Theories of Gender

Discuss the theories of gender in relation to The Killing (20 marks)

Laura Mulvey - 'Male Gaze/female gaze': Women see themselves through the eyes of men and are not sexualised by men. Audiences are forced to view women from the point of view of a heterosexual male or a male is sexualised in fragrance adverts for a women demographic. 

Bell Hooks - 'Feminism is for everybody': The colour codes: lighter skinned women are considered more desirable and fit better into the western ideology of beauty. Black women are objectified and sexualised in hip-hop reflecting the colonialist view of black women.

Van Zoonen - Van Zoonen believes the media portray images of stereotypical women and this behaviour reinforces societal views. 

In ‘The Killing' we see that the detective and the protagonist is a female. This is already seen as surprising for people as usually in the media/films, according to Laura Mulvey ‘women see themselves through the eyes of men' We see that she controls her team and is not in any way sexualised or controlled by a male. She is the dominant one in the show as all the decisions are made by her. We see that she always wears jumpers and dresses in black. She does not live in the patriarchal society, meaning that it is a male-driven society - if anything, the women in ‘The Killing’ are driving the society. We see this through both the characters, Sarah Lund (detective) and Rie Skovgaard (political secretary)
Van Zoonen believes the media portray images of stereotypical women and this behaviour reinforces societal views.


Why is The Killing relevant to Haesmondhalgh theory about cultural industries?

The term ‘cultural industry’ refers to the creation, production, and distribution of products of a cultural or artistic nature. Culturalindustries include television and film production, publishing, music,as well as crafts and design. In The Killing