities can become more famous by taking their clothes off. She namedrops papers like The Sun and The Mirror as well as highlighting the stereotype that women should be skinny.

Lyrics:

I want to be rich and I want lots of money

I don't care about clever I don't care about funny

I want loads of clothes and fuckloads of diamonds

I heard people die while they are trying to find them

And I'll take my clothes off and it will be shameless

'Cause everyone knows that's how you get famous.

[Chorus:]

I'll look at the sun and I'll look in the mirror

I'm on the right track, yeah I'm on to a winner.

I don't know what's right and what's real anymore

And I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore

And when do you think it will all become clear?

'Cause I'm being taking over by The Fear

Life's about film stars and less about mothers

It's all about fast cars and cussing each other

But it doesn't matter cause I'm packing plastic

And that's what makes my life so fucking fantastic

And I am a weapon of massive consumption

And it's not my fault it's how I'm programmed to function

[Chorus]

Forget about guns and forget ammunition

'Cause I'm killing them all on my own little mission

Now I'm not a saint but I'm not a sinner

Now everything's cool as long as I'm getting thinner

[Chorus]

Lily Allen Music Videos: Hard Out Here

Hard Out Here is a feminist song aimed at highlighting the objectification of women in the media and the pressure to look attractive by fitting into stereotypes. In the video Lily Allen uses a recent event where she went to a surgeon about liposuction but was told she should reshape her entire body. This video also shows her mocking Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines by creating phrases with balloons and dancing in front of them to mock Robin doing the same in his video.

Links:

"Nobody's immune to the pressure to look thin," she tells Observer Magazine. Shortly after giving birth to her first child, Allen, 28, visited a Harley Street surgeon for advice on liposuction, but was advised that she should reshape her entire body – thighs, belly, ankles, knees and back. "I walked out with lines drawn all over me," she recalls.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/17/lily-allen-hard-out-here

Both the video and the song's lyrics take aim at misogyny and sexism in modern pop culture. She takes a satirical swipe at Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' video, in which a woman dances in front of the words 'Robin Thicke has a big dick', by dancing in front of inflatables spelling out 'Lily Allen has a baggy pussy'.

http://www.nme.com/news/lily-allen/73786

Lyrics:

I suppose I should tell you what this bitch is thinking

You'll find me in the studio and not in the kitchen

I won't be bragging 'bout my cars or talking 'bout my chains

Don't need to shake my ass for you 'cause I've got a brain

If I told you 'bout my sex life, you'd call me a slut

When boys be talking about their bitches, no one's making a fuss

There's a glass ceiling to break, uh-huh, there's money to make

And now it's time to speed it up 'cause I can't move at this pace

[Chorus:]

Sometimes it's hard to find the words to say

I'll go ahead and say them anyway

Forget your balls and grow a pair of tits

It's hard, it's hard, it's hard out here for a bitch

It's hard for a bitch (for a bitch) for a bitch,

It's hard

It's hard out here for a bitch

It's hard for a bitch (for a bitch) for a bitch,

It's hard

It's hard out here

If you're not a size six, then you're not good looking

Well, you better be rich, or be real good at cooking

You should probably lose some weight 'cause we can't see your bones

You should probably fix your face or you'll end up on your own

Don't you want to have somebody who objectifies you?

Have you thought about your butt? Who's gonna tear it in two?

We've never had it so good, uh-huh, we're out of the woods

And if you can't detect the sarcasm, you've misunderstood

[Chorus]

A bitch, a bitch, a bitch, bitch, bitch [4x]

Inequality promises that it's here to stay

Always trust the injustice 'cause it's not going away

Inequality promises that it's here to stay

Always trust the injustice 'cause it's not going away

[Chorus 2x]

Bitch

Gang of Four:

http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/gang-of-four-post-punk-praxis/

http://www.notgreatmen.com/gof_l1.html

http://www.releaselyrics.com/129d/gang-of-four-a-hole-in-the-wallet/

Marxism and Market Liberalism Revision Questions

1. Which Particular form of inequality are Marxists interested in? Give two examples of how this inequality might be seen in our society.

