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Advertising and Marketing

Representation and gender in the Kiss of the Vampire poster

  • 3 things to know
  • Component 1

Overview

Femininity, masculinity and desire on a 1963 horror poster: stereotyping and power, the look it assumes, its implied audience, and why contested readings must be attributed.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

How are women represented on the poster?

Key term

How is masculinity represented on the poster?

Evaluation

Apply van Zoonen's argument to the poster.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How are women represented on the poster?

    Model answer

    Women appear as objects of threat and of the viewer's gaze rather than as agents. Posture and costume emphasise vulnerability and the body.

  2. 2

    How is masculinity represented on the poster?

    Model answer

    The male figure is positioned as protector, active against the swarm of bats. Male agency contrasts with female passivity in the same frame.

  3. 3

    Apply van Zoonen's argument to the poster.

    Model answer

    Van Zoonen's claim that the female body is displayed as an object to be looked at fits the poster closely. The composition invites a male viewer.

  4. 4

    Why does Hall connect stereotyping with power?

    Model answer

    Hall argues that stereotyping occurs where power is unequal, constructing subordinate groups as other. British film marketing in the 1960s was made almost entirely by men.

  5. 5

    How does the male gaze operate in the Kiss of the Vampire poster?

    Model answer

    The woman is arranged for the viewer's look rather than for any purpose of her own in the scene. The composition assumes a viewer positioned as male.

  6. 6

    Is a reading of the poster as misogynist the only possible one?

    Model answer

    Some critics read the vampire cycle as expressing anxieties about female sexuality rather than simply degrading women. Each reading is argued from the same image.

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AWoman's Hour began on the BBC Light Programme in 1946.
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