reflect and perfect - winter holiday work

Question 2 - how do the representations of sexualities reflect the historical, contemporary, social and cultural contexts? (10 marks)

In 'Cuffs' there is a strong sense that all sexualities are fully accepted and represented as completely normal. Jake is a gay police officer in brighten and all the characters accept him for what he is. When Jake tells Ryan he is gay there is no reaction from him which sets an example that all gay people are excepted in society. During 2010's gay marriage was legalised within the UK society This is represented by Jake's character which challenges the stereotype of a weak, feminine male.

In 'The Avengers' Emma Peel and John Steed represent heterosexual characters. We can see this through their romantic mention throughout the episode. The dominant representation of Peel and Steed is valued amongst the audience as it is accepted and the audience would accept the heterosexual more than the homosexual which is a negative representation for them

Question 3 - how is feminism represented in 'The Avengers' and 'Cuffs'? (15 marks)

in 'The Avengers' feminism is represented as a powerful part of the 1960's. This is shown when Peel has equal fighting ability to Steed when they are both fencing. Women were usually inferior to men but after the feminist movement began, they had a lot more control. This is shown when Peel is fighting against the spy's and doesn't need support. This is a positive representation of all females in the 1960's as they are standing up for their equal rights and ability

Another positive representation of feminism is Peels character and her skin-tight leather cat suit outfit. The black colour of the outfit connotes dominance and importance. The style of her outfit is highly sexualised, which reflected the up rise in feminism in the 1960's. This represents modern liberated femininity.  

In 'Cuffs' there are many women who play a significant role part in the episode.Such as the two police officers that take charge of the store robbery shows that women had equality with men. P.C Donna Prager represents a strong female character who stands up for herself and can take charge. This reflects how feminism is represented in 'Cuffs' and this is a positive representation of feminism in the 2010's

Question 5 - what are the gender differences in the roles of Steed and Emma in 'The Avengers' and 'Cuffs'? (15 marks)

In 'The Avengers' Emma is represented as a Russian female spy with one of the main roles of the programme. She represents the females of the 1960's who were fighting for equality and she differs from the typical woman of that time because she stands up for her own choice of actions and clothes without being judged. She wears a black skin-tight cat suit which represents a unique style for the women watching as she is setting an example for them.

Steed plays the male spy who is supposed to be the stereotype of a gentleman in the 1960's. At times Steed has less power than Emma when they are fencing in the first scene. This shows 'The Avengers' challenging the stereotype of men being superior and shows gender equality. Steed's chivalrous behaviour is a positive representation for gender equality in the 1960's as he shows that women have far more rights than noticed.

In 'Cuffs' the police officers are often women which also reflects the positive representation of gender equality, but the men have the main role. Unlike 'Cuffs', the main historical problem in the 1960's was gender equality and hence shows like 'The Avengers' focussing on this problem and tackling it. In the 2010's there are many more problems and 'Cuffs' cannot focus on all of these at once. This is why they have lots of different races as well as genders. The fact that there are several female police officers suggests that gender equality isn't so hard to face in the 2010's.