Mulvey and my Independent Study

Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze can relate to the main character ‘Kitten’ in ‘Breakfast on Pluto’. Although he is male, when dressed as a woman he is physically attractive, glamorous and has many stereotypically feminine attributes and personality traits such as being gentle and romantic. This could therefore lead to him being objectified by a male audience, especially in the scene in which he wears high heels and mini skirt to go to the club. This could therefore mean that the male audience fetishizes the transvestism of the main character, as is suggested within the film in the club scene where the audience is unsure whether the man Kitten dances with is aware of his transvestism or not. In terms of psychoanalysis, Freud may suggest that this male physical attraction to main character Kitten could be repressed to the subconscious, known as resistance. Yet, as Freud suggests, Kitten is often shown with phallic symbols to combat anxiety of castration. These objects include an umbrella and a microphone and are present both when Kitten is dressed as male or female. In fact, even when Kitten is dressed in male clothing it could be suggested that his attire is feminine, although this is accounted for in part by the glam rock era and it’s sexual ambiguity. When Kitten is dressed as a woman although he seems convincing to the characters within the film, the audience are not convinced. Plus, Kitten adopts stereotypical roles such as that of a mother and a housewife. This seems to reinforce a patriarchal society in which becoming a woman means becoming subservient to the dominant male. Womb envy is also obviously very significant to the film as Kitten goes so far as to overcome this envy by adopting the female persona and cares for Charlie’s baby in a motherly way.

Cross Dressing in the Media

This is a few paragraphs from:

http://members.aol.com/__121b_HU14fXTLnOpJcsJPFsZ5M2KAasS03TyP:

In her book, Girlfriend: Men, Women and Drag, Holly Brubach identified four different types of crossdressers, [including] “drag queens” with their flamboyant public displays.

Besides Brubach’s types (which may be more or less valid), there are other factors too, underlying the general public’s view of crossdressing. There exist unflattering media images such as we saw in “Psycho”, “Dressed to Kill”, and “Silence of the Lambs”, each of which featured mental misfits who wove crossdressing into their psychotic activities. In “Silence of the Lambs”, for instance, serial killer “Buffalo Bill” Gumb, played by Ted Levine, liked to wear women’s clothing- and, chillingly, much more. Gumb tried desperately to take on “feminine” qualities, but he seemed to provide the best insight into himself when he screamed, “You don’t know what pain is”” at one of his terrified victims.

One recent critically acclaimed film, “Transamerica”, did give a sympathetic portrayal of a transsexual and should be commended for that. Starring Felicity Huffman as Sabrina “Bree” Osborne (previously known as Stanley), the film gave perhaps the most sympathetic media portrayal of any kind of gender complexity. Also, the made-for-TV movie, “A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story”, showed us what family values really mean. Unfortunately, such films rarely succeed at the box office.

Interwoven with the more negative (and, unfortunately, more common) media images is a notion that crossdressers are driven by aberrant sexual urges, which probably rests on what psychologist call illusory correlations. Consistent with that, there also exists a genre of pornography that features men dressed as women. Given the images we most often encounter, is it any wonder that the average person views crossdressers with discomfort and even alarm?

This piece is particularly relevant to my independent study and also highlights some negative portrayals of crossdressing which I have not yet looked into, such as "Silence of the Lambs". This association with such deranged characters means that crossdressing has previously been represented negativley. However, as can be seen from this, that seems to be changing with more sensitive texts such as "Transamerica".

Appropriated Research 4

Navdeep's Blog

Social:

First-wave feminism: focused on gaining the right of women's suffrage..- being able to vote

Second-wave feminism: concerned with independence and greater political action to improve women's rights.

Third-wave feminism: seeks to challenge and expand common definitions of gender and sexuality. lesbians

This relates to my study as I will be looking at Third Wave Feminism and it's relation to the portrayal of cross-dressing.

