What is patriarchy, and how do films encourage it?

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In this video we look at patriarchy via the feminist theory by Liesbet Ven Zoonen. This is one of the three feminist representation theories that we look at it A-level media studies. It builds on Laura Mulvey’s work on the male gaze and identifies how western representations of women have resulted in stereotypical sexualised, objectified, erotic representations of women.
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The Media Insider is a channel for all things media and film. If you are studying them or just an enthusiast, subscibe for regular doses of theory and analysis.

[@rickybobbyracing9106]

I hope this channel takes off. This is honest to God, the first video on Patriarchy that really made me think. After years of just being told Men are trash, and i'm a bigot for just being a man, and thus me rejecting most videos and discussions of Patriarchy being a problem, this was the first video that left me more with a feeling of - 'I see your point, maybe some of this does exiting, and I should rethink how i look at it'. I personally think it's that you don't tell us how to think, instead you give us the facts, and proof of it's existence, and let us choose how to feel about it.

[@rickybobbyracing9106]

@uravrgYTr what

[@GulfbeachMateo]

My younger cousins are aspiring actresses. One of them told me that she was recently asked to "cover up" and show less skin for a scene with an independent director. He flat out told her he did NOT want to be accused of being exploitive and appealing to the "Male gaze" online. Interesting turn of the tide.

[@MrMigeco]

Interesting. This is why the Patriarchy obsession is also wrong a lot of the time. They would say it's patriarchy for her to be told what to wear.

[@caravanlifenz]

I find people more beautiful when they're covered as it creates allure and mystery. A good suit covers a man entirely except his head and hands, and he looks stunning. I love movies set in ancient Greece and Rome where the men and women were largely covered up, but women wore their hair beautifully with gold hair decorations and wore eyeliner to bring focus to the eyes.

[@Ibrahk5]

I love it, I love it. Been someone who grew up in different parts of the world and seen different cultures approach this differently, I've been talking about this to my friends for a longtime and now glad to see this discussion presented in such well manner. Thank you for this The media insider

[@TheMediaInsider]

That's great! Thanks so much for watching

[@Ibrahk5]

@@TheMediaInsider you’re absolutely welcome and definitely sharing for sure

[@Ibrahk5]

​@uravrgYTr Thanks @uravrgYTr. Not exactly, that could definitely have its set of issues as well. It's just good for us/people to understand the subconscious message behind the things we watch and their impacts on our subconscious. Knowing where the thought comes from. It could potentially help make a more well informed decision or choice.

[@tatsianaptashnik1479]

Great video! I really liked the analysis

[@RubDev]

This was so well put together! I've never given it much thought really. But since you've pointed it out I can't unsee it anymore.

[@TheMediaInsider]

Really glad you enjoyed it!

[@faith6625]

@@TheMediaInsider Women ruin the world fr fr

[@utsavghosh6495]

hello, I really love your videos, I learn a lot from them. I have a request for you. Could you please make a video on how films are made from scratch, what are its components(like screenplays, scripts, direction), who decides how the film goes? Who has the leash to how the film is being made? is it the person who writes the screenplays decide everything? Is the script and screenplay the same? The person who writes the story to the film, does he write a screenplay? I know its a lot of questions but it would be a great help if you could kindly make a video on how films are made, the very basic components of it and who does what. Thank you in advance!

[@TheMediaInsider]

I'll definitely add it to the to do list thank you for the suggestion!

[@scratchgd5604]

until then there is a similar video about pre production. i know its not exactly the idea youve suggested but the closest video to this so far kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYC0aKWQabWBhdE

[@rickybobbyracing9106]

Keep up the great work, these videos are opening my mind to new ideas.