Marxists are particularly interested in the economic and social inequality that is shown in our society. This main inequality is shown between the different classes presented in our culture and the roles played by each class. For example the higher class, who generally own the means of production, have the power to exploit lower classes as they can hire cheap labour to make the products sold to the western society. These big production companies can gain a large profit for their products by hiring lower class people to create them in factories at minimum wage. Another example of social inequality is production companies and richer people being able to get away with not paying taxes. Arctic Monkeys, for example, don't have to pay their taxes due to their fame which shows an unequal balance between the different classes in our society.

2. How does Marxist thought divide society? (Think of the two terms they use.) Give a definition of each of these terms.

Marixsts have divided society into two separate groups of people: the bourgeoisie who own the means of production, and the proletariat who have to sell their labour in order to make a living. This shows a clear split between the opportunities presented to each group as the proletariat play a secondary role in contributing to society despite them creating all the consumer products presented to us. The bourgeoisie are the owners of the companies that provide these services, and as a result they make the profit from the products sold to our society. A clear divide in society is shown through these titles as one group recieves a large profit for selling products created through cheap labour, while the other have to create the consumer products for a low profit.

3. Give an example of how Marxist thought sees people as being exploited.

From a marxist perspective, the workers are clearly exploited by the owners of production companies by being made to work long hours for a small profit. An example of exploitation would be companies such as Apple and Facebook 'allowing' women to freeze their eggs in order to prevent them from having to take time off work to have children. This limits the freedom of the women working as they are fed false beliefs that they should put off having children while they maintain a stable career in order to ensure they keep working as many hours as possible. Work has been put above fair treatment in today's society and as we are all living in a state of false consciousness, a lot of us don't realise that the ending of workers being exploited is an achievable goal, not a utopian ideal.

4. In what ways does Marxist thought suggest that we are suffering from false consciousness? Try to give two examples.

Marxists suggest we are living in a state of false consciousness as we are forced into believing that consumer products will have a positive effect on our life and are necessary in order to be happy. For example, products that affect the way you look such as hair dye and makeup are promoted to women with the ideology that it will improve their life by making them more appealing to the male audience. A large amount of companies can sell the same products sold in cheap drugstores for double the price by putting a different brand on it and claiming it will change their identity. Consumers are exploited by these companies as they are convinced these products will make them feel better by allowing them to mould their identity, for example men's hair dye adverts always promote men looking younger and they would want to achieve this as their is an ideology that younger men are more likely to get hired.

 Another example of false consciousness would be companies feeding us the idea that we need a certain product such as iphones. A phone's main function used to be to make calls but in a modern society the technology in a iphone is considered essential to function in our daily life. The iphones get updated slightly every year and re-released, making last year's model worth less and less appealing to the public, despite there only being a miniscule change between the two phones. For example, one of the only changes between the Iphone 5 and 6 is the size of the screen, but society is convinced that we need this new update as we live in a throwaway culture where we always need to be up-to-date with the newest products. Some members of the public queued up for 15 days to get the newest Iphone with no excuse why they needed it other than it was the newest one.

5. What benefits might a market liberal (capitalist) system bring to the population? Try to give three, with examples.

There are a few aspects of market liberalism that capitalists believe is beneficial to the population. These may be:

1. Escaping Poverty - Capitalists believe that they are doing a favour to society as their companies provide jobs to people in poverty so they can earn a living and provide for their families. A lot of companies pay people the minimum wage for their country so they believe they are giving poorer people a living by getting them to create consumer products.
2. Providing society with labour saving devices - Consumer products are believed to make the lives of the public easier as labour saving devices such as dishwashers and washing machines allow people to have the work done for them. This is helpful for people with little time who may have a family to look after or a job with long hours, as they won't have to complete time consuming tasks such as washing up or hand washing their clothes.
3. Providing society with choice - Consumers are constantly provided with updated goods and the newest technology, giving them luxuries that can be used in everyday life. This may also be seen by capitalists as an encouragement to consumers to work harder as they will gain financial reward and be able to afford more expensive goods as a result of this. The wide choice of different cultural products allows the public to earn their money and spend it on things they prefer. 

6. How are false needs reinforced, according to Marxist thought? (Think of particular agents of socialisation.) Give two ways, with examples.

