Zoonen vs Zoella

Van Zoonen believes the media portray images of stereotypical women and this behaviour reinforces societal views. The media does this because they believe it reflects dominant social values (what people believe in) and male producers are influenced by this.

zoonen says women within the media are sexualised and there for the male gaze. in some aspects Zoella reinforces this point for example, the advertisement of sexual toys on her website. this suggests sex is what women are for but on the other hand it is empowering as she does not care what other people think of what she is doing. talking about sex can be a taboo subject for some but zoella breaks the ice by introducing sexual objects used by women everyday to suggest to readers it is the normalisation now.

Although in other aspects, zoella goes against van zoonen views. for example zoella is not overly sexualised and is not run by male directors. she is very prim and proper wearing clothes that do not show off her assets to the world suggesting she wants people to watch her for her content and not for the fact she is a women with breasts. throughout her blog and youtube channel, each aspect surrounds women power and individuality. zoella talks about mental health and body image to help people feel as if they belong. she does not discriminate against anyone and excepts everyone.

lisbet van zoonen says gender is constructed through codes and conventions of media products, and the idea of what is male and what is female changes over time. Women's bodies are used in media products as a spectacle for heterosexual male audiences, which reinforces patriarchal hegemony. zoella is conventionally feminine, and is seen as a spectacle for heterosexual male audiences, as the camera is always focused on her and her traits.