[@piousl]

Having taught Mulvey, Bechtel, etc I have one Q Does this still obtain? Many of the examples here are at least a decade old (wheel of Fortune has been on for ages). Have things changed at all? After all, even Mulvey recently (2017?) Stated she no longer thinks it's a thing. Do any of the stats we have buttress these claims? Just wondering. Never heard of Van Zoonen. Will have to check em out

[@TheMediaInsider]

In truth, I think it's definitely still a thing, but it's more localised to texts aimed at male teens - so it's rife in certain video games, comics, and action films. I'd also say it's not so much of a thing as it was since there is now such a proliferation of media that it's just as easy to find texts that don't conform to this way of thinking as ones that do.

[@abhilashr8468]

That's because MEN & WOMEN are different.. and attracted to different things in opposite gender due to the gender roles engrained in our minds due to thousands of years of survival skills .. there is nothing wrong with this...

[@TariqLawal]

This is my fave channel now.

[@christiancottingham]

Techy media HoD question here: what camera/mic are you using to capture this?

[@TheMediaInsider]

I record on an iPhone 12Pro at 4K, and the sound is captured on my Mac using the Rode NT-USB. Look back at my earliest videos to see how bloody awful the sound was using the on-board camera!

[@christiancottingham]

@@TheMediaInsider wow - that footage is crazily good for a phone! Absolutely superb vids btw - been deliberating making our own for some time but you’ve set a standard here that’s really quite daunting…

[@TheMediaInsider]

@@christiancottingham honestly, I would say just do it! Like I said, if you look back at my earlier videos the quality and standard is terrible, but you’ve got to take that first step

[@africaamaze]

The intro was very entertaining. Really well thought out 👍

[@TheMediaInsider]

Glad you liked it!

[@caravanlifenz]

Great analysis. It's often stated that males are more visual and seek out movies where they can 'see' the characters and imagine themselves as James Bond, while females dominate the billion dollar romance novel industry where readers instead dream up and imagine what the characters look like. The movies you mention are trying to attract a male audience.

[@doyle6000]

Thanks!

[@alexanderkempster449]

Imagine if the advert depicted a big, tattooed, muscular woman, topless riding the motorbike with the cow horns looking into the distance. With a little man in a skimpy outfit grinning at the camera and clinging on on the back of the bike...... they know their audience...... who would find my rendition attractive??? Lol

[@CLDJ227]

5:53 Isn't the image of two people walking side by side usually a way to show that they are equal in some way?

[@diamondgoldsilver9899]

Yeah but not when 1 is holding a trophy and the other isn't

[@caglabatur]

That means she is another trophy he is taking with him

[@MadagaskarTyp]

It is very interesting, BUT it doesn´t take into consideration very important factors that influence this media: A) producer who want to sell and make money --> advertisement with women´s beauty is all around because sex sells, so this might be a strong indicator, for why certain pictures are put in scenery B) Feminity & Masculinity --> what makes a women feminin and what a man masculin and what attracts men and what attracts women. Biology and science are clear that (speaking in general terms) men are attracted by feminine, beautiful, eleganat women and women are attracted by strong, powerful men of status. C) I think media shifted enourmosly the last decade -->there are so many series and movies where women are the playing the strong & powerful parts and men are depicted as helpless fools and idiots.... I don´t say that this video doesn´t make good points, I just think it is lacking other important factors in its argumentation....

[@emilysanchez4584]

The only time I can think of when a woman was focused more on their physical body rather than sexuality is the character Cara Dune from the Mandalorian

[@TheMediaInsider]

Exactly! They’re few and far between, aren’t they? Brienne from game of thrones is another

[@emilysanchez4584]

@@TheMediaInsider Yeah, seeing characters like Cara Dune and even Rey portray these powerful women without sexualizing them is pretty cool. Too bad people tend to put them in the "Mary Sue" category

[@alexsmart5452]

and look what happened to her(the actress) when she spoke her opinion, her "truth, that didnt match up with the power's that be in the industry. She swerved Right but had been told to move left with the rest of the herd... and there were consequences. and the herd said moo.

