2. Learning outcomes
To learn what Postmodernism feminism and the
queer theory is.
Applying the two theory's to music videos
3. What do you think postmodern feminism is?
You have 5 minutes to quickly brainstorm what you
think it is, and how it can be applied to music videos.
4. What is Postmodern feminism ?
This approach is a feminist theory which
incorporates postmodern and post-structuralist
theory, seeing itself moving beyond the modernist of
liberal feminism and radical feminism.
It is the view that “one is not born a woman, but becomes one"
and thus here the focus is on the social and cultural
construction of women by the system.
Feminism has been seen by some as having a special affinity
for the postmodern through a shared interest in (the
theoretical implications of) social practices and multiple
voices.
5. Butler
The argument that sex or at least gender is
constructed though language, Judith draws on
critiques work of Simone de Beauvoir, Michel
Foucault, and Jacques Lacan as well as Luce
Irigaray's argument that what we conventionally
regard as 'feminine' is only a reflection of what is
constructed as masculine.
Butler criticises the distinction drawn by previous
feminisms between the biological and socially
constructed gender of a person.
6. Frug
The principle that sex is not a natural cause nor is I
something determinate and definable. Sex is a part
of a system of meaning, produced by language.
EXAMPLE ( Marilyn Manson dressing like a
women, portraying a different sex to what he
originally is.)
“cultural mechanisms ... encode the female body
with meanings,"
7. Criticism
Meaghan Morris argues that the postmodern
feminism rules out the basis of politics based upon
gender differences through anti- essentialism.
Simone de Beauvoir challenged male definitions of
woman and called on women to define themselves
outside the male female dyad. Women, she
urged, must be the subject rather than the object
(other) of analysis.
8. How is it applied to MM?
Tacking the global issues such as
rape, incest, prostitution and culturally specific
issues like female genital mutation. Postmodern
feminism has in fact tried to understand that how
gender inequality interacts with other issues like
racism, homophobia, classism and colonization to
produce and establish a “matrix of domination” by
the patriarchal society.
9. Manson tackles some of these themes as the question
of gender is being explored in an abnormal
way, showing a male to give of a constructed female
connotations, as well as the policemen wearing a
pink uniform instead of strong stereotypical male
colours.
Manson produces this matrix domination concept
exploring the issues we have with these things and
how society views them to be abnormal. Although
they are different classifications they can also all be
intertwined with eachother.
10. KEY TERMS
Matrix of Domination- a sociological concept that
explains issues of oppression that deal
with race, class, and gender. Other forms of
classification, such as sexual
orientation, religion, or age, apply to this theory as
well.
Anti Essentialism - the view that, for any
specific entity (such as an animal, a group of
people, a physical object, a concept), there is a set of
attributes which are necessary to its identity and
function.
11. Feminism- a collection of movements and ideologies
aimed at defining, establishing, and
defending equal political, economic, and social rights for
women.
Post-structuralism - A major theme of
poststructuralism is instability in the human
sciences, due to the complexity of humans themselves
and the impossibility of fully escaping structures in order
to study them.
Social Construction – Building up certain
characterises and features which give of a desired
persona.
12. Postmodern feminism -
incorporates postmodern and post-structuralist
theory, and sees itself as moving beyond
the modernist polarities of liberal
feminism and radical feminism.
13. VIDEO ACTIVITY
Now you are about to see a short video which
contains a few clips from music videos which talk
about the topics and key terms we have covered.
They will pause at a moment, where these terms
have been shown and it is up to you to spot them and
say how they are being used.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2YkWrikCjA&f
eature=youtu.be)
14. Queer Theory
The introduction to feminism we looked at the contrast
between sex (Biological differences) and gender (Culturally
learned difference).
The premises on which this distinction is based are rejected
by Queer theory.
15. Introduction
Queer theory offers the view that the ideas of male
and female are just as much the product of
representation as masculinity and feminity.
Although the word queer has been deliberately used
in order to corrupt its negative connotations. Queer
theory is not just exclusively homosexuality; it is all
forms of identity, especially those linked to
sexuality.
