Detailed essay plan

My independent study concentrates on the representation of women in the media. Whereas my main text which I will be making relevant references to will be the movie ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ (2006). I have choose this film because it shows the extent in which the representation of women have changed and it is one of the best contemporary examples which show how women are seen in the media in recent years. Furthermore the film has many different women being portrayed in it which would be an advantage because it will enable me to see the range of different representation of women. The main protagonist of the film is portrayed to be this very independent and intelligent woman. She is in a job which she first hates but then she gradually adapts to it and wins a lot of hearts of her work mates especially her boss Miranda Priestley who again has this extremely strong image in society. However success in work life means failure in love life, her committing a lot of her time to her work life starts causing problems to her personal life and it comes to a point where she has to choose from her life love or professional life.
The other texts which I will be looking at will be looking at will be one historical text ‘The African Queen’ which passes through the message that women should lead the way and be independent. This again shows the attitudes towards women in the media during that time comparing it to the ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ which shows women being independent showing how the representation of women has changed. I will also make reference to the T.V serial ‘Ugly Betty’.

So the basic focus is on the representation of women of the modern society. The women who are independent and put their career as their priority. This will also lead me onto concentrating on the representation of the fashion industry and how women are treated in this job sector. The modern society would be another concern the fact that Andy lives with her boyfriend portrays a cohabitating couple all example of a modern society.

Introduction:

-In order to answer the question it is important to understand to question therefore I am going to define what a representation is.
-Include a quotation made from the book Popcorn Venus: Women, Movies and the American Dream.
-Point out that the media is a reflection of society.
-Include my hypothesis: To what extent does ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ show the change occurred in women’s representations and stereotypes.
-A very brief overview of my main text ‘The Devil Wears Prada’
-Introduce the historical text which I will mention: ‘The African Queen’ (1951) and another text which is more contemporary: ‘Erin Brockovich’ (2000)

Paragraph 1: (How women were representation in the past)

-This paragraph will basically underline how women were represented in society before the 1950s
-In the 1920s women in the United States were allowed to vote due to the Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution this led to the suffrage movement helping women to escape the traditional way of living and giving them a new sense of courage.
-Marxist view of seeing the role of the women in society, they are there to produce the next generation of workers.
-Historical context: after the Second World War how has women’s attitudes and roles changed in society.
-Social issues such as the size 0 debate - include evidence from article of Anne Hathaway on the size 0 (see blog for article). Link size 0 debate to the audience and how the audience aspire to be like the actresses.
-Explore the historical text: ‘The African Queen’- the man saves the women at the end again promoting patriarchal ideologies

Paragraph 2: (How women’s representations have changed over the years- 1920- 1940)

This paragraph would be a like a timeline on how women’s representations have changed throughout history.

1920s:
-Women’s were able to vote during this period was reflected in the media.
-This change in the portrayal of women was mainly shown by motion pictures.
-Include quote: “The motion picture industry not only depicted what as going on in the lives of women at the time; it also trained women in new fashions and social roles that were being promoted at the time” (Women, Film and the 1920s).
-The new modern women were portrayed in movies differently moving away from the conservative attitudes. Examples includes Gloria Swanson, Clara Bow
-Movies were popular amongst women at that time so they were targeted showing they gained escapism from movies.
-Women in movies were shown to be more independent, this inspired women in society leading to them being like their favourite stars.
-These women would smoke, dance etc and would be referred to as ‘Flappers’
-Women were moving into the workforce again inspiring the women audience. E.g. "Bertha the Sewing Machine Girl" (1926).

1940s:
-End of World War 2 meaning that the men were coming back home.
-Men and Women wanted to return back to the traditional conjugal roles which meant the patriarchal order, this was portrayed in movies.
-Women were doing the housework whilst men went out to earn money. E.g. ‘Picnic’ (1956).
-Women needed to get married in order to feel secure this is what was portrayed.
-The media and movie influence was that marriage should be a priority, and that caring for the family came along with the marriage.

Paragraph 3: (How women’s representations have changed over the years- 1950)

1950s
-Quote from Rose: “Many have claimed that pictures in the 1950s reaffirmed male dominance and female subservience, that women's roles were confined to sex role stereotypes of pretty, amusing or child-like”.
-Male dominance in movies reinforced male dominance in real life. E.g. the movie ‘The African Queen’.
-Most women of this time were mainly housewives and lacked motivation to go into the workforce.
-The media promoted the idea that women should be dependent on the male.
-So the portrayal of women at this time returned to the more conservative role.
-Include information on the Hays code: there was a code before the 1950s that had a description of how women should be portrayed in movies and it generally viewed them as being the usual housewife, maternal and inferior to men stereotype. However during the 1950s this code became less restricted and women were shown to be more independent.

Paragraph 4: (Exploring the characters of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’)

-There are different women in the film that could be analysed to see the different representations and stereotypes.
-The three different women would be Andy, Miranda Priestley and Emile.
-Andy portrays the independent women who becomes career orientated and tends to let her personal life slip by her hands. Again as predicted the situation at the end turns out to be that she has to choose from her personal life and professional life.
-Miranda Priestley is another character that is mirrored as being extremely career driven that she has passed the stage where she has to choose between her personal and professional life because she has already made her choice and that is her career being her priority. Due to this choice she has made which goes against the conservative decisions her character is shown to have lost liveliness, joy and has a sense of emptiness which only a man can fulfil. In order to fill this emptiness she has to sacrifice her career.
-Include dialogue made by Nigel when Andy explains that she has to choose between her personal and professional life: ‘that’s what happens when you start doing well at work…I mean all your life starts going up in smoke… It means that there is time for a promotion’ this dialogue shows that women have to sacrifice their personal lives in order to get success in their job.
-Emile is portrayed slight differently from Andy and Miranda. She totally fits into the issue of the size 0 as she is slim but wants to lose more weight.


Paragraph 5: (Compare the representation of women between my historical texts to my main text)

The historical text which will be talked about would be ‘The African Queen’ and also ‘Erin brockovich’, how women are portrayed in these films (give a very detailed analysis) then compare it to how women are presented in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. Outline the similarities and differences between the texts. Trace the pattern between the changes in representations, how has it changed in the context of the movies. ‘The African Queen’ released in 1951, ‘Erin brockovich’ released in 1991 and ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ released in 2006 there is a great time distance between these films so it is easy to explore the changes occurred over the years.


Conclusion (Answering the coursework title: To what extent does ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ show the changes occurred in women’s representations and stereotypes)

This paragraph would bring all my research and knowledge together and argue both for and against the statement that women in the movie are presented as being independent. However it would argue more for the statement that women are presented to be independent. The fact that Andy at the end chooses her personal life over her professional life would be an argument against the statement as by doing this she portrays the typical conservative role of women still supporting the point that women need men in their lives in order to survive.