[@TheMar320]

I see you put a lot of scenes from Sin City and I'd like to hear you how do you adress the fact that signs of hypersexualization of feminity can be used in order to deconstruct them, because movies like Sin City, Mad Max, Resident Evil (where the males are just dogs whose days are past and they dont bite anymore) are more like a critique to patriarchy rather than a confirmation of it. I tend to be sceptical with great abstractions like "Patriarchy" and the "Media". A serious analysis should look into their historical development and not using them as Totems. Also a serious analysis should also look for contradicting facts and narratives and not only for those who confirm the hypotheses. At the end, where do these narratives are based on? Are they just a modern mass culture product or do they express something deeper in our biology? Keep up the good work and sorry for my english, i am not native speaker!

[@everything777]

You seem to think movies create society, but surely it is the other way around

[@bramvanworkum]

300 might be a bad example because that comicbook and movie just went for the full 100% on mr Olympia beauty standard no holds barred dudeness. Not remotely subtle like you might show in other films. as if making a point about speeding you'd have a lot of films with (fast) cars but add a movie about racing.

[@nicolasmaldonado1428]

I think you haven't watched the last Thor and Thunder trailer.

[@DustinJohnLockhart]

Check out "Minx" and "Bridgerton" for something refreshingly different

[@TheMediaInsider]

I will! - I want to do a counter video that looks at how there are now plenty of examples of non-stereotypical representations of gender

[@bobbyz9052]

This seems to be an overly simple interpretation. Media objectifies men and women, and it objectifies men and women in a different way and this derives from the way men and women objectify themselves in the real world. The real question is does media reflect real life or does life imitate art.

[@gumbilicious1]

In a bit of defense to his simplification, it is pretty necessary in a 7 minute video, but I agree that this simplification still seems to be present in longer form discussions of this subject I think that the portrayal of men and women in media tends to reflect how we want to be perceived, since we are all individuals then this isn’t a 100% accurate to each persons desires and even individuals can build resentment for our own desire to be perceived in certain ways. But still, i think my feeling is most likely valid, we subconsciously fantasize about being these flat personalities and they appeal to us on a base level

[@skwr.]

it’s not black and white of course, as in all things. i think the male gaze theory really goes hand in hand with this and that the power of men within the industry really emphasise the sexualisation of women. made by men for men, so in that way the art does indeed imitate life. but it’s undeniable that media has an impact on the way people act and are socialised, like the things we are made to beleive to be normal, beautiful, good and bad etc.

[@gumbilicious1]

@@skwr. i actually agree with this quite a bit. males exert dominance and authority in a way quite different from women and I agree this leaves quite a significant mark on how media is portrayed. [as a self indulgent aside] i would point out something that is fascinating to me once I noticed it, and that is how women's media portrays women. Women seem to have quite a few similarities in how it sexualizes women, and it is wild how women compete in their sexuality even when men are not present. so while I do agree that media certainly influences people (individual and society), there seems to be an almost tautological reciprocal in that people also most certainly influence media. i would go one further in that media and people need each other to coexist, that the idea of these being two separate systems wherein one is dominate over the other is ineffective in trying to understand the dynamic.

[@martinmarchef8303]

Good point

[@vvwalker7261]

This is an interesting clip, although there doesn't seem to be much appetite for protagonists playing outside the traditional norms on TV or film

[@sankturban291]

"She attacks with a kiss and he does.... whatever this is" 😄

[@MLouah-gp9ef]

A bit of evolutionary psychology would go a long way to explain some of those phenomena

[@alexanderkempster449]

Nah lets not bother with facts and crap like tha

[@Nein01]

Good video but I think you got mixed up at 1:36. It isn't these media representations that have led to patriarchy; rather it's patriarchy that leads to such representations in media.

[@sbs2396]

you mean west societies patriarchies?

