Representation of Disability

Within the media the representation of disability is most commonly based on stereotypes and it represents certain people in a negative and weakening way. Paul Hunt found 10 obvious stereotypes that were used in the media to represent those with a disability. This include; a disabled person is pitiable and pathetic, seen as an object of curiosity and violence, being either sinister or evil, a super cripple, purely as an atmosphere, laughable, his or her own worst enemy, a burden, as a non-sexual character, or being unable to take part in daily life tasks. These are all stereotypes that you would probably notice yourself.
 
Shakespeare in 1999 presented to an audience the reason why people use stereotypes towards the disabled. He said ‘The use of disability as character trait, plot device, or as atmosphere is a lazy short-cut. These representations are not accurate or fair reflections of the actual experience of disabled people. Such stereotypes reinforce negative attitudes towards disabled people, and ignorance about the nature of disability’. What he meant by this is that writers and film makers often use disability to draw an audience into the story by grabbing their attention towards that character. This type of stereotyping is often used to background the main story and this making the disabled character seem different and non-human.
 
There are also individual and social models of disability stereotypes. The individual model is usually to do with the view that other people have a disability that has to be overcome or something medical. This would hold that disability with the particular person and they then have the responsibility for it. This being whether they have to overcome it or cope with it on their own. This overcoming is often done with medical attention and done with the use of cures, however there isn’t a cure for everything just yet. The medical approach to disability aims to, stereotypically, ‘normalise’ the disabled people.
 
The social model of disability is the way people can identify a person’s disability between a physical or a mental problem. The way that society views these types of disabilities is most commonly negative. What this type of disability does is it holds the disability with the individual almost labelling them by their impairment. This means that in society people sometimes forget about these people and access isn’t so easy to gain. An example of this is when in a built up environment it sometimes doesn’t allow people with mobility problems to access certain facilities. All this is all affected by discrimination from society. An example of this is when someone has had a personal tragedy and their daily life is instantly affected. What I mean by this is that they might not be able to get the job they want purely from the discrimination behind it. ‘You can’t work here because you’re in a chair’.
 
There is actually a difference between social and individual disability and it has been discussed that people don’t allow natural differences between people. This view is not only prejudice to the disabled people but it also has an effect on those people without a disability. A girl name Charlotte Cooper is an example of social obesity. It is found that obesity is also a disability and can be defined as a variety of things. This includes:
 
• A slender body is ‘normal’
• Fatness is a deviation from the norm.
• Fat and disabled people share low social status.
• Fatness is medicalised (e.g. jaw-wiring and stomach-stapling).
• Fat people are blamed for their greed and lack of control over their bodies.
 
A lot of people would say that fat people or people that are disabled aren’t usually seen as attractive. Why?  I think that the reason why people that have this ‘issue’ are seen as less attractive because they aren’t perhaps so agile. What I mean by this is that, for example, a person in a wheel chair would have to do things very differently to a person who doesn’t have to be in a wheel chair this meaning that they probably wouldn’t do so much in terms of activity. In the past, people used to think that a little fatness was attractive, showing that you are rich enough to eat and buy fattening foods. I would say that an example of this would be Marilyn Monroe Nowadays the public think that being skinny is attractive and much healthier so those who have a bit of ‘fat’ on them are unattractive. People, normally teens and women often become anorexic because they fear of being too fat because they won’t to be attractive. This suggests that to be attractive, you have to skinny. So why is being fat considered to be sexually unattractive? My opinion is that people think that being fat is really unhealthy and that idea could potentially come from the media and stories that even children read about fat people. The people who are perhaps looking for a sexual partner normally don’t even bother looking at the people that are a bit curvier because they are labelled as simply ‘fat’. This meaning could become a slight trend so nobody wants a ‘fat partner’. All this could be considered and used for people in wheel chairs or generally having a mental or physical disability because people might ‘follow the crowd’. Some people do find it difficult to look at people with disabilities purely because all they imagine is the suffering that the person goes through daily, so these people are instantly not attracted to them sexually. The public find it upsetting to think about people with a disability let alone see them on a daily basis and this could affect a person’s opinion in a sexual situation. They realise that these disabled people will have to face these problems of being perhaps, looked at funny, or treated differently and the disabled feel that people don’t know how to hand them in way of, do you give them sympathy, treat them like idiots or treat them the same. This meaning that SOME people generally avoid them for this reason.
 
