Paul Gilroy- Postcolonial Theory

What sort of representations of masculinity and femininity are suggested by this video? Think carefully about:

Zoe is shown to be doing what is thought to be traditional "woman tasks" such as baking and decorating her house for the different seasons. Alfie on the other hand talks about going to the gym and doesn't seem to understand why Zoe has decorated their house for autumn. 

The way that Zoella reinforces conventional beauty ideals through makeup, hair and costume decisions

Zoe wears a lot of make up in her videos and she talks about the release of her new make up kit for christmas. as well as this, Zoe also wears clothing that looks expensive. 

The performance style of Zoella and the impact of this in terms of the gender representation constructed

Zoe portrays herself as someone who is very feminine. This style of performance conforms to stereotypes of women being girly and liking feminine things such as make up and clothes. 

Representation	Example (media language)	Impact on audience
Male representation- Woman representation- -wearing a lot of makeup -domestic -baking, looking after the house -stereotypical feminism -reinforcing that genders are performed -products -candles, hand creams, pillows…	-Alfie going to the gym(active) -Joe Sugg not liking some of the products because their “for girls” -boys in the back of a mini will be uncomfortable	-her products are only targeted towards young females -impressionable and impactful

How does audience commentary reinforce or challenge the representations created?

comments such as "Where do I get the Zoella lifestyle?!" reenforces the representation of a luxurious lifestyle that her audience want to be a part of. This makes the audience envious of Zoe as they watch her videos to watch a life styl that is hard to achieve.

How do comments underneath the vlog reinforce ideals of gender?

some of the audience comments such as "such a great business woman" break away from the representations presented in the video because traditionally women would stay at home while the men made money for their family, this comment reverses this stereotypical ideology. on the other hand, comments such as "Can we just talk about how beautiful Zoe's makeup is 😂❤️" reenforces the ideas of feminine roles that the video shows because the watcher wants to talk about the way Zoe looks rather than her business.

What representations of femininity are suggested by this video? Think carefully about:
The role that Zoella assumes for herself in preparation for Christmas
The reasons that she wants to assume that role
The way that the upload associates femininity with domesticity.
The representation of femininity in this video is suggested by Zoe's extensive make up range that she has produced for her fans. Her products are aimed at young women and they are all very girly and promote feminine stereotypes that all women like to wear make up and decorate their home. 
The role that Zoe assumes for herself in these videos is that of a empowered feminine business woman. She assumes this role because she wants her audience to relate to her "girl next door" personality while also being impressed with her business women skills. Products such as pillows, candles and make up are all associated with women playing the domestic roll in the relationship. 

Judith Butler

Gender performance for Butler means:

Philosopher and gender theorist Judith Butler argued that gender is socially constructed through commonplace speech acts and nonverbal communication that are performative, in that they serve to define and maintain identities.

Gender, for Butler, is not internally produced. What does she mean by this?

For gender to not be internally produced means that a person's gender is constructed by the surroundings they live in and the people they interact with. 

How are gender norms ‘established and policed’ according to Butler?

Gender norms are established and policed by the institutional powers that are used to keep people from straying from the gender people think they should be. As well as this, there are informal practices such as bullying that are used to keep us in our gendered place.

EXPLAIN HOW SHE CONFORMS TO OR SUBVERTS STEREOTYPICAL EXPECTATIONS OF GENDER:

Colour choice
The colour scheme that Zoe has chosen to use for her products is very feminine sand mostly consists of different shades of pink. This conforms to the stereotype that pink is a feminine colour and therefore associated with being for women rather than men. 

Topics
Zoe discusses topics such as make up, pamper products, candles and home decor. These topic are aimed at the young girls who are watching her videos and her products are made with those people in mind in order to sell more Zoella products.  

Paul Gilroy- Postcolonial Theory

Post-colonialism is the study of the impact that being under direct rule has had on former colonies. For example, despite being a tiny island, Britain colonised and declared ownership of many countries including India and Australia. 

These ideas and attitudes continue to shape contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the postcolonial era. 

These postcolonial attitudes have constructed racial hierarchies in our society where, for example, white people are by and large given more positive and important roles than BAME people. 

Media producers are also guilty of using binary opposites to reinforce BME people and characters as "others"