Looking through different lenses

To be honest, I was a little confused with this week’s post, because I am not sure if I am supposed to be summarizing the key points and giving examples for each of the different approaches, or if I am to be sticking to the two that I became an “expert” on. So, I am going to focus on my two approaches in hopes that I understood the post instructions correctly! The two approaches that I will be discussing are the psychoanalytic and the feminist approaches.

Psychoanalytic Approach: I thought that one of the best points to take away from the text regarding the psychoanalytical approach is that, “much of the focus of psychoanalytic analysis has to do with how audiences’ subconscious forces influence the subjective meaning of images” (Beach, pg. 40). The other key point from Beach that I feel is important to mention when discussing this approach is how students can apply psychoanalytic analysis to movies and films “by discussing the functions of desire and fantasy shaping their responses to film characters” (Beach, pg. 40). While I was thinking about how I would apply this in my own classroom, I started to wonder how truthful students would be, and how self-conscious they may become if they make a connection with a character whom is not universally desired. For example, if I had students get into groups to discuss their favorite characters after explaining that who they choose will often reflect their own desires to “be or become those characters,” the likelihood of getting honest answers out of the students might be difficult. Many may feel like they are exposing too much of their inner self to their peers if they reveal which characters they really liked or connected with the most.

Feminist Approach: The feminist approach seems to really go hand in hand with the psychoanalytic approach in Beach’s text, because there are many links to how people view the characters in ads, films, television shows, etc. While many think that taking a feminist approach to viewing media can be a negative thing, most people do not realize that feminism is not only for women, but to empower men as well. Just as women should not only be looked upon and judged by their looks (good or bad), men should not be made to feel like they must be muscular, and handsome to be viewed as important in society. I feel that the most important key point about taking a feminist approach to viewing media is that “gender performances are continually changing given historical and cultural forces is evident in men’s magazines that exclude the emotional side of males by emphasizing the assertive masculine side of males as reflected in magazines” (Beach, pg. 41). A good way to use this in the classroom would be to show artwork from older periods of time and compare them to clothing ads. Back then, the ideal image of a woman can be seen in Botticelli’s painting of the birth of Venus, where the women are not stick thin. Compare this to a fashion designer’s sketches, where the ideal woman who models the clothing is 6 feet tall and weights 110 pounds. You can see how hard it is to be a female or a male where all sorts of media are trying to show the public what is “in” and what isn’t.

I found both of these approaches to be very interesting and was able to connect each of them to how I would use them in the classroom. As for the psychoanalytic analysis, I thought that it was very interesting that there is “the need to move toward more acceptable, official femininity or masculinity” (Beach, pg. 40) because I remember reading somewhere that in television programs this year, there are more characters who are “out” or are openly gay or lesbian characters in these shows, and that people are still viewing and promoting these shows. Because of this, I feel that the media industry has made a lot of progress in accepting most people, instead of just portraying those who are straight, white, and successful.