[@Nein01]

@@sbs2396 no I mean patriarchy in general, which is much older than the so-called 'western' societies

[@Abcgfsksn]

Patriarchy is the natural order

[@truth__hurts]

The reality is sexual attraction differs between males and females and this is deeply embedded through millions of years of evolution. Female attraction to men is often determined by the physicality and competence of a man's ability to protect and provide. This power, not to be mistaken for tyrannical behaviour, directly correlates to his ability to defend himself and his significant other. Male attraction to women on the other hand is often determined by a woman's youth and biological markers that signify fertility. Comparing or trying to equate both together and implying that men have to act more like women and women have to act more than men is a flawed argument because while men and women are relatively the same in most regards, there are significant markers that set both apart from one another. That doesn't mean that women should be reduced to secondary roles or play one-dimensional characters predicated solely on their sexual appearance, but it's important to understand that attraction from one sex to the other is different and garners a different approach depending on the plot and subject matter of the film.

[@sannefridolin]

InterestinG argument, from a purely biological point of view. Where does that leave same sex attraction ?

[@micklebert82]

Honestly, the most articulated matter-of-fact response possible to the host POV. Thank you for existing and utilizing common sense and critical reasoning, to break down this overly complicated topic.

[@toddboothbee1361]

Has it been otherwise? I'm thinking especially about films, or especially ads, that are tilted toward a particular kind of audience. It seems like no revelation at all to mention any of this. The point should be why life would be better otherwise, if it that's true. Yet, value is where the money leads you as a film or ad maker. Anyway, the US is becoming less a patriarchy than it's a plutocracy, where (and this should be irony but isn't) money is touted as the great equalizer, the one true and sane value.

[@tonykipperman9168]

Try Norah Vincent the selfmade man. She found a matriarchy nobody talks about

[@camargorafael420]

😊

[@Grace17893]

The thing is man; men and women are different animals and the media thing is a reflection of who men and women are; now it’s made extreme through the media but ultimately it’s the difference between the male and female animal

[@sbs2396]

same animal, different sex

[@apollontheintp3257]

But women like powerful and physically strong men! So why is this all the men's gaze? It's women's as well! And then, in most cultures men are in the powerful roles in the world and women are in maternal roles which is what these cultures choose. VanZoonen might not like this, but this is what the people want.

[@MrMigeco]

Have you also ever noticed how women represent themselves in their own media, social media in particular? They also sexualize themselves a lot more than men do, because they know there is power in it in a way that men cannot. In a scene where, for example, a stripper has the attention of all the men in the room. Many feminists would argue that woman has the power in that room. Men having power as soldiers like in your examples of 300 for example, is more representative of what we know in real life. Men's power is not sexual but in strength. Your argument is poorly formed. These things often simply reflect real life.

[@RoberinoSERE]

European cologne commercials have always been freakishly weird and grotesque to me.

[@ree1263]

Men should be learders

[@phoebusapollo4677]

Men taking responsibility.

[@samchandler2527]

The male gaze? In 2023?! That was terrible research when it came out... back in the 2000s.

[@TheMediaInsider]

Actually it was the 1970s

[@samchandler2527]

Well its 30 years older than the 20 years I thought. It is foolish, mean spirited and promotes stereotypes.

[@Leopoldcold]

I feel like life is just patriarchy

[@TheMediaInsider]

Basically, yeah!

[@alpacacomentadora413]

@@Halfroho the entire western civilization (and many others) is based of patriarchal values.

[@alpacacomentadora413]

@@Halfroho competitiveness instead of cooperation, the qualities that are normally associated with men are valued more. That is why, despite the fact that there are women leaders, they have to behave like men to have respect.

[@sannefridolin]

How does that make YOU feel as a man?

[@gavinritchie649]

Can you argue that representation favours the young or the physically 'fit'? Height, class, 'normal' and acceptable, symmetrical. There are more complexities at play than this politicised theory is willing to tackle. Ideas of patriarchy are now ridiculously outdated.

[@lukasketner]

I didn't expect such a thick and luxurious neckbeard growing out of the comments

[@TheMediaInsider]

Same! It’s like a well oiled Santa beard isn’t it?

[@lukasketner]

@@TheMediaInsider 😂

[@africaamaze]

I think patriarchy is very evident in all the examples used in the video and generally in almost all films and music videos. As a matter of fact, music videos being the worst corporate.

