Winter Holiday Questions

1) How do the representations of sexualities reflect the historical, contemporary, social and cultural contexts? (10 Marks) [10/10]

In 'The Avengers', Emma Peel and John Steed have some romantic and sexual tension between them. Their flirtatious behaviour followed up with Emma's suggestive catsuit following the new social acceptance of female sex expression causes the audience to think no otherwise than that the two are heterosexual. Also, in the 1960's homosexuality was a 'new thing', and still not accepted, considering a whopping 93% of people thought it was a mental illness. The characters in 'The Avengers' are supposed to be seen as heroes, therefore at the time of its filming and screening, there were no hints or references to homosexuality or any sexuality other than heterosexuality because 'The Avengers' may have not been loved as much, or the main characters could be seen as criminals rather than heroes.

In 'Cuffs', there is a strong sense that all sexualities, genders and races are fully accepted and represented as completely normal. At the time, gay marriage was becoming legalised and normalised within UK society. We can tell through 'Cuffs' from when Jake comes out as gay following no response or reaction at all. This implies that it's completely normal and no one really cares because it's completely accepted in society.


2) How is feminism represented in The Avengers and Cuffs? (15 Marks) [12/15]

In 'The Avengers', feminism is represented predominantly through Emma Peel. The character is well known in her suggestive tight black catsuit which was something only recently accepted in the 1960's. She is allowed to wear more revealing items of clothing because of the uprise in feminism in the 196's. There is no longer a stigma held by a woman wearing clothes that show her skin or body. Emma and John are both represented as physically and mentally strong characters through their ability to physically fight and work out mysteries with their intelligence. Emma Peel is seen holding guns, fighting, outsmarting men and being independent enough to get out of situations without someone helping her. This means that The Avengers is accepting of feminism and that Feminism is represented as a great new thing so that women can be strong and independent while still having the freedom to show their body.

In 'Cuffs', feminism is represented as a normal part of society that has noneedd to even be questioned at this point. 'Cuffs' features many strong female characters within the police force and in places of power. There are practically just as many female police officers as there are men. There is also character 'DS Jo Moffat' who is represented as a strong, female, intelligent and very talented detective. This shows that women can be anything they want, they can be independent and have any career they want with nothing to stop them.

Finally, regardless of the strong representations of feminism in 'The Avengers' and Cuffs, there are still a few differences. One being that Ema Peel is seen as a sex symbol while in 'Cuffs', female characters are seen as equal to the male characters without this sexual representation attached to their character.


3) Compare the white representation in 'The Avengers' to the multi-culturalism of 'Cuffs'. (10 Marks) [8/10]

The Avengers consisted of characters represented as purely white, British characters throughout the whole episode. At the time of its making (the 1960's) any characters who weren't represented as people of a British/Irish ethnic background would have been viewed as unusual, and the audience could have possibly sent complains. Following more racism and lack of multi-culturalism at the time, the fact that all the characters in The Avengers were white feeds into the stereotype that white people have power over other racial minorities- especially as Emma and John are represented as Heroes in the episode.

On the other hand, the BBC crime drama 'Cuffs' includes main characters represented as heroes, and criminals with many different races. Cuffs broke typical stereotypes and countertypes with subdominant representation towards these racial groups by having Asian victims, black heroes, white criminals and a group of police officers, all friends, but almost all a different race or from a different ethnic/cultural background.


4) What are the gender differences in the roles of Steed and Emma in 'The Avengers' compared to the gender roles in 'Cuffs'?
or
How do the gender representations reflect the historical and contemporary social and cultural contexts of the time within both set products? (15 Marks) [12/15]

In 'The Avengers' Steed and Emma are represented with more stereotypical gender roles. As much as Emma is showing the changes in women's rights in the 1960's by wearing tight clothing, holding guns and fighting; the way she acts in comparison to Steed is still different.
While Steed fights with punches and saves emma on occasions, Emma pulls hair and isn't as violent. This means that Emma is still being perceived as weaker than Steed.
Therefore, this is showing that men are more strong and are superior to Women. This is a dominant representation of men and women.

In 'Cuffs', men and women are also represented as both in power, however contrastingly this time people of any gender are seen completely equally.
Men and women in 'Cuffs' are also represented as part of sexual and racial minorities such as Jake, a police man who also happens to be gay. Stereotypically, gay men are seen as weak, feminine and inferior to heterosexual men. However, in 'Cuffs', gender roles are very fluid, therefore men and women of any sexuality or race are seen as equal. "A direct example from Cuffs?"
Cuffs implies that men and women are no different, including with other characteristics inside a minority.

Finally, 'Cuffs' and 'The Avengers' show gender roles very differently whilst also having their similarities.
'The Avengers' still implies that men are superior to women, but 'Cuffs' implies that men and women are the same and don't need to follow gender stereotypes. "Try to consider media language throughout- clothing, props."

Reflect and Perfect

2) In 'The Avengers', feminism is represented predominantly through Emma Peel. The character is well known in her suggestive tight black catsuit which was something only recently accepted in the 1960's. She is allowed to wear more revealing items of clothing because of the uprise in feminism in the 1960's. There is no longer a stigma held by a woman wearing clothes that show her skin or body. Emma and John are both represented as physically and mentally strong characters through their ability to physically fight and work out mysteries with their intelligence. Emma Peel is seen holding guns, fighting, outsmarting men and being independent enough to get out of situations without someone helping her.  therefore, Emma peel embody's women fighting for their rights by showing the world that they really can do it! An example of her proving the feminist cause is when a gun gets pulled up to her head, and she smiles. This shows her strength as an independent woman as she won't be threatened or scared by anyone. Also, following this, Emma has many physical fighting scenes which also prove to the world that women can fight, they are strong and overall this encourages young girls and women at the time to be strong and independent. This means that The Avengers is accepting of feminism and that Feminism is represented as a great new thing so that women can be strong and independent while still having the freedom to show their body.

In 'Cuffs', feminism is represented as a normal part of society that has noneedd to even be questioned at this point. 'Cuffs' features many strong female characters within the police force and in places of power. There are practically just as many female police officers as there are men. There is also character 'DS Jo Moffat' who is represented as a strong, female, intelligent and very talented detective. This shows that women can be anything they want, they can be independent and have any career they want with nothing to stop them.

Finally, regardless of the strong representations of feminism in 'The Avengers' and Cuffs, there are still a few differences. One being that Ema Peel is seen as a sex symbol while in 'Cuffs', female characters are seen as equal to the male characters without this sexual representation attached to their character.

-women were fighting for equality... how did emma embody that?

-how do specific parts reflect this 

-(outfit, 

-facial expressions,

- her face when gun was held to her head, 

-fighting abilities in many scenes...