Humans lesson 5

Gender performativity is how our performance of gender is shaping the world around us. 

Example of gender performativity in Episode 1 - Humans 

  • Anita is pretty, hegomonically sexually attractive 
  • Anita is a stereotypical mother figure which intimidates Laura 
  • Mattie is a moody teenager, the parents don't know how to talk to her but Anita does
  • For Sophie, she sees Anita as a beautiful Disney princes 
  • Toby sees her attractively
  • Mattie see's her as a machine 
  • Laura has an atypical job who doesn't spend a lot of time at home.  

The representation of gender is extremely complicated. Why?

  • Appeals to a wider target audience 
  • More relatable 
  • To demonstrate real society problems
  • Multiple perspectives makes it more interesting to watch and more realistic 
  • Because now it is more widely accepted that gender is not just 'black and white' 
  • different representations reflects modern society 
  • gender has become more complex 

Feminist Theory - Lisebet van zoomen
Men and Women are represented in different ways 
Gender is constructed through codes

Van zoomen also argues that gender is contructed and that its meaning varies dependent on cultural and historical context 
She suggests that masculinity as well as femininity is contreucted and that codes used to contruct men 'as a spectacle' are different. 


The Bothel scene: How is gender contructed?

Initial ideas:
Close up of Niska's face 
Lighting is like the Red light district 
Sex club - The girls are moving in a sexulised way, very touchy 
Costumes are heavily sexulised, hardly wearing anything
Niska has more control over Leo 

Leo - the scene just outside the brothel:
  • Dark colourd costume, no make up - stereotypically masuline 
  • Low key lighting, dark back street
  • Stereotypically hegomonically masculine locations outside on the street 
  • He is positioned infront of max showing that he is in charge of max
  • The camera is slightly lowered on max whereas it points upwards on Leo, demonstrating he is more in power than max
  • Binary opposition of the low key lighting with men characters outside vs. the high key pink lighting where all the women are inside
Inside the brothel:
  • The colour of the room is bright red and pink, has connotations of the red light district
  • Leo becomes and looks very uncomfortable - close up shots of his nervous face
  • 'come in here big boy' - things that are being said to him as he walks past 
  • We are positioned as an audience as Leo as he walks down to Niska ( the camera is just behind him so we see his point of veiw)
Niska: 
  • Heavily sexulised wearing next to nothing
  • She is wearing red lingerie
  • Red connotes love and sex
  • Touching her breasts 
  • Stereotypical prostitute 
  • Intertextual reference
  • Emphasises her body 
When leo walks in she hugs him in releif
But when leo tells her he has not come to save her quite yet her reaction quickly changes to upset and angry. 
She undoes his trousers then slaps him to make it 'look like you just fucked me' - Niska 
She challenges his masculinity 

The music is very bass heavy and uses synths 



Introducing Leo Scene
when we first meet Leo in the episode properly, he is quite aggressive, we can see this through the close up shots of his face and when he starts to edge close to the other mans face, staring directly into his eyes making him feel uncomfortable. 
'Your threatening me' - other man 
'Why, do you feel threatened' - Leo
He also gets annoyed at max as they are walking of in frustration
Hunched body language  

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