These readings reflect on the nature of humans and the presence of society and media in differentiating men and women. Cixous looks at the nature of writing with expressing oneself, while Mulvey focuses on the technological advances on cinema and how it constructs the way the audience's unconscious of seeing women.
First of all, the Cixous reading reminded me very much of the work of Macherey. When Cixous discusses the notion of 'active/passive' it reminded me of when Macherey talks about the way to say something is by not saying other things. Both theorists recognize the constant imbalance found between different aspects of life. Cixous applies the imbalance to sexuality and claims that bisexuality is the ultimate balance between male and female. She goes on the state how it is easier for women to find bisexuality because men are under scrutiny of society to live up to certain expectations and are thus restricted from experiencing wholeness. A consequence to the masculinity ideology is the need for a revenue to further confirm the socially defined term masculinity. Cixous also reflects on how men restrict themselves from giving into their socially condemned natural tendencies as they are considered 'feminine' and therefore not masculine, as clearly stated in the quote "We have turned away from our bodies...taught to be unaware of them" (164-165).
The second theorist, Mulvey, looks at the way technological advances of cinema instigate different ways of looking at a text: scopophilia and fetishistic scopophilia (concepts learned in CMC 100). They both refer to Barthes's idea of playing with the text and the gaping of the garment: jouissance. Mulvey concludes by stating how the viewing of cinema and the actual images of passive women and active men all contribute to the illusionistic narrative film.
Therefore, Cixous and Mulvey present the reader to a more in-depth analysis of women and gender in media, yet these depictions of women is media has been under the scrutiny of the male gaze it will be a long process for change to occur.
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Having been reminded of the correction to the syllabus - I will now do a brief overview of the reading I was meant to do: Butler. His article looks at the codes within language to determine the gender represented within. Law and politics play a big role in the nature of the subject in text. Also, the subject is not solely defined by the historical codes embedded in language but more on the contemporary ideologies of society. Butler suggests the confusion for women to find their identity.
p.s. It's Smiley Face :)
Strong post as usual. You have a good understanding of the reading.
-Starfish
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