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“How are women represented in Sugar Rush and in what ways might the audience interpret the text?”

‘Sugar Rush’ is a contemporary teen drama series broadcasted on channel four at ten pm every Thursday. “Sugar Rush explores the world of Kim and her earth-shattering lust for the gorgeous and sassy Maria Sweet, otherwise known as Sugar”.[1] Many of the storylines are based around female characters and dilemmas that women and teenage girls may face during their lives. It is a series that parts itself from many others as it explores things such as teenager’s sexualities and moves away from typical representations often seen in contemporary television series. As many of the characters are female, the way in which they are represented stands out from all other representations in the program and gives us a chance to question whether the representations of women in the media have changed. The target audience for sugar rush is females aged fifteen to twenty-one as the series is based around the lives of teenage girls, therefore allowing this audience to relate to the characters and what is going on in there lives. The secondary audience would be a male audience of around the same age group. However as these two audiences are of different sexes they may interpret the text in completely different ways but the question is how… Both of these questions can be answered by looking at theorists such as Laura Mulvey and looking at historical texts which give us a chance to look at what has changed and what remains the same; concerning the representations of women in society.

Although the representation of women has progressed; as many typical stereotypes of women have been eliminated, women are still being objectified and many appear to live there lives for men. This therefore portrayed them to live in a patriarchal society. This then links to the way the audience interprets the text. Women watch the program to relate to similar situations they may be going through, whereas the men watch it purely to look at the female characters in an objectifying manner.

Over the last few decades the representation of women in the media has changed drastically and also the amount of women seen on-screen. Gunter (1995) stated that “from the 1950’s to 1970’s only 20 to 30 percent of characters were female, yet by the mid 80’s there were more female characters with leading roles”.[2] However, the question is how were these women represented? Many of these women were shown to be purely interested in marriage, parenthood and often tied in with domestic activities. This was because during earlier decades (post war) women were expected to look after the house and children whilst their husbands where out earning a living. They were shown to be inferior to men and it was very uncommon to see an independent, working women. The few women who appeared on television and in films had to withhold a specific appearance; they were expected to look youthful and elegant, in order to satisfy a man’s desires. These representations were shown throughout the media during this period of time. Take adverts for example; women were often shown selling household cleaning products or food. ‘Shake and Vac’ (1979) was a famous cleaning advert during the late 1970’s, “the advert featured Jenny Logan dancing around a typical British living room in high heels, shaking the powder onto the carpet and hoovering it up”[3]. This is how women were expected to present themselves to their husbands at home; therefore it was then reflected in the media. “The representation of women in film, during the fifties, was a time of change. Films began addressing more realistic desires and needs of the female populous. But it also seems that the old ways are still powerful.”[4]

In more contemporary media, the representation of women has changed in comparison to texts such as the ‘Shake and Vac’ advert. ‘Sugar rush’ challenges many of the stereotypes which were once linked with women and how they were represented. Stella, the mother of Kim, switches roles with a typical male representation, appearing confident and strong minded. Instead of taking on a housewife role, she instead, leaves this to her husband whilst she is having an affair behind his back. This shows Stella to illustrate one of the most challenging representations of women in the program; instead of portraying herself to be dominated by men, she appears superior. However, some of the women are still looked upon as objects “to-be-looked-at”[5], as they are often seen wearing revealing clothing and make-up. ‘Sugar rush’, ‘Skins’ and other contemporary teen series clearly challenge older representations of women and although some of the women conform to ‘The male gaze’, overall they appear as stronger and more dominant characters.

Feminism played a huge part in the change in representation of women in the media. It came about in three waves, the first, second and third. This women’s movement arose partly due to the women who took the places of men that went to war, wanting to continue working and making money even after the men had returned. “The first wave of feminism arose in the 19th century and followed through till the early 20th century, political rights such as giving women the right to vote was important during the period of this movement.”[6] The second wave of feminism however, focused more on gaining equality throughout society and to eliminate oppression for women, from the 1960’s to 1980’s.[7] Lastly there is the third wave of feminism which aimed to challenge common stereotypes of women and also sexualities, it often clashed with second-wave feminism as they believed that the second wave hadn’t achieved what they had claimed. All three waves of feminism play a big part in the representation of women in the media, particularly the second and third wave of feminism.