False needs are largely reinforced in our society as we are advertised products with the idea that we need to have them, despite them not being important for our basic needs. Food and water are basic items we actually need in our day to day life, but products such as expensive hair and skincare are promoted by encouraging us that we require them in order to create our identity. Iphones are one of the main false needs, as we could live without them but many are convince they need their iphone and some even hold it above their religious beliefs in terms of importance. These phones are advertised in a way that convinces us that we need them to be happy and as a result of this we all believe they are essential to us. With the latest iphone 6 some people queued up for 15 days to buy it and this is a good example of how our false needs affect us.

7. Illustrate Bauman's ideas about 'the perpetual non-satisfaction' of consumers.

Bauman makes the suggestion that without consumers constantly desiring new products the economoy would run out of ways to sell us new things. For example, with items such as games consoles and phones they are constantly being updated and advertised to us with new features which makes us convince ourselves that we need the latest model. A lot of the newest products only have small adjustments such as a change in screen size or colours, but the media persuades us that it's essential that we have the latest products. Because of this, our desire to have the newest products is never fulfilled and we will continue to spend our money on them.

8. Explain why we might pay more for a product than we think it is actually worth (think of use and exchange value). 

The way products are advertised can have a massive impact on how much we are willing to pay for them and although we might not think the use value is good enough to spend that much money, it can be easily sold to us through promotion. An example of this would be market advertising as we can be easily tempted into buying expensive products due to it being on offer and the shop convincing us it's worth our money. Some products sell at a 'buy two for £__' rate and despite us knowing we don't have any use for two of the same product, the offer will convince us that it's a good deal and worth paying the extra money. From a logical perspective, buying one product would be considerably cheaper than buying two just to get a slight 'discount' on them, but the way it is marketed makes us believe we're getting more for our money by buying two of a product we only need one of.

9. What do critics of late capitalism such as Paul Moore and Bill Gates suggest is needed to make late capitalism more acceptable?

Paul Moore thinks we are required to act unethically as a result of capitalism and it would be made more acceptable through ways such as a redistribution of wealth. Providing more ethical conditions would benefit business and make capitalism more acceptable and Paul Moore also says 'we need a new way of being'.

10. What does market liberalist thought suggest when it criticises marxism as promoting a 'utopian ideal'? (Think of what Milt Friedman said about angels...)

Market liberalists criticise marxism as they believe that what they want is promoting a utopian ideal which would be unachievable in our society. They think the way things are being run now allows a sense of control as well as encouraging freedoms. As Milt Friedman suggests, all societies run on greed, and there are no 'angels' that would run society for a reason other than their greed. 

Essay redraft

These two statements are arguing the two contrasting points that culture is either being infantised or sacrificing childhood. While the first argument states we are living in an 'infantised culture' and people aren't taking responsibility, the second believes we are making the children of today grow up too fast. These two arguments both have valid points, but I agree with Argument B as it believes we're raising the younger generation too quickly and forcing adult practices on them, which I believe to be true.

From a post colonial perspective, modern culture is raising young people with adult beliefs and the media is used to force certain standards of appearance, especially on young girls. Westernisation plays a part in this as growing up the media tries to raise us to 'convert to the customs and practices of Western civilization'. For example,girls are encouraged to play with barbies from a young age as this doll fits the American conventions of the 'perfect' woman. Our culture places a lot of value on us all being similar, and media uses their power to influence the way young girls 'should' look. This tied in with Barber's theory that we're living in a 'sterile American monoculture' as we're all taught to fit in to the norms of American culture. Barbie is a stereotypically 'perfect' girl - she has a small waist, blonde hair etc. She is portrayed as having a perfect life so when girls play with the dolls they aspire to be like her and it creates unrealistic expectations for these girls.

In this commercialised culture young girls are having social expectations forced upon them, meaning they have to learn to grow up faster. Living in a patriarchal society means women are seen as the inferior gender and certain stereotypes are placed upon them in order to make them suitable for men. They are objectified in adverts and music videos and are portrayed as sexual objects, and this representation in the media influences young girls' beliefs about their purpose. It is believed women's role is to take care of the cleaning, cooking and looking after the children so if young girls are being fed these beliefs they may have to start growing up from a younger age as they'll be expected to help out with responsibilities. Andrea Dworkin examines the roles of women in fairy tales and she suggests that the women in the stories always have to be saved by men and only live to find a husband. These expectations are being shown to children through the Disney franchise and a lot of young girls call Disney princesses their role models. This means their views on their role in society will be adapted from a young age and they will start trying to grow up in order to be desirable to men.