[@TheMediaInsider]

I completely agree - closely followed by perfume adverts!

[@africaamaze]

@@TheMediaInsider wow! I never thought about that. That's so true 👍

[@eduardorecife9143]

Well, is this really Patriarchy or just facts on sex differences? Take for granted all modern and medieval culture.. Even when man and woman were tribal, man had the more powerful and active (action) role. Men hunted, because men are stronger, because they have testosterone running in their bodies in much larges scales than woman. They were the ones running on the wild, with spears, putting their life into risk in order to provide food for their family. Woman on the other hand, had for obvious reasons (Breast feeding, period, and other maternal female qualities) stayed at “home” taking care of children and preparing the food that man hunted. Also at that time, males searched for a large hips, healthy and caring partner who would be a great mother. And woman searched for a strong, fearless man that would be a great food provider. Take this several centuries later and almost the same scheme followed, men worked and risked his life in order to build a decent modern and comfortable life for humans: building houses, laying bricks, carrying stones, building roads, working on sewage, while mostly women were at home educating their children, cooking, working on their house with the money men brought home. (prior to contraceptives and pads things were even more complicated). Today things changed. But all we see is that women want equality in outcome compared to men and not equality of sacrifices. Not to mention that men tends to work more hours than woman (research it) and more woman give up their careers voluntarily in order to raise their children and be more present at home. Do you think the evil patriarchal society should have just sent woman to do all this terrible labor instead? Would that be a decent thing to do? Still today men has the most highly paid jobs and also the worst paid jobs. Not to mention the worst jobs. If an electricity pole falls on the road during the rain, who goes there in order to fix it? Who works on sewage cleaning and maintenance? Who goes to wars? Well, no one seems to take any of this into account. Men always had the most dangerous, powerful, risky and “exciting” jobs and guess what? People enjoy watching these exact same things on tv. Guess what also? Most researches confirms that woman searches for a big confident, powerful, financially stable and strong (physically and mentally) men. And most men search for attractive woman. Should movies portray a different reality just because feminists are angry about this? Considering women beautiful, its that a sin? In movies, men attracts woman with different atributes, that's all. Man and woman should obviously have the same rights and the same opportunities. But I believe women should also be grateful for what men has done over the centuries in order to provide a decent life for all of us. Just the same way men are grateful for woman and their whole in raising a decent and healthy family. Let's stop the oppressed/opressor game, and just love each other.

[@tammylee3876]

Absolutely correct! It's not about either gender being better than the other, it's about appreciating our differences however unequal they may be.

[@alastair4839]

personally ... I think this is about 10/20 years too late. There are so many powerful femals portrayed all over the place now-a-days. In Europe I can name more females leaders then male (von der Leyen, Truss, Lagarde, Meloni, Sturgeon, etc...). Modern Media is all about "strong women" (to the detriment of the actual film/TV series), and generally make the males look stupid/weak - you could argue this is what Matriarchy looks like. Also, there simply is a difference between men and women - men are more muscular - hence more likely to be shown for physical strength, and there is nothing wrong, IMO, with that, or with showing the female form. I do agree with the females taking on sub-servient rolls is not great - but we have had kick-ass women in media and films since the 1980s (Red Sonjia, Long kiss Goodnight, Alien(s), Zula from Conan, Terminator (2), and the list does on)... there is nothing new/ground breaking here. Also all the examples picked are rather old and if you pick "the right" examples of anything you can show the exact opposite...

