The Power in Looking

In Hooks essay "The Oppositional Gaze" she speaks of the African American woman as a spectator. This is a very personal writing in which Hooks speaks of the African American woman's ability to shape her own image by recapturing her looking experience. African Americans historically were not able to decide or determine where they would even look, and by daring to look or even stare the oppositional gaze is one of inquisition and discernment intended to change reality. There is power in looking. Hooks contends that gaining control of one’s own looking experience through resistance opens up the possibility of agency. In her essay Hooks specifically looks at the inaccurate depictions of African American women in cinema. It is Hooks contention that African American women have a different looking experience than Black men and that those differences are important and worthy of examination. Hooks states that conventional representations of black women have done violence to the image and have forced Black women spectators to either choose to identify or disconnect. In informal ways Hooks shares how she and the African American women, in her world, experience film or “look” at film and how they respond to their own cinematic images or lack thereof.

For me, this essay was very difficult to read and I feel even more challenged to write an adequate response. I feel a great deal of passion regarding the subject of African American women in film. However, I am also beginning to realize I have been repressing my own “oppositional gaze” in an attempt to just to enjoy media or to not feel angry all the time. This article has forced me to come to terms with my own “looking away.” As an African American woman my experiences as a spectator of films is quite complex. As noted by Hooks’ friends in the article, I attend Hollywood films with very low expectations of accurate or fair portrayals of the black woman’s experience. When I do look deeply I typically walk away feeling as if the multiplicity of experiences represented by me and a large majority of African American women is not only absent, but in a very real way, I feel-- invisible.
When watching television or viewing a film whether a Hollywood blockbuster or an African American produced film, the images of Black women are typically essentially the same. She is depicted as essentially an angry, disrespectful and out of control over-sexed, foul mouthed woman who couldn’t possibly be capable of cultivating higher-level interpersonal relationships. If we do see another representation she will always be pointed to as an oddity who somehow overcame all of the above.
Cathy Hughes, an African American pioneer in media ownership in the US and the Founder, CEO and President of TVOne television network spoke rather freely regarding this inaccurate depiction of African Americans in the post below—I was a actually struck by the candor with which she spoke.

Hughes brings up an interesting point in this comment. Should black owned media be held to a higher standard? When the stereotypes and negative images are created by black owned media and for a predominantly black audience is that an even greater issue? I must say that when I find that a film or other media has been written or produced by a black film maker my expectations are slightly heightened, however, in many cases the results are the same. It seems as though we have bought into the negative images of our experiences. Furthermore very many actors and directors have seemingly decided that participating in the perpetuation of these images is almost assuredly a way to have a lucrative , and highly awarded career. The black female filmmakers that Hooks mentions in her essay and few others including directors Robert Townsend , Queen Latifah, Gina Prince Blythewood and even Spike Lee have conscientiously made films that present a wider spectrum of the African American experience.
This essay truly made me stop and think my gaze as a black woman spectator additionally I needed come to terms with how my looking experience has very often hurt , disappointed and offended me. Like Hooks, I think it’s time that I challenge these images to better reflect the multiplicity of experiences of an African American women.

Television For Women...

Len Ang’s article examines the idea of media that is specifically created for an audience of a particular gender, specifically women. This article looks at how a feminine audience is defined and how media is created specifically for that audience. Ang goes on to describe the ways that soap operas and romance novels, two media that are typically directed toward female audiences are consumed differently by women in different demographic categories. Ang challenges that the study of female audiences has to go beyond just the ways in which these women might simplistically watch television programs or read a novel. As with some of the previous readings on the subject of gender and media, Ang positions the female audience as a complex group that should not be approached as a cohesive group or unit.

When considering the female audience and what is deemed to be women’s programming many simplistic generalities are typically applied. For example the About Us tab of US cable network created for women-- Lifetime Television’s, states the following:

Lifetime Networks is a diverse, multi-media company, committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming content that celebrates, entertains and supports women. Through its award-winning public affairs initiatives, the Company also advocates a wide range of issues affecting women and their families.

The expectation would be that a network like Lifetime would be innovative and entertaining and that it would provide programming that clearly speaks to the diverse multiplicity of the female audience. A look at the line-up of shows on the Lifetime Network or on the Lifetime Movie Network for any given day , tells a bit different story. The network’s line-up is a mixed bag of reality shows, sappy films in which women are typically victims throughout , and reruns of shows from other networks. There is one talk show format program entitled “The Balancing Act” which is suppose to help women balance family and career. What is glaringly missing from Lifetime is anything relating to world affairs, politics, race, sports, gender issues, financial or economic news. Apparently the executives of this network have decided that women do not want to be bothered with substance—they just want to cry their eyes out on a good chick-flick or live vicariously through others on reality shows. Adding some meat to this trivial programming would be a good first step in addressing the female audience. This type of trivial programming is not just a US issue, American media giant and former Lifetime Television parent company, Viacom has teamed up with Netherlands based Endemol to launch a new global network for women—Blink TV
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/viacom-endemol-partner-new-female-185863
The network launched earlier this year and based on a Google translation of the Polish site, the About Us section tells the female audience member exactly what she can hope to see---

Viacom Blink! Is the new face of entertainment for women! Without counseling and educational programs, but with an inexhaustible amount of inspirational entertainment! Comedy, drama, crime, documentaries, lifestyle and reality, fashion, kitchen, medical mysteries, and real human stories.

Unfortunately, this fluff programming that is deemed “women’s” programming doesn’t do much to further the agenda of post-modern feminism in the US or internationally. The assumption that women are only interested in light dramas, comedies and reality shows denies the very complex nature of the female audience.