After civil rights acts were made, women were expected to be treated equally to men; they began working, being paid equal wages, and also began showing society that women could also be independent. It also meant that women could have more control over the media (on and off-screen) which gave women a chance to alter the representations of women. As these rights became more open to society not only feminists but also parts of the media wanted to challenge the pre-dated stereotypes. This gradually started being reflected in the media; on the news, television shows and in film, slowly becoming more extreme over the years. Although many may say that there are women in the media who are still being represented in a stereotypical way, overall feminism lead to female characters subverting these stereotypes. Even in a historical text such as ‘Grease’ (1978) it began showing signs of some female characters challenging these stereotypes. However when being compared to a more contemporary texts such as ‘Sex and the city’ ‘Charlie’s angels’ and of course ‘Sugar Rush’ it is clear to see how much stereotypes are being subverted in today’s media, as women are now shown as strong and independent women.

When comparing a contemporary text with historical texts (during the women movements), it is obvious as to what has changed and what still to this day, remains the same. As like ‘Sugar Rush’ (2006), ‘Grease’ (1978) focuses on the lives of teenagers and also includes a close friendship of girls. The 2 main characters in the girls group (pink ladies) are Sandy and Rizzo, who both have completely diverse images and personalities to one another. On the one hand, Rizzo portrays herself as the ‘whore’; a female character who shows her self to have independence, strength and usually sexual, however they are usually punished for their actions. As she shows these characteristics she then ends up pregnant, left in a difficult dilemma. Sandy however, is shown as the ‘Madonna’; a female character who appears naïve and innocent.

The ‘Madonna’ and the ‘Whore’ are a basic representation of women in the media. However in more contemporary media texts this representation is seen less, for example, in sugar rush none of the female characters appear to portray themselves as the ‘Madonna’, all appear as strong and independent women. It could be argued that they are still being represented as the ‘Whores’ however, as there are no female characters who play the role of the ‘Madonna’ it eliminates the representation and contexts to this theory. In ‘Grease’, Sandy is portrayed as what was at the time a typical stereotype of women in society. She appeared naïve, talking about love and romance whilst at the same time, the man she believed she was in love with was only thinking of sex. On the other hand ‘Sugar rush’, a contemporary television series portrays Kim and Sugar as more aware and although at times they think about romance, they too think about men and sex, which was less commonly seen in historical texts.

However it is obvious in both historical and contemporary texts that Laura Mulvey’s theory ’The male gaze’; which suggests women are there purely there “to-be-looked at”, is relevant. In ‘Grease’ many of the women are shown in tight clothing, low cut tops and wearing lots of make up. One of the scenes also includes sandy changing her image to tight sexy clothing, for a man. Therefore conforming to the gaze and also showing these women to live in a patriarchal society. In ’Sugar rush’ they also are shown wearing skimpy and revealing clothing, particularly Sugar, who constantly has men looking at her in an objectifying manner. Although this is a similarity between the two texts, it is shown to be seen more extreme in the contemporary text, showing women to be strong individuals but at the same time they still seem to live their lives “to-be-looked at”.

This then leads on to discuss the ways in which ‘Sugar rush’s’ audience interprets the text. The way in which women are represented in the program does in-fact, cause an effect on these interpretations. ‘Sugar rush’ targets both males and females from the age of fifteen to twenty-one, as it looks at mature issues and is shown after the water shed. Everybody has their own personal reasons as to why they choose to watch certain programs and both men and women will interpret these texts in different ways. In general an audience watches television/film to escape from reality and instead look at the lives of others. Women are likely to watch ’Sugar rush’ in order to relate to things that the characters are going through and also to become involved in the character and the way they progress throughout the program.

Men on the other hand, indulge in sugar rush as they are presented with the chance too look at beautiful women, sex and lesbian relationships. As the women in sugar rush are shown in revealing clothes on many occasions in the program, men are constantly being encouraged to look at the female characters in a sexual way. Again, this supports Laura Mulvey’s theory as she discuses the way in which, women’s purpose in the media is to be looked at by men. This therefore suggests that women feel the need to portray themselves in a certain way, in order to satisfy men’s needs. When looking at it from this perspective, it is obvious that women have become stronger, independent and now feel as though they have the right to show themselves as individuals in the media. However, it is still being constructed to satisfy men’s desires and makes them appear to have control. Men may also watch ‘Sugar rush’ as it contains various sex scene’s throughout the series and as Kim is a lesbian, shows girl on girl action. Many men find this desirable and in a lot of cases, watch programs in a voyeuristic manner. Voyeurism is a term used to describe an audience watching something; usually sexual, even though they know its invading someone’s privacy and is something they shouldn’t be watching. Voyeurism is something that Laura Mulvey also includes in her theory, she argues that it “has associations with sadism: ‘pleasure lies in ascertaining guilt - asserting control and subjecting the guilty person through punishment or forgiveness’”[8] Men may watch a program for this reason and gain erotic pleasure, then leading them to watch it again, purely for sexual needs.