[@sandeepatwalspeaks]

Absolutely, the tide has turned now Matriarchy rules media, thats why you see same tropes only genders are swapped, also I would argue that this "male gaze" which is basically imagining women showing skin perpetually was not a result of audience wishes rather it was the flim industry which wanted to make cheap money, in USA there was Hays Code applied to every movie accirding to which nûdity was not permissible to be shown in movies, actually Hays Code was not put out by govt but by Catholics who threatened mass boycott of movies, in 1930s during Great Depression to sell movie tickets studios open floodgates of nûdity and gun blazing, this was later carried on when USA become more liberal in 20th century thats we got nûdity in movies, KZbin channel Vox made a video on this, so blaming male audience squarely is disingenuos blame must go to studios who makes such movies to attract male viewership in hopes of selling tickets like how in boxing and MMA fights there are scantily clad women holding the round number, this is all gimmicks to sell the show

[@alastair4839]

@@sandeepatwalspeaks Well said : )

[@RasaanJ]

So....... Nature rules.

[@gavinritchie649]

You have not considered any proof that contradicts your thesis.

[@joeperry7891]

I am a straight male nurse and work almost exclusively with women. If a woman has ever had a problem with me they have almost 100% of the time tried to ruin me behind my back while kissing up to me in my face. Only one time in twenty two years has a woman flexed on me like a man would and that is because she had a position of authority over me and all her friends were watching, and it was more in the way a schoolteacher would treat an unruly student and not bowing up at me like she was going to physically attack me. Most of what I hear in history shows about spies (and even more recent in the news) is that females get thier info from sleeping with thier targets. And as far as women liking shiny things, we’ll, guess what, they do. Hair, nails, jewelry, the list goes on. They like to be seen as smart, but they love to be noticed as feminine and attractive. Doesn’t matter if the person is someone they are interested in or not, they still like to be noticed. So my point is that men and women ARE different, with different strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and handle situations differently. And I don’t think you can market things to women with testosterone driven imagery or to men with delicate images with shiny buttons or what have you. And as far as imagery goes, I think most people would agree that a female body is extremely sensual and nudity can be displayed in a way that’s stimulating but tasteful and not vulgar and pornographic. In fact, there is a Seinfeld episode in which Jerry and Elaine discuss this very subject: why female nudity=good, and male nudity=bad. Pretty hilarious but sums things up nicely.

[@elib9186]

Great points. Especially your nursing background observation. I have experienced the same thing working corporate .

[@ManInTheBigHat]

Women passive and secondary in media? Dude, you and Liesbet are so stuck in the 1960's.

[@mihneaurs7826]

Living aside the idiotic perfume ad, this view that the man is powerful and woman is just the object of his desire is such a twisted feministic aproach. Yes, culture is oozing of semiotics. Teese are symbols. Yes man is war, woman is love, man is sun, woman is moon, man is yang, woman is yin. What is wrong with that? Why do women feel offended by their own nature? Besides, we are not even oposites, we are different, we are something else. We are not +1 and -1. We are like +1 and i. Pun intended....anyway, women do not understand that the've always been in charge, they had the power. And their power is not that they should do the same shit as men. This is postmodern crap. Their power is something men will never have. Being mothers, being goddesses, being able to inspire beauty all over and so on.

[@algrameno2476]

Hahahhaha. Is not true for all the cases. For the parfume is true. But for movie not always. For example when Thor take of the shirt, what is? Is a sexual body. So depend also what is narrated. Don't say is all like this. Each case should be see differently

[@TheMediaInsider]

I totally agree: The idea by no means says that this is always the case. There are countless examples where men are objectified. The point is, we I still living on the back of generations that they grew up with this kind of patriarchy, and change doesn’t happen overnight. I also still believe there are far more instances of representations of men in power than women in the media.

[@adi2k88]

What a ridiculous ideology.

[@TheMediaInsider]

You think?

[@adi2k88]

@@TheMediaInsider excuse my harsh language. There is alot to criticize the media for, but the notion of this patriarchy reinforcing itself and such claims about the (symbolic) meaning of XYZ are beyond me.

[@TheMediaInsider]

@@adi2k88 interesting thought. So how do you interpret or explain the statistical difference between leading men and women in blockbuster films? Do you think this has no bearing on society?

