Throughout my research I have decided to explore closely the power division of gender in relationships. This has derived through history whereby the women must obey, act like a servant in the home, which lead to serious consequences of of domestic violence where men abuse the women.
Does this dominance in a man still exist and is it favoured by the female partner? This is what I will be finding out by different people of all ages preferably those in a relationship however still receiving values and opinions of people who are not in a relationship.
I intend to do this through sort informal interviews recorded on a marantz where i would later edit. I’ve decided to do an audio artefact instead of photography because i feel i’ve tackled photogrpahy through my memory artefact although it not very good i have still attempt the photography side of media which i only had a little experience from previous work.
Audio is something I enjoy and I feel if used in this context it will pose a valid description of the values and views on people about power and relationships. Audio is immediate, people can feel confident to say trust, honest opinions because doesn’t show their identity as opposed to film.
This documentary drew my attention, it’s about women who enjoy taking on the role of a traditional housewife where they live in a 1950′s/1930′s home where everything in the whole house is decorated in that style. They wait and serve their husbands and escape the modern day world. They feel they couldn’t cope in the 21st century modern world. One woman likes the values of the 1950′s and only socialises with others who live and think the same.
One bizarre story on a young girl who once was a goth has now taken up the 1940′s fashion and will one day hope to be a traditional housewife. This is quite peculiar for someone so young and can appreciate the traditional lifestyle. It could be a result of her parents divorce.
Repressing the modern world buy retreating to the past, however still has to engage in the modern world to survive for essentials like food shopping but would prefer to go to a small shop.
Socialises differently, no meals, no drinking, no TV, no newspaper, no soap operas feels sick, finds the modern world scary.
One women does use the Internet so she doesn’t have to venture out in the modern world so she can buy her love of shoes. She also works in a call centre and drives a modern car and doesn’t want children, hides away her microwave and kettle which is no quite the 1930′s attributes.
The other two ladies don’t have kids either because the world is a progressing bad place which is not a good place to bring up children. They see that they have more time to look after their husbands and if they had children it will be hard to enforce their same beliefs on the children in the society we live in now.
This documentary made me aware that there are still people of today’s society living in a time warp, it addresses the complexity of society today and however instead of dealing with it they repress it and try stay far away as possible.
There are quite clear gender roles in these households where the man is dominant because goes to work and buys his wife everything she wants for her home and the woman is dominant in terms of what she wants to do an when. However from a female perspective this would be perceived as an unrealistic way of living no equal where woman now strive for equality in relationships.
I have been looking closely at the power gender specifically how men rule and women are perceived as weaker. I feel this had derived through history where women never had a significant role in life, they were living in patriarchy, couldn’t vote and their only path was to be a housewife.
EMMELINE PANKHURST
Until Emmeline Pankhurst in 1913 made a stance in what the daily mail termed the suffragettes, a movement to protest against inequality in men and women in terms of the right to vote. she protested for so many years, hunger striking and getting arrested, which eventually lead to be an achievement, by 1938 men and women were now equally allowed to vote at the age of 21. This was a powerful act for a women of them times and slowly women were becoming powerful to the extent to which Britain had their first female priminister in 1979 Margaret Thatcher.
This contradicts the notion that women have no power, maybe it’s the power of time and change that helped them catch up to men in equality. An example of this change in time was the Civil Rights movement where they protested for the equality in black and white people.
Will men and women ever be totally equal?
There are aspects of society today that still prove the inequality but maybe its not a problem and a good thing. According to science men are the stronger sex and we still see this in sport. The Olympics hold separate sex races because the mans ability to perform is stronger than women’s, if they made a mixed race all the men would always finish before the women and the women have no opportunity to win. So i believe women would agree that this inequality is a good thing.
Therefore this questions the type of equality women want. In relationships its always said women want a good man however when they get a good man they are too nice. Men then seen to think what do women really want then. This is explained that “Too many men use their niceness as a cover for the fact that they’re in fact insecure. It’s this lack of confidence and swagger that kills their chances with the ladies, not their well-mannered ways”. So it’s the men’s confidence they look for.
