Task 1: Pre-1950s Print Advertising  – Look at some of these other media products from the time. 200-250 Words

The target audience for the domestic and beauty-related products would be aimed at the female figures in the house whilst male audiences would be targeted with industry related products such as cars. They please the audience by promoting products that would suit their needs and desires. I think that the reason they were popular at the time is because the audiences weren’t aware of other social concepts and therefore agreed to the attitudes and beliefs exhibited. Furthermore, this change in society was triggered by the movement in roles from WW2. The values about gender share the same concept with the set product through displaying this sense of women having limited hobbies which are restricted by society, with women being perceived as passive in many media texts. Furthermore, this idea that women in the media always represented certain factors associated with home, beauty, family and to benefit their husbands. This ideology was changed by the world war which consequently moved all the roles round for the women to complete, therefore changing and becoming socially aware of the imbalance.

Task 2: Viewing and Analysis Task (200-250 words)

Film: His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940) – clip

The audience would have taken away from this different viewpoints based on their gender, the male viewers would have sympathised with the man whilst female viewers sympathised with the female. The film was popular at the time as it produced a middle-ground of society’s progression to equal rights. The viewpoint on divorce being condemned whilst the film providing insight on the personal difficulties a marriage can have. This ideology would have been projected by the changing roles with world war 2 and housewives showing their independence through taking on chores and stereotypes which were different than typically depicted. Furthermore, the video shows traditional beliefs and progressive beliefs becoming a middle-ground for future discussion. The male perspective on divorce was represented by the character whilst the woman is dressed extremely similar to the male, almost connoting that women weren’t capable of having their own fashion sense. The man also belittled her, showing him clearly not listening to her perspective. Whilst the female presents progressive attitudes with the woman having an opinion of her own and the divorce actually taking place. This is highlighted by the woman created mockery of the man, something which would not have taken place before.

Task 3: Viewing and Analysis Task (200-250 words) – Watch this clip from the TV show Mad Men. Though made recently, it portrays American society in the early 1960s.

The perception on the way in which men and women behave are outdated, women are represented as only caring about the lipsticks and nothing else, they are viewed as inferior to the men. The men mock the women and their intelligence, with the men physically spying on the women, and calling the women “morons”. The women are viewed as passive, and being incredibly childish about the situation as well as being sexualised. There is a presence of mockery and humiliation surrounding the one woman who challenged the man, with the other women taking the mans side. This would be considered inappropriate in todays workplace as it is seen as sexist, but implying that all women would be amazed by the lipsticks. The way in which men and women are expected to behave has rapidly changed since the 60s because of the feminism movements and laws being created in order to protect both genders against discrimination.

Task: Comparison to Set Text: Tide Print Advert (100-150 words)

These representations are similar in my set product as the women are seen as incredibly passive and domestic-based, the woman is depicted as physically hugging the tide product as she is so impressed by its performance. It also shows that women are easily impressed by products. The continuous use of “women” show that the product is intended and targeted towards this demographic. Men are represented as incredibly absent from the domestic product market with there being little mention of men’s contribution to the product. Contexts such as repeated patterns of representations throughout all of the media (television and films) create a sense of social norm and standards in terms of product advertisement.

Extension task- exam practice

a) Name the media organisation that owns The Daily Mirror

Reach plc

b) Identify two ways in which newspapers are distributed

Print and Online

c)  Briefly explain an advantage of one of these ways

An advantage of online distribution means that audiences can access the content from anywhere, saving time and money whilst staying up to date.

d) Explain how political contexts affect the newspaper industry, refer to the Daily Mirror to support your points

Political contexts in regard to The Daily Mirror include representations reflecting the social and political viewpoints of the reader. The Daily Mirror is a left-wing newspaper aimed at supporters of the labour party in the UK, and therefore the attitudes of this audience must strongly reflect in the newspaper in order to keep the same demographic. Furthermore, news stories surrounding political figures that represent other parties such as the Conservatives (UK) and Republicans (US), are right-wing therefore meaning that these representations are depicted as wrong and outdated by left-wing media sources. The depiction of Donald Trumps 2016 election win shows this well, with the iconic statue of liberty landmark represented as disappointed following the text “What have they done?”, this therefore showing that the election result as negative through directly addressing the audience.