[@Atarius]

@@TheMediaInsider women prefer men that are driven. show me a movie where highly capable women respect a beautiful man that does nothing in terms of purpose and isn't a joke. Look at the Charlie's Angels reboot or the the Immortal She-Hulk run in comics. Not only did men pass on those but women too. Women typically don't want to be beef cakes, men do. Women like men with prowess and visually communicating that is muscles, or suits or gazing into the horizon. Women are more likely to use soft power. That's flirtation yes but also control, it's not lesser power, it's just different and thus is visually represented differently.

[@sbs2396]

For gods sake, men and women are different, they are the same species but different sex, our bodies work different, they regulate diferent we even think different, even tho we as a species are a social species, men are autistic beings interested more often in things than people, women on the other hand are more social beings, thats why more ofthen they decide to devote their time to their loved ones rather than chasing difficult and time consuming careers, but that doesnt matter they can easily get a partner with a higher paying job and still live on their comfort, thats why 80% of women have higher earning partners, men are ,more phisically violent because of testosteron, women's violence is not phisical but mental, they gosip and exlude you, patriarchy is a hoax on wetern media, the few patriarcal structures on the west is the catholic church, but other than that, in today's terms patriarchy is a fictional character used as a political toll in today's radical feminist movement.

[@Powerful_7910]

It's not patriarchy! First you have to learn what is masculinity and what is feminity. Learn the different characteristics of feminity and masculinity. Then learn how to seduce/attract through mascunility and feminity. The only way to seduce through masculinity is by being powerful and femininity is being erotic. Masculinity is all about physical strength with attitude and feminity is all about softness with gracefulness. Majority of men are masculine and majority of women are feminine. If you see feminity as weakness obviously you'll find feminine women weaker than masculine men(so as their gestures and body language). Majority of masculine men find feminine women attractive and majority of feminine women find masculine men attractive. Why is it impossible to objectify a masculine person the same way a feminine person is objectified? Because if a masculine man act like that 3:30 he would look feminine which wouldn't be attractive/appealing to feminine women. Also not alot of female actors have six pack abs like the male actors. Women are physically weaker than men that is why women feel reduced to an object when being ogled by men, and when women ogle at men, he feels happy. Why do you think nature created men physically stronger than women, to be dominant and protective of women. That is the law of nature which feminists can never change. Before blaming the female superheroes showing more skin than the male superheroes, think why the shorts that girls wear is shorter than the guy's shorts? Why women show their chest and thighs at award shows where men will be fully covered in suits? So blame the women for showing more skin which makes it easy for men to gaze/sexualize and not the men. Have you not seen reality shows where a woman try to pick a man out of 30 men? It's called the bachelorette show.

[@TheMelMan]

I was thinking this the whole time. And this is not a slight against The Media Insider. He is just presenting an argument that someone else came up with but I personally find that argument or concept as a whole really dumb. A lot of what I see in media these days is people trying to oppose nature. "The evil patriarchy" is a function of nature that A LOT of women appreciate. Nobody tells half of the female Instagram models to be naked in every other photo. Nobody tells the OnlyFans women to make porn adjacent content while men pursue other means to make money. Nobody tells the Twitch girls to show off their busts on camera to make money off "simps." This is the natural world and people who oppose the natural order of things should look inside themselves instead of projecting it out to other people.

[@Powerful_7910]

@@TheMelMan I wonder why The Media Insider is not replying to my comment, atleast he could say whether he agree or disagree. If he agrees to my comment he should delete this video as it is misleading with bs. The victims of patriarchy might think this video is full of facts but it's just bs in reality.

