Guardian: On Thursday, the singer criticised Instagram for taking down photographs in which her nipple was exposed, telling her 17 million followers she was grateful she maintained her sanity “through four decades of censorship … sexism … ageism and misogyny”.
Re-sharing the images, this time with emojis covering her nipple, Madonna explained the original posts had been taken down by Instagram, saying it was “astounding” that women could show any part of their body except their nipples.
“I’m reposting photographs Instagram took down without warning or notification,” she said. “The reason they gave my management that does not handle my account was that a small portion of my nipple was exposed.”
She added: “It is still astounding to me that we live in a culture that allows every inch of a woman’s body to be shown except a nipple. As if that is the only part of a woman’s anatomy that could be sexualized. The nipple that nourishes the baby!
“Can’t a man’s nipple be experienced as erotic??!! And what about a woman’s ass which is never censored anywhere.
“Giving thanks that I have managed to maintain my sanity through four decades of censorship … sexism … ageism and misogyny.”
Instagram’s guidelines ban “photos, videos and some digitally created content that show sexual intercourse, genitals and closeups of fully nude buttocks”. The company says this “also includes some photos of female nipples”, though photos of mastectomy scarring and women actively breastfeeding are allowed.
For years, artists and activists have put pressure on Facebook and Instagram to treat female and male nipples equally. The #Freethenipple campaign has since 2012 challenged the general convention of allowing men to appear topless in public while considering it sexual or indecent for women to do the same.
Various high-profile women including Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, Scout Willis and Cara Delevingne have publicly supported the movement.
Last year, Instagram was forced to update its nudity policy after it was accused of censoring and silencing the plus-size model Nyome Nicholas-Williams.
A wave of content creators then said the platform was repeatedly discriminating against black people, plus-size users and other marginalised communities by deleting their photos or failing to promote them in the same way it did for its white, straight-sized users.
First ads banned for contravening UK gender stereotyping rules
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/aug/14/first-ads-banned-for-contravening-gender-stereotyping-rules?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger
Camra calls time on sexist names at Great British beer festival
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/aug/07/camra-calls-time-on-sexist-names-at-great-british-beer-festival?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger
Here's a starter to get you going with analysis; you can use the additional screenshots (or your own) to continue analysing the use of media language (how meaning has been created) in this scene, referencing sound, editing, camera, miss-en-scene...
OPENING SHOT
There are mixed messages from the framing, soundtrack and mise-en-scene here. The framing carries connotations of a peephole, a classic horror or voyeurism signifier (seen in Hitchcock's 1960 classic Psycho for example). The single long drawn out non-diegetic keyboard note is a classic horror technique, seeking to manipulate the audience into unconsciously holding their breath (physiological reaction has a psychological impact), again signifying and creating tension or unease. These signifiers are juxtaposed with the two shot, which might connote a bond, perhaps romantic, between the two seated, and the wood cabin could be 'read' (using Stuart Hall's term) as relaxed and romantic, and the body language could also be read as friendly and relaxed. The voyeuristicframing and shadow suggest otherwise though, and, despite the relaxing diegetic ambient sound of birds cheeping, the large room and high windows could be read as ominous, making the characters vulnerable. The wooden furniture actually makes the setting quite dark, and the surrounding trees we can make out through the windows (whether a studio projection or location shoot) denotes an isolated setting. That this tension is part of the complex preferred reading is arguably anchored through the use of a high angle through the 'peephole' style framing - and we will discuss the device of the game, and the table dividing them, later.
THE 2ND, PANNING SHOT
Rather than cut from the opening long two shot to a tighter two shot to reinforce any signification of a bond between the two we get a panning shot instead, which seems to signify the distance or difference between the two rather than closeness or similarity, although the dialogue, through most of this scene, and the exposition it provides, presents a very different reading, or polysemy. As is made clearer through aspects of mise-en-scene discussed below, the show's very title denotes these two as probable agents, so we should expect a degree of sustained narrative enigma (Barthes' term to describe how withholding anchorage is used to intrigue and draw in an audience). It is notable that we do not see the man in this pan, just his arm as he plays a move, but we do get a medium shot of the young woman, suggesting that she is a more important character or protagonist than him. She seems likeliest through this combination of framing and editing to be the Proppian archetype of the hero, whose 'journey' we will follow (Campbell's monomyth), though the producers have avoided any clumsy anchorage of a binary opposition. There are signifiers of this, but they are relatively subtle!
The backgammon set is a clever device to connote the competition or even battle between these two; despite the appearance of bonding and dialogue to support this, the editing and framing throughout this scene, which mostly relies on shot reverse shot with medium shots or medium close-ups (avoiding two shots) connotes a sophisticated battle between the two. A Ludo set or some other more childish game would not have carried such connotations, but backgammon is a sophisticated game more likely to be played by intelligent adults.
So...take up the analysis from here. I have provided screenshots in narrative order below, but that does not mean you have to analyse these in narrative order - you may wish to consider editing across several scenes, then sound (etc) for example.
Several more shot reverse shot, then, with the male saying "you're about a million miles away" we get a two shot:
Representation: mix of normative and counter typical elements for woman? Conventional male - designer stubble significant? Jumper? Short hair? Tight MCU when he says "dinner with my parents can stress me out too", denoting young starting point of target audience? [uses and gratifications: identify with, aspirational]
Two shot returns with "I'm sure he was going to have some twisted surprise" (dialogue suggesting a foreshadowing? setting up narrative enigma if we think so)
Sad music flares up: "he doesn't exactly belong here" says man ... but emotion is not his... Consider his framing and compare with woman's: light v dark?
Unbuttoned top...
Woman: "its nice having someone normal to talk to"; man laughs; then this:
Visual pun: "you hit me!" then cut to boxing - consider framing of blond woman...
Several tightly framed shots then...
Intriguing representation issues - do compare their outfits for one ...
Verisimilitude? Clearer costume shot. Uses and gratifications in less muscular woman winning? "Its not like I can benchpress a small hatchback" ... stereotyping...?
Dialogue and music designed to work with cut to new scene. Consider verisimilitude (genre signifiers?) and miss-en-scene generally; a binary pair (e.g. look carefully at hair - small details...)? Is there a masculine role here?
In the following exemplar essay (an actual student's exam essay) you
can read the examiner's report and go through a response which got 48/50
to see how this question can be tackled to a high level.
Gillette #MeToo ad on 'toxic masculinity' cuts deep with men's rights activists
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/15/gillette-metoo-ad-on-toxic-masculinity-cuts-deep-with-mens-rights-activists?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger
