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Top Model Thesis
Top Model Thesis
Top Model Thesis
Colleges
Luxembourg St., BF Homes International, Las Piñas City 1740
Bachelor of Arts in Communication
Abstract
On this day and age, images of the Modern Filipina have emerged in
different media including the television (TV), which reaches a wide range of
on the television. Centralizing on the idea of the New Filipina depiction on TV,
this research will illustrate different nuances of a Modern Filipina and the
Chapter 1
This chapter covers several background topics for the study on women
Philippine women, and the Pinays of today. This chapter also includes the
statement of the problem and what the study aims to answer, the study’s
scope and limitation, how the study is significant and why it should be
men had good jobs. In different media forms, women roles appeared a certain
a certain way of a façade in the said media. They were commonly “shown
wearing sexy attire or exposing some skin, and body size trends were
apparent: “Across both prime time and family films, teenaged females are the
about our current society. The Executive Director for the Center of the Study
of Women in Television and Film, San Diego State University, Dr. Martha
in a statement. “Women are not a niche audience and they are no more
indiewire.com, 2015).
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Colleges
Luxembourg St., BF Homes International, Las Piñas City