Appropriated Research 3

Jatinder's Blog

Beatrix Kiddo, Uma Thurman, in the costume which has been copied from the film Game of Death starring Bruce Lee

This relates to my study as Uma Thurman's iconic outfit was copied from that of Bruce Lee. This could be considered cross-dressing although obviously Thurman's version is made more feminine by the shape. However, what is interesting is that the strong female character of Beatrix Kiddo wears male clothing reinforcing patriarchy in that being strong and independent are exclusivley male traits and women acting this way are being masculine.

Appropriated Research 2

Jaskeerat's Blog

Representation

Shaun is represented as a stereotypical white working class male. He is single and is struggling in his relationship with girlfriend Liz. Shaun passes time in the local pub with his friend and flat mate Ed. The character of Shaun is common and males in the audience can identify with him and his problems in life. Audiences of the opposite sex can also identify with girlfriend Liz or even Shaun as he is stuck in a dead end job.

This relates to my study as protagonist Shaun represents a typical heterosexual male who is most commonly featured in film. This is completely opposite of Kitten from 'Breakfast on Pluto', who is effeminate and unconventional in his lifestyle. Even so, the two have characteristics in common, such as being white, working class males and living in London. These two characters can be compared and contrasted as representations of British/Irish males, one being typical and the other atypical.

Appropriated Research 1

Heena's Blog

What a characteristics a typical male and female has:

Male: Tough, Hard and Sweaty

Female: Fragile, Soft and Fragant

Representation of femininity

Feminism has been a recognised social philosophy for more than thirty years, and the changes that have occurred in women's roles in western society during that time have been nothing short of phenomenal.

Representations of women across all media tend to highlight the following:

beauty (within narrow conventions)

size/physique (again, within narrow conventions)

sexuality (as expressed by the above)

emotional (as opposed to intellectual) dealings

relationships (as opposed to independence/freedom)

Representation of masculinity

'Masculinity' is a concept that is made up of more rigid stereotypes than femininity. Representations of men across all media tend to focus on the following:

Strength - physical and intellectual

Power

Sexual attractiveness (which may be based on the above)

Physique

Independence (of thought, action)

These are components of a wesite on Gender and Representation:

http://www.mediaknowall.com/gender.html

I remember reading this when I looked through the del.icio.us tags but I don't think I posted it on my blog. This relates to my topic as cross-dressing means that members of one gender adopt characteristics, in this case clothing, from another gender. Therefore it must be clear how each of the genders is represented in order to see the cross-over.

Self Evaluation

Attainment (1) I feel like I've been completing a lot of high standard work
Effort (2) Could possibly make more effort on some homework and note-taking
Punctuality (1) Always on time
Submission and quality of homework (2) Good most of the time but have forgotten a couple of pieces of work
Ability to work independently (1) The independent study has really allowed me to do my own research and work individually
Quality of writing (1) I write everything on my blog unless it says it's from somewhere else
Organisation of Media folder (2) Much more organised than last year but still a few loose papers
Oral contributions in class (3) I will always try to answer if asked but otherwise quiet
Standard of Module 5 blog (1) I really like working on my blog and I think there's a lot of good information on it

Standard of Module 6 blog (2) Usually up-to-date, I always try to write at least a paragraph for a task

List of three targets/areas for improvement

1. Always keep up-to-date with homework

2. Put more effort into making notes

3. Look at more books for my independent study

Other Text: Ed Wood (1994)

In this biographical film of the life of director Ed Wood, Johnny Depp plays the protagonist: a film-maker and transvestite. I thought this film would be really good because I really like all the other Burton/Depp films. I didn't really like this though- maybe I should watch it again. Still, it shows a slightly more serious depiction of transvestism in that it portrays the ridicule Wood endures, although it still uses elements of humour. Once again the masculine features are not concealed by the cross-dressing but seemingly emphasised. Depp has a moustache whilst wearing a blond wig and angora jumper.