[@TheMediaInsider]

Hey chaps - thanks for adding to the debate: that's what I love about this topic. Varun - you've made a tonne of points: some I agree with and some I don't so I'll respond as best I can. Firstly, I'm not deleting any of my videos. Mel Man rightly pointed out that this is an academic perspective that is studied in college, whether you agree with it or not. Next, I don't think at any point I suggested that masculinity and femininity don't naturally attract - nor did Van Zoonen I think. You're right in saying many of these traits are primal in terms of the physicality of men/masculinity and women/femininity, and we are programmed to find either or both these attractive, but as Butler points out in her work on gender performativity, many 'gender' traits are taught to us by society and the media - in other words, much of what you're describing is a performance rather than nature. I've made a video about her work that you'll likely have a lot to say about too which you can watch here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6WzlGWhhcarmJI The final point I'd make is that this theory isn't really about masculine/feminine attraction. It's about how society's structure of female inequality (which is a statistic, not an opinion) is reinforced through very subtle codes in most of the media we watch. This ranges from the obvious (female characters playing less important parts in media) to the subtle (women enticing the camera). I'd also point out that the implications of this potentially go far beyond just 'men being dominant', but more worryingly impact the way young men are learning to engage with women in a sexual context, and how young women think they are 'supposed' to behave in the same context. As I said, thanks for adding to the discourse - I get the impression that you want a definitive, binary answer, but I think there are too many perspectives to consider for that to be possible.

[@Powerful_7910]

@@TheMediaInsider The gender traits are natural but the media exaggerates the natural gender traits into hypermascunilty and hyperfeminity which might look like a performance. The movies in which women play less important roles are violent action movies. Since violence and action is a masculine behaviour feminine women don't get enough opportunity to do such violent movies because masculine men are not attracted to women who do masculine activities. Women are also not attracted to men who entice the camera, so men do action movies. Speaking of sexual context, young boys should not learn how to engage in sexual context with women watching any movie because movies and real life is different. It's just a matter of commonsense, commensense can't be taught right? We do get angry sometimes watching some movies but we don't hit the person sitting next to us. Any sane person would not do that, so it's not the fault of the media, they just sell what the majority wants because it's only a business for them. We people should have the commensense. We all can take inspiration from actors but don't compare or pressure yourself or anyone to be like those actors. Let everyone be how they want to be. I've already watched that link and what I have to say is don't believe in someone else's theory because theories cannot be generalized because each time it might not be the same case and each human being's personality will be different, understand the facts and believe in what you see and feel is the truth.

[@TheMediaInsider]

You know what, I totally agree with you! The more we talk about this, the more we are introducing other theoretical perspectives, because now that you’re talking about how much influence the media has, we’re getting into post modernism, and audiences accepting media messages as willingly as they do reality. In other words, I think what you’re saying is common sense is dead, which I hate to say I agree with! The last thing I would point out is that these are all theoretical perspectives, and half of them contradict each other, so you will find just as many perspectives that deny the influence of the media, or the Way gender representations impact sexuality. Interesting points, thanks for adding to the discussion

[@casperduplessis8503]

Maybe representations are due to differences between the sexes. Women like power and men like sensual women.

[@nicolasmaldonado1428]

Men and women are different, women are not attracted to poor men, and men are not attracted to undesirable women. Also I think you are mistaken about 300, men are barely dressed in that movie. And there are plenty of movies with hardcore female protagonists, like Terminator 2, aliens, Avatar, the avengers (this 2 the top grossing movies of all time, so it's not an isolated event), also TV shows like dark angel, Buffy, Veronica Mars, Jessica Jones, orphan black. So I think you just hand picked a few scenes, but didn't bother to show both sides. I would say Spartacus has more male nudity than females nudity in a very sexual way. Very biased video

[@georgemcfly3482]

Maybe men and women should just stop dealing with eachother altogether

[@TheMediaInsider]

😂 maybe!

[@semifrozenbeverages9796]

If you understand that men and women are different, you'll understand that they display power and dominance differently. Men's power comes from physical strength. Women's power comes from their ability to control men. What you're showing here is not men portrayed as powerful and women portrayed as weak. It's both being portrayed as powerful in their own way. Men and women are not the same. It's nonsense to compare them as though they are. It's like comparing apples and oranges.

[@robberbarron8161]

It’s not a man woman thing it’s a person thing

[@TheMediaInsider]

You think?

[@Wilhelm4131]

The patriarchy is the natural order