More examples on inequality of women and men in the media are in music videos. Women are used as eye candy prancing around in there bikini where in most cases the song has nothing to do with naked women. How may music video do you see where men are prancing around in their swimming trunk or boxers? errrgh never!
People today know that men rule however sometimes its looked upon and equality is wanted and sometimesokay in terms of relationships, money and control. Examples of this are shown in songs like Beyonce’s ‘If Was a Boy’ shows the difference in gender in terms of what’s appropriate in a relationship and what isn’t, men usually get away with the inappropriate. A similar example is Ciara ‘Like a Boy’ and songs which show another side is Neyo’s ‘Miss Independent’ praising the fact that women are independent and finding it attractive. Destiny’s Child song Independent women is like a feminist view saying we don’t need men.
Here are the videos of the songs mentioned:
In terms of relationships men are seen as significant, they hold the importance of fatherhood, protection, responsibility and role model in the family. There has been much speculation on families without fathers being dysfunctional leading to a breakdown. Charles Murray did a study on the ‘Underclass’ where he said underclass families rely too much on the benefit system and this has caused the breakdown on the family. When there were no benefits the family stuck together because couldn’t afford to get divorced so supported one another. Now families without fathers haven’t had the stability it previously had and children especially boys do not have a role model thus resort to crime, drugs and unemployment. Murray states their behaviour is ‘deplorable’ and their values ‘contaminate the life of entire neighbourhoods’. This means that when the children grow up to have kids they will feed them with the same things thus those around them will follow this route.
This example of the power the father has in the family is very significant according to Murray however there are obvious contradictions to this because not everyone who do live on benefits without a father live a bad life or resort to one. There was documentary on channel 4 that shows the complex division in class and wealth in two different families who live on the same street in London called ‘Rich Kid, Poor Kid’.
Here are clips to the channel 4 website giving some more information on the documentary and ability to wath the whole show:
The poor girl’s family life was vividly very difficult, the mother was depressed, they had bad education, poor facilities in the home, father was shot and lived on benefits. The reasons behind the benefits clearly justify her case and it perceives to be acceptable and the rich girl eventually changed her preconceptions she had on poor people. Murray’s findings on single parent familes leading mothers to be depressed is evident in this documentary, however the other findings on children resorting to drugs and crime is not because the young girl is trying to support her family by being a the responsible role model for her brother phoning to get him a place at a school and organising their finances.
This documentary proved powerful because it deals with real people in real issues with real opinions and made an awareness for others who also felt them or had similar values. These values that the rich girl portrayed were down to her discourses and her mother proved responsible by perpetuating incorrect, stereotypical values on her that black people only live in the poor as shown in the documentary.
Throughout research I couldn’t believe how much people responded to the documentary which is a clear effect of the power it holds, was it made to become a controversial topic? Here are some of the things I found:
Below is the rota for staffing the rooms for the Degree Show. If a room is not staffed, then it will be closed so you must make sure that you are there on time for your allocated time and, if you cannot make that time, that you swap with someone who can. Copies of the [...]
The absolute latest deadline for the trailer and the full length videos is FRIDAY 4PM. From then on, Luke and Mark will be locked away at home all bank holiday making our showreels. So the least you could do is follow the instructions on the weblog correctly. As a result of most of the tapes and CDs [...]
The absolute latest deadline for the trailer and the full length videos is Friday 4pm! From then on, Luke and Mark will be locked away at home all bank holiday making our showreels. So the least you could do is follow the instructions on the weblog correctly. As a result of most of the tapes and [...]
Many thanks to everyone who turned up today and painted the boards. You managed to finish all the plinths and half the boards before rain stopped play. If anyone has time (Thursday/Friday) then a final burst would finish the job off, all the equipment is under the stairs and the boards that need painting are on the [...]
Clarification: Video cluster, documentary cluster All artist statements MUST be sent to me by email (Mez: m.packer@coventry.ac.uk) for inclusion on the handout of films being shown in ETG34 at the degree show. Interactive cluster, photography cluster You can organise artist statements yourselves. Write them, print them and spray mount them on foam board read […]
