In class we have been discussing how texts and media represents themes, cultures, gender, and more – and how societies and cultures are impacted by them. Sometimes there may be controversy that the text or media doesn’t correctly represent certain themes, cultures or sexuality. I find this unit really interesting because I enjoy discussing about different perspectives people may have on a certain topic, and also because I am simply interested with certain topics we have discussed – such as the representation of love in some poems, as well the truth behind social and gender stereotypes. Perhaps I am interested in these two topics because I connect with them in a personal level.
An example we looked at that is the Little Red Cap by Carol Ann Duffy. She represents little red cap by switching the norms of gender stereotypes, how usually girls are victimised and saved by the prince. She is created to be a young girl who has turned 16, an age well known to mark maturity; now legal to have sex. This makes her a somewhat rebellious young girl, moving in with an older man and her sudden maturity. The writer does this by making word choices with dark connotations to make her seem more fierce and rebellious. The writer then switches the role of the girl and the man, by attacking him and using descriptions with dark connotations to emphasize her actions. At the end, when she states “Out of the forest I come with my flowers, singing, all alone.” brings her back to the innocent girl she was, and makes her more shady. It makes her more independent, a girl that comes out of that situation with lessons learned. The main theme in this poem is how a young girl becomes 16 year old, which in american culture it often represents the mark of maturity, as she can now legally have sex. This is developed through the plot, where the girl meets “the wolf”, who represents a much older man. The plot shows her getting influenced by him, where he buys her a drink and moving in with him and having an affair with him. The use of the “white dove” being eaten by “the wolf” Towards the end, the plot develops with her realising that she needs to change her life path, take care of herself and leave him.
Another idea we looked at was how advertisements plays a big role in representations – in particular, how women are sometimes sexualised in ads. A lot of perfume advertisements involves women in revealing clothing items to possibly attract customers.
Overall, representation and identity is very important in society as it shapes a lot of our values and beliefs towards culture, society and other topics.