In television the people directing instantly decided quite commonly that disabled can’t be used as sexually attractive characters.


 
 



The clip above is from the television series, Glee. In this clip you see two characters in wheelchairs talking about themselves and also about each other. This will show you some representation about people in wheelchairs and also how they can be stereotyped.


Mise en Scene

• The mise en scene in this clip isn’t very easy to link to the representation of disabled people. What I will say is that Artie (the boy) is wearing glasses and is dressed quite geeky for his costume. Stereotypically people think that disabled people are all really clever and in my opinion I think that that is how Artie is being presented.
• Another comment I will make about the mise en scene is that the setting has been down suitably for the needs of the wheelchair users. What I mean by this is that the two characters have plenty of space and the accessibility to move around easily. In society this isn’t always the case so this represents an opposing stereotype.
• The girl is represented in my opinion as an opposing stereotype example as she talks about how she is captain of the cheerleaders and is blonde and has ‘this going on’ (meaning boobs). As a stereotype people wouldn’t think that any of that is even possible but it is realistic. This relates to people thinking that disabled people cannot be sexually attractive.

Editing

• The camera consistently switches between the two characters.

Sound

• The way the girl talks are against her stereotype of being in a wheelchair and having a disability. It represents her as being very opinionative and strong whereas the stereotype of which you would think she would represented as is weak and sometimes shy.
• Artie does follow the ‘rules’ of his stereotype and the way he talks about himself and the female quite clearly shows his acceptance of being disabled. Stereotypically.
• There is background noise whilst they are by the lockers of loud chatting in the hallway. This could be there to show that the two characters are a lot quieter than everyone else and ‘have to be’.

Camera Shots, Angles, Movement and Composition

• At the very start of this clip, the first few seconds, you can see that the camera doesn’t quite capture the characters whole faces. This is to show that the people are lower down.
• When the dialogue in the scene begins between the two characters, the camera is at their level and it isn’t at ‘normal’ height looking down on them. This is sometimes the case in films, to show the belittling of the disabled character.

Avengers Documentary

This is my Film Documentary, all about the Avengers.

Gender Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes are almost a theoretical term for a specific sex’s social and behavioural actions. It could be within a specific culture, religion but as a stereotype there it is considered to be a socially appropriate thing to consider when talking to someone of again a specific sex. The idea of a stereotype depends on roles and how

a person’s attitude is, what actions they do, what their personality is like, and how they are associated with other people of that culture. Gender roles and stereotypes are often seen obviously in a home environment but you can also see them on the television and in television dramas of how particular characters are presented depending on their gender.

I am going to use doctor who as my example as it is a very ‘manly’ program and I would say that the majority of their target audience are male. In doctor who, every single doctor that has been on the show has been male and all of the assistants have been female. When looking at this in terms of stereotypes you could say that the doctor is the predominant person in the program and the assistant is just there to look pretty. What I mean by this is that the man is in charge, and this is often the case when thinking about home environments and things like that. Stereotypically, the man does the watching of the television and the women is stuck in the kitchen or doing some kind of house work when the man or men of the house do nothing at all. In Doctor who currently the female assistant is a girl called Clara Oswold. She is a very clever brunette girl and is very pretty. As a stereotypical way of putting this, girls are seen as cleverer than boys and it is portrayed as this in this case. Sometimes girls are seen as the dumb ones but this programme is the opposite and have a got a teacher as the doctors assistant. In the programme she wears makeup and her hair is always done perfectly. She is skinny and wearing skirts and little blouses. Again stereotypically I would say that that is what ‘girls’ wear. However not all girls like wearing skirts, not all girls wear make-up and not all girls can be bothered to do their hair in the morning and can be stereotypically as lazy as boys but in Doctor Who this is not the case.

When looking at the camera angles in the show you can actually notice how most of the shots of the doctor are just of his head and shoulders, so a long shot and how most of the shots of Clara are of her full body. This could also be due to gender stereotypes because of the audience. With there being a predominant male audience they will want to see Clara more clearly, like her body and the way she dresses so that it draws the audience’s attention further. I’m not saying that this is a good way in which to show females in TV Dramas, but this could be the case in this programme. In terms of how the characters speak, Clara has quite a stereotypically sweet and girly voice. It is soft and can be quite relaxing to hear whereas previous voices that were heard in the show like Katherine Tate was quite strong. Stereotypically girls have soft voices so when Katherine was in is was a more opposing sound to hear. As a male stereotype in terms of The Doctors voice it would be seen as quite powerful. He has a very loud voice and this also links back to men being in charge over women.

