How is the representation of gender constructed in the text?
Mad Men
In 'Mad Men' the representation of gender is shown to have very strong sexist viewpoints towards women in the 1960s. The director has done this to show to a modern audience the ideas of gender inequality at that time in contrast to modern society.
Firstly, the camera starts at an ariel view or an establishing shot which sets the scene for where the action is going to take place. A close up is also used when the woman steps into the elevator so emphasize that she is being looked down upon by the males at the back as one of them says "I have a nice view" referring to the woman who stays quiet which shows that male dominance is a large concept in the 1960s society as she knows that if she says anything back to him she could lose her new job. A tracking shot is used in majority of the scene, following around the main characters in the office, showing that it is busy because there are many people working as the characters are followed around the building, showing the importance of the workplace. A point of view shot has also been used to show the audience how it feels to be that character as they are being spoken to; was also used alongside an over the shoulder shot. Lastly, shallow focus was used to signify the card that one of the men held up to the boss who was on the phone to his wife in which he suggested for her to "go shopping" which is a basic stereotype of the idea that women love shopping, reinforcing that the director made this for a modern audience to see how women, in those times, were seen as inferior, making the modern audience shocked that women were treated in such ways beforehand, contrasting to today's society.
Sound was use to create multiple effects of setting the scene. Ambiance was used on multiple occasions as there were synchronous sounds such as telephone ringing, typewriters and chatter to connotate to the audience that it is set in an office. Music was also used to show when the male characters came in to show that they had authority over everyone else, reinforcing the idea of a patriarchal society with the male domination, showing the importance of them in the workplace. Diegetic sound was also used as there was dialogue between the characters speaking and there was very little conversation between men and women, inferring that they should not be associated with one another as men have a higher status.
There was basic editing techniques used as cuts and continuity editing was used a lot as well as shot-reverse-shots when the characters were interacting. When these were used, the conversations were only between two females or many males, showing that there are more men in the workplace to overpower the women as well as the women can only talk to their own gender and when speaking to the males they need to have respect as no shot reverse shot was used for male to female conversations as the men and women didn't speak for a long time with each other showing that the men had better things to do as they were walking past whenever a woman spoke to them.
The mise-en-scene introduced the scene into a busy city setting in a 1960s New York with lots of people and cars, focusing on a large building, setting the scene into the office inside- showing how busy it was by the workers in the background. This creates an awareness for the audience to understand the 60s society with gender inequality as then we have the baseline for understanding the sexist viewpoints in the show later on.
Firstly, the camera starts at an ariel view or an establishing shot which sets the scene for where the action is going to take place. A close up is also used when the woman steps into the elevator so emphasize that she is being looked down upon by the males at the back as one of them says "I have a nice view" referring to the woman who stays quiet which shows that male dominance is a large concept in the 1960s society as she knows that if she says anything back to him she could lose her new job. A tracking shot is used in majority of the scene, following around the main characters in the office, showing that it is busy because there are many people working as the characters are followed around the building, showing the importance of the workplace. A point of view shot has also been used to show the audience how it feels to be that character as they are being spoken to; was also used alongside an over the shoulder shot. Lastly, shallow focus was used to signify the card that one of the men held up to the boss who was on the phone to his wife in which he suggested for her to "go shopping" which is a basic stereotype of the idea that women love shopping, reinforcing that the director made this for a modern audience to see how women, in those times, were seen as inferior, making the modern audience shocked that women were treated in such ways beforehand, contrasting to today's society.
Sound was use to create multiple effects of setting the scene. Ambiance was used on multiple occasions as there were synchronous sounds such as telephone ringing, typewriters and chatter to connotate to the audience that it is set in an office. Music was also used to show when the male characters came in to show that they had authority over everyone else, reinforcing the idea of a patriarchal society with the male domination, showing the importance of them in the workplace. Diegetic sound was also used as there was dialogue between the characters speaking and there was very little conversation between men and women, inferring that they should not be associated with one another as men have a higher status.
There was basic editing techniques used as cuts and continuity editing was used a lot as well as shot-reverse-shots when the characters were interacting. When these were used, the conversations were only between two females or many males, showing that there are more men in the workplace to overpower the women as well as the women can only talk to their own gender and when speaking to the males they need to have respect as no shot reverse shot was used for male to female conversations as the men and women didn't speak for a long time with each other showing that the men had better things to do as they were walking past whenever a woman spoke to them.
The mise-en-scene introduced the scene into a busy city setting in a 1960s New York with lots of people and cars, focusing on a large building, setting the scene into the office inside- showing how busy it was by the workers in the background. This creates an awareness for the audience to understand the 60s society with gender inequality as then we have the baseline for understanding the sexist viewpoints in the show later on.
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