Representation Flashcards
Political and social contexts:
The 1960s is often seen as the start of women’s sexual liberation, aided by events such as the introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1960.
More women than ever were entering the paid workforce
and sixties feminists were campaigning for equal pay, an end to sexual harassment and more equality between men and women in wider society.
In America, equal pay legislation was passed in 1963. ‘Older’ stereotypes of women as passive victims of men and more modern ‘male fears’ of women challenging male dominance could both be seen to be encoded in this film poster via gesture and costuming codes.
Consider how representations are constructed
through processes of selection and combination:
The womens dress codes
Both women wear pale dresses made of light materials and these dress codes serve to reinforce their femininity by highlighting the curves of their bodies and revealing the flesh of their upper chests and arms.
Consider how representations are constructed
through processes of selection and combination:
The gesture codes
The gesture code of the woman on the left is that of the stereotypical passive victim of the ‘monster’, his power highlighted by the fact that he’s holding her by just one arm.
Consider how representations are constructed
through processes of selection and combination:
Female aggression
Baring her teeth and with her arm raised almost fist-like as she’s being bitten by the bat, the second woman’s gesture codes are more aggressive, and the submissive pose of her male ‘victim’ (including being on his knees with his head back and throat exposed) represent her in a nonstereotypically dominant way.
Consider how representations are constructed
through processes of selection and combination:
Male fear
The vampire himself seems uncharacteristically fearful in his gesture codes with his arm thrown across his body in a defensive gesture, perhaps protecting himself from the female vampire.
Stuart Hall’s theory of representation –
The images of a castle, bats, the vampire’s cape and dripping blood form part of the “shared conceptual road map” that give meaning to the “world” of the poster.
• These visual codes draw on a pre-existing cultural framework, where audiences immediately associate them with Gothic horror and vampire mythology.
• This supports Hall’s idea that meaning is not fixed but relies on a shared understanding within society.
The poster does not reflect reality but instead constructs a mythologized version of vampire lore, influenced by previous media representations (e.g., Dracula).
• This reinforces Hall’s argument that representation is not about truth but about the way meaning is shaped through media codes and audience interpretation.
David Gauntlett’s theory of identity
Concept outline
David Gauntlett’s identity theory suggests that media provides audiences with tools to construct their own identities.
David Gauntlett theory of identity
Traditional Gender Roles vs. Emerging Shifts
• The female victim in the foreground conforms to the passive, damsel-in-distress stereotype, reflecting the expectations of women in 1960s horror films.
• However, the background female figure, with a more dominant and potentially vampiric stance, challenges traditional femininity by implying female power or aggression.
• This representational binary opposition offers a complex representations of femininity, allowing audiences—particularly women—to engage with different identity positions.
David Gauntlett theory of identity
Masculinity and Power
• The male vampire embodies dominant, aggressive masculinity, reinforcing traditional patriarchal power structures.
• This aligns with 1960s expectations of male authority but also provides a performative identity that male audiences might have aspired to or questioned.
David Gauntlett theory of identity
Audience engagement and Identity construction
+ Stuart Halls reception theory
• The film poster presents idealized, exaggerated identities that audiences could negotiate.
• While some viewers might identify with the traditional gender roles, others—particularly in the changing social landscape of the 1960s—might see the power dynamics as more fluid, reflecting evolving attitudes toward gender.
Van Zoonen - feminist theory
Concept outlined + general application to K.O.T.V
Liesbet Van Zoonen’s feminist theory argues that gender is constructed through media representations, which both reflect and shape societal attitudes toward women.
In the Kiss of the Vampire (1963) poster, we see a contradictory representation of femininity, where the female vampire challenges traditional roles while the passive female victim reinforces them.
Van Zoonen feminist theory
Female Vampire as a Sign of Social Change
• The female vampire takes on a co-antagonist role, suggesting female power and agency, which disrupts the conventional passive roles often assigned to women in horror.
• This aligns with Van Zoonen’s argument that representations of women can contribute to social change when they deviate from traditional gender norms.
• Given the 1960s context, this could reflect shifting attitudes towards women’s roles in society, aligning with the early waves of feminism that encouraged female empowerment.
Van Zoonen - feminist theory
Reinforcement of Patriarchal Ideology
• Despite the presence of a powerful female vampire, the passive female victim remains a dominant visual trope, reinforcing traditional patriarchal ideas that women should be weak, submissive, and in need of rescue.
• This reflects Van Zoonen’s claim that women’s roles in media are often defined by their relationships to men, either as victims to be saved or as dangerous “others” to be feared.
Van Zoonen - feminist theory + Judith Butler’s Gender performativity
Gender as a construct of media
• Van Zoonen & Butler emphasise that gender is not inherent but culturally produced and reinforced through media representations.
- It’s source from ‘repeated rituals’
The Kiss of the Vampire poster visually constructs two contrasting femininities:
• The passive, victimized woman, reinforcing historical media stereotypes of female vulnerability.
• The female vampire, subverting these expectations by displaying power and autonomy.
• This duality reflects the tensions within feminist discourse at the time, where women were still largely portrayed as weak, yet emerging narratives of female power were beginning to gain visibility.
