08/11

 madonna/whore complex

- women he admires and respects // women he is attracted to and therefore disrespects - sigmund freud
- virtuous, nurturing, saintly and sexually repressed // sensual, sexualised and desirable without purity 


comodity fetishism 


gender performativity - girls and boys, toilets 
conforming to expected roles 

Gender performativity is a term first used by the feminist philosopher Judith Butler in her 1990 book Gender Trouble. She argues that being born male or female does not determine behavior. Instead, people learn to behave in particular ways to fit into society. The idea of gender is an act, or performance.


Judith Butler -  theories of gender performativity 
identity is a performance, and it is constructed through a series of acts and expressions that we perform every day

while there are biological differences dictated by sex, our gender is defined through this series of acts. these may include the ways we walk, talk, dress and so on

therefore there is no gender identity behind these expressions of gender

gender performativity is not a singular act, but a repetition and a ritual/ is it outlined and reinforced through dominant patriarchal ideologies


bell hooks - feminist theory

argues that feminism is a struggle to end patriarchal oppression and the ideology of domination, and that the position of the underrepresented is by class and race as well as gender

women in lover class and poor groups, particularly those who are non-white, would not have defined women's liberation as women gaining social equality with men since they are continually reminded in their everyday lives that all women do not share the same social status



-creation of sentient synths by male David Elster - initially to replace his wife
-laura is 'replaced' by a synth (domestically, maternally and eventually sexually) because she is struggling to manage home/work effectively and is seen as imperfect by her family. the decision is taken unilaterally by husband joe who is impressed by the perfect , beautiful, domestic anita (initially created as a babysitter and reaffirming the notion of woman as a nurturer)
- the salesman is male - selling a woman - as are the corporate figures who dictate their use
-the majority of the ethnic actors are synths )servants) emphasizing stuart halls notion of the black 'slave' stereotype. this is particularly apt when looking at anita in the home and fred when fruit picking (overtones of cotton picking slaves) they are referred to as just freaked emphasizing their otherness .
-anita conforms to the racial stereotypes identified by Alvarado of sexualised and exotic
-The attitudes of the males, particularly towards niska in the brother - using women who are clearly not equal
-the physio synth simon is hyper-masculine (zaitchik and mosher) stereotype -  and replaces pete drummond in jills affection
-Chan - she thinks humans should be congratulated for the way it has tried to promote female representation and diversity - even if almost all of the non white actors on the show play synths.

Van zoonen - argues gender is constructed and that its meaning varies dependent on cultural and historical context
- she suggests that masculinity as well as femininity is constructed - and that the codes used to construct men 'as a spectable' are different


"leo is both a typical and atypical representation of masculinity. he is aggressive and in your face, for example when he tells a passer by outside the brother to move on, but later is shown to be weak and ineffectual when he is unable to release niska from the brothel"


constructs of masculinity & Leo
- males constructed through movement (active)
leo is the active protagonist

- silence and impassivity
rarely smiles or shows emotion

- strength, muscularity and aggression
often running, fighting etc

- competition- males as gladiators or combatants- ' the spectacle'
a combatant/survivor figure

- constructed more through the intradiegetic gaze -  the way they are looked at by other characters (E.g. with respect/fear)
the leader, the group rely on him

- Narcissistic identification without erotic gaze.
relatable through age, __ rather than erotic gaze


when he cant do something he gets frustrated 



 ted talk 
- privilege hierarchy