Overall I feel that gender stereotypes are used in TV dramas and this is represented in Doctor Who in very non obvious ways. This through the mise en scene, lighting, sound and editing. Clara a typical girl and the doctor a typical strong man who like to be in charge. In the shows defence, I personally can not imagine a doctor being female and that is most probably the idea of the show therefore the stereotypes in this programme are probably suitable for what the drama actually is.

The Male Gaze Analysis

Rihanna- Pour It Up

In Rihanna’s music video Pour It Up, you can see some very blatant aspects of the male gaze. I would say its male gaze because it has pole dancers in it wearing very little and Rihanna herself also isn’t covering up too much. This would appeal to men because they would see the video as quite sexually influenced and the male gaze simply defined is how men look at women. It is also related to how women would look at themselves and also how women look at other women. This relates to the video I selected as the women who watch it may want to be like the girls in the video and the video would appeal again I mention to the men because of the lack of clothing and sexual movements throughout.

In this tube chop paused image you can see how all the audience of the video will see is the body of woman. You can’t really see anything covering her up other than a very loose piece of material. This will give the illusion to some men that she is naked. Another point about this image is that it is a very plain colour. This meaning that there are no other distractions for people to look at. I think that this is a key thing for the male gaze as all they want to focus on is the attraction of the female body.

 

In this frame you can see that the camera has panned down to see Rihanna’s breasts. This is clever in a way because it only appears for a very short amount of time. Rihanna is really featured as a visible part of this video but she is, she is presented in a sex related way. Boobs out, not much clothing, and also her make-up has been done in a more ‘flirtatious’ style. This is because of her bright red lipstick, dark eye make-up and what appears to be moisturiser. Her body seems quite shiny and smooth, giving a sense of pleasurable skin. In the image you can just about see Rihanna’s mouth and it is slightly open and teeth are visible. This would suggest to the audience a sense of lust and want for the opposing sex and sex itself.
The way that Rihanna expresses herself and lets her body go is also key to this presentation of the Male Gaze because it shows that she has no self control and respect for herself. This also meaning that men and in some cases women looking and watching this video will take Rihanna's body for granted rather than respecting her and her body. It also gives he audience a sense of pride that she doesn't care and maybe even that she wants sexual activity with someone so badly she will do anything to get it; this including showing off and flaunting areas that she probably shouldn't.

 

This is an image from 47 seconds into the video and it shows a woman with very little on, ass out. She is dancing in water in the scene, splashing around and ‘twerking’. This would appear to the audience as quite a naughty dance, attracting male viewers. This scene would draw them into the video further and may also turn any of the male viewers on due to the female dancer’s wetness. The lighting that is used in this frame is very dull but when the girl splashes the water around with her bum it makes it more visible and dirty.

At this point in the music video, 1:00, you can see a full body view of Rihanna herself. You can see she is wearing very little amount and she is also positioned herself in a very sex gaining manner. Her legs widely apart, chest visible, and her hand is directing the audience’s attention to her vagina. In this scene she is also body rolling as if she was having sexual activity with someone and is going through the need for ‘more’. This makes her appear sexier to the audience and it makes her appear to give an invitation for someone to join her. This is also shown by the way she is sat and not just by her movements.  She is wearing sun glasses as well that adds mystery to her actions and never takes her eye away from the camera to prove that you are the ‘victim’ and she is the sex goddess.

We are presented with a full body shot of someone at about 1:43 and this shows a very intimate scene between a woman and either water, or something in it. It could suggest that she is trying to portray feelings and emotions to someone through the song and possibly so that we ourselves feel something for her. The area around this scene looks as if it would be an old house and that it has been flooded. This could be showing a lack of care while the person in the image has sex or the feelings of need for it. In this frame it also makes it look like Rihanna herself because of the hair, this could have an effect on the audience and the male gaze because they know her through other music and it would make them have a feeling and urge for more of her. The person in this image is also bare skinned and that would mean that the light could reflect of the skin making her body seem more appealing to the audience.  

After this the camera changes slightly and shows a shot of Rihanna with her legs very widely spread apart. This also would link to the feelings of sex and lust for it. With the water around her and the lighting effects we as an audience automatically presume that that sex is the music videos main relation and it isn’t about anything else. Yes, the video does make it quite obvious through the water being used as a metaphor for a woman being wet due to sexual activity.