These programs are structured in a way where by women and men are both being satisfied in order to gain a larger audience. As discussed, men often look at texts such as ‘sugar rush’ in an objectifying and voyeuristic way. It is believed that in today’s society “Sex sells” and it is all over the media, “Even the Women's Institute in England resorted to selling racy nude calendars!”[9] Sex is used in advertising, film and television, directors portray women the way they do as they know that this is what a large proportion of the audience wants to see. Even media texts directed by women, show women in this way, as they are also aware that sex will sell.

After looking at both; representations of women and the way in which an audience may interpret a text, then applying it to ‘Sugar rush’, it can be determined as to whether the hypothesis is correct. The hypothesis stated that “Although the representation of women has progressed; as many typical stereotypes of women have been eliminated, women are still being objectified and many appear to live there lives for men. This therefore portrayed them to live in a patriarchal society. This, then links to the way the audience interprets the text. Women watch the program to relate to similar situations they may be going through, whereas the men watch it purely to look at the female characters in an objectifying manner.”

‘Sugar Rush’ is an excellent text to have analysed as the women in the series are portrayed as independent individuals who are challenging what was once the typical representations of women. Now women have been given the chance to move away from oppression, they are able to gain more independence in life and do not have to keep up with so many expectations. The women in ‘Sugar Rush’ clearly show that the representation of women has progressed enormously. It shows independent women who are totally subverting the stereotypes of their roles, for example Kim’s mum. When comparing the characters in ‘Grease’ (1978) or the women in cleaning adverts, the way in which the women present themselves has a drastic difference to those in a contemporary text such as ‘Sugar Rush’. Whilst the majority of women in ‘Grease’ (1978) are represented as naïve bimbo’s who would sacrifice a part of them to satisfy a man’s needs, ‘Sugar Rush’ shows them take control over men and as like Kim (the teenage lesbian), appear strong and intellectual. However as like the hypothesis discussed, although the representations of women in the media has obviously progressed, ‘The male gaze’ still remains relevant. Many of the women in sugar rush wear tight revealing clothing, or are shown to be doing things which the audience should not be watching (voyeurism). However, this because in the media sex sells, both male and female directors know that in order for the text to sell, there have to be some women represented in this way.
In terms of the way in which the audience interprets the text the hypothesis also appears accurate. ‘Sugar Rush’ is aimed at both males a females so therefore there has to be something, that gives this audience a reason to watch it. There are aspects within a text that different people relate to or enjoy watching. In ‘Sugar Rush’, teenage girls often have dilemmas and new experiences going on in their lives, teenage girls and young women can therefore relate to similar situations and issues that Kim and Sugar are going through. They also take interest in the characters presented in the program and how their character progresses throughout a series. Men on the other hand, watch ‘Sugar Rush’ in a voyeuristic manner, watching the things they know they should not be watching, for example a sex scene with two women. Also when watching ‘Sugar Rush’ they are likely to convey to ‘Laura Mulvey’s theory’ as men are “visually stimulated creatures, they can become aroused from a glance at a static image of their preferred sexual fantasy.”[10] This is why many of the women represent themselves in a way which will encourage men to look at them, such as the clothes that they wear.
It is clear to see that the hypothesis stated is almost exact, being backed up throughout this discussion on the way in which women are represented in ‘Sugar Rush’ and how different audiences may have interpreted the text. “Overall we find that terms of gender roles, popular media is today relatively challenging of the traditional ideas: women are expected to be confident, sexually assertive, do what they want to do no matter what anybody says.” – David Gauntlet[11]

[1] http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/S/sugar_rush/show.html
[2] Gauntlet, David ( ) Media, gender and identity
[3] http://www.answers.com/topic/shake-n-vac
[4] http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a9003211/cheathouse/hollywomen.html
[5] Mulvey, Laura (1989) Visual and Other Pleasures (Theories of Representation and Difference)
[6] http://www.answers.com/topic/second-wave-feminism
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-wave_feminism
[8] http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze09.html
[9] http://www.fazed.com/lifestyle/sex.html
[10] http://www.fazed.com/lifestyle/sex.html
[11] http://theoryhead.com/gender/interview1.htm