Post Feminism and popular culture - Citroen Car Advert

"This advert appears to suggest that yes, this is a self-consciously “sexist ad,” feminist critiques of it are deliberately evoked."

"Feminism is “taken into account,” but only to be shown to be no longer necessary."

"the shadow of disapproval is introduced (the striptease as site of female exploitation),only instantly to be dismissed as belonging to the past, to a time when feminists used to object to such imagery. To make such an objection nowadays would run the risk of ridicule".

Post-feminism and Popular Culture: Wonderbra Advert

"The Wonderbra advert showing the model Eva Herzigova looking down admiringly at her substantial cleavage"

"Wonderbra was through the mid-1990s positioned in major high street locations in the UK on full size billboards."

"The composition of the image had such a textbook “sexist ad” dimension that one could be forgiven for supposing some familiarity with both cultural studies and with feministcritiques of advertising (Judith Williamson 1987)."

"It was, in a sense, taking feminism into account by showing it to be a thing of the past, by provocatively “enacting sexism” while at the same time playing with those debates in film theory about women as the object of the gaze"

Understanding Post-Feminism

A more positive look at post-feminism : this is when it can make a positive impact on life.

Post-feminism as backlash to feminism: thisis becuase gender equality still has not been achieve.

Post-feminism as a colloquialism: this when people that that men are aginst feminsm.

The ambiguity of the prefix “post”:this when people think that feminism isover

Read/Highlight Exemplar Essay

Firstly, black males in hip hop music videos represented as violence and gang relation. However in this video challenges this ideology and this is signified by the lyrics of the song that oppose these things. The music is an alternative representation as it lacks hip hop music video iconographies such as guns and weapons that would signify violence and gang culture. On the other hand, it could be argued that the text almost parodies the gang crime with the artists: a group of people enforcing their beliefs to wider audiences, however their message is positive instead of a dominant message enforcing capitalism for example.

Secondly, the idea of money and getting “rich quick” is another ideology represented in the hip hop genre as a positive. In contrast, this text doesn’t even bring up the subject of money which instantly signifies it is an alternative representation of the hip hop culture.

Texts from the hip hop genre rely heavily on black stereotypes which are usually negative. Similarly, this text reinforces black stereotypes such as clothing- hoodies, caps and big glasses- and crime which is signified by one of the members of the group getting chased and caught by the police. However, it could be argued that the clothing is used as a way of engaging a hip hop audience, as it is associated with the genre, but then uses this stereotype to challenge other links and associations that come with it, such as violence and sexism. Therefore they represent black people and the genre as having a good side signified by them helping the community in the text.

Male characters in the hip hop genre are presented in negative ways such has: sexist, misogynistic, promiscuous, authoritative, arrogant and narcissistic. In contrast none of these stereotypes are shown, but challenged in the text through the use of the song. This is signified through the equal treatment of the male and female gender in particular the group itself that has a female artist in it. On the other hand, it could be argued that the group represent themselves as authoritative as they have control as an inspirational group with a positive- they could be regarded as leaders in this text instead of followers.

Alternative representations exist of male and/ or female roles in the hip hop genre?

In order to know the alternative representations of the hip-hop genre, we must first acknowledge the hip-hop culture and how the genre was made and how it has developed within the time. In the following I will discuss how the genre was created and how the genre has been influenced by the society to change.

Hip-hop is a musical genre which was originated by African- American music; the genre arose in the 1970s when block parties became popular within the black community. The genre developed to gangster rap in the 90s, this was when males where black males where portrayed to be hustlers, drugs dealers, convicts and pimps. The trend was mainly influenced by African American’s to show their struggle in the society. The racial events that took place in the 80s influenced the negativity that was produced by African- American’s in making hip-hop music. As the crime rates and gang cultures grew in America, this influenced rappers to talk about money, power, respect and sex, this is how they were also represented in music videos.

Rappers such as 2pac were represented as a thug, this is because the artist themselves were brought up in a ‘hard knock life’. This encouraged them to talk about their thug lifestyle and this was portrayed in their music videos by showing them selling drugs, pimping girls, making money and showing off their gats (guns).



However, in the present image of a male rapper has changed. For example, rapper like drake who speak about heartbreaks and goes against the stereotypical rappers as a gangster. Instead he portrays himself as a soft person who understands females and is not afraid to talk about heartbreaks.



Women are represented as sex symbols in the hip-hop genre. Women in hip-hop music videos are expected to show cleavage, strip and shake their booty. These images are why the dominant conception of women in hip-hop music videos consists of the terms- ‘hoe,’ ‘stripper,’ and ‘bitches’.



On the other hand, in the present day female rappers such as Nicki minaj are sending out message express as independent, strong, and capable of protecting themselves. A great representation of how women should be seen in music videos would be the music video ‘Irreplaceable’ by Beyonce. This video depicts how Beyonce protects herself from a man who cheated on her and also represents her as being a strong, young female empowered to take care of herself. Teaching young women how to carry themselves in a respectful and appropriate manner leads to those women knowing how to protect themselves and having respect for themselves.