Gender stereotypes in Primeval

To make the media text easier to analyse, I have split it into four sections. The sections are as follows:
Section 1=beginning until the roar of the saber tooth
Section 2=roar of saber tooth until gun shot
Section 3=gun shot until discussion at base
Section 4=barn scene

Section 1

In the opening of the extract there are contradicting representations. The following reasons support this:

• Woman looks weak as she walks out of opening scene upset with the male represented as the 'protecter' by saying "She's been through a lot, leave her" which suggests he is the stronger of the two characters.
• Camera angles position woman in digger as high up whereas the man is viewed from a birds eye view. This makes the male look weak yet the female looks strong which contradicts common stereotypes.
• Woman is located in a large digger which is a bulky, angular piece of machinery which would ordinarily be associated with 'man's work'. Therefore, she's representated as strong and capable of the responsibility, supporting the idea that the male looks weaker with his mere hands for machinery.

Section 2

This impression is reinforced as the extract continues. The following reasons support this:

• The woman in the digger has the role of attacking the saber tooth which suggests that she has enough strength to tackle it, whereas the male possibly doesn't. The saber tooth is a cat which is stereotypically associated with feminimity, so the idea of strong female characters is reinforced here.
• The man is shot trying to get away from the saber tooth which shows weakness in fear. Therefore, there is a contradiction of traditional roles within this scene as the female is representated as stronger than the male.

Section 3

As the text continues more traditional images about gender are created. The following reasons support this:

• As the scene begins, the characters all move in a line towards the camera. The woman is marginalised meaning that she's pushed to the edge of the camera. This suggests that the males are superior to her at this point.
• Also, eyeline shots are frequently used on the male characters which means that they are important and worthy of the character space.
• However, weaker male characters are also identifiable through the use of mise-en-scene. For example, a man wears a pink top which makes him look feminine, which further makes him appear weaker than the other males visible in the frame.

Section 4

By the end of the media text these traditional representations of gender are reinforced. The following reasons support this:

• The farmer appears strong due to his typical appearance, i.e. stubble, short hair and masculine clothing. He also holds a gun which connotes powerfulness and masculinity. The farmer holds most of the screen time because he has more control over the situation.
• Eye level shot is present when farmer pushes woman to the floor, making her look weak and him look much more superior.
• When the male and female from digger scene appear, the man stands in the foreground which suggests that he's in control of the woman behind him which supports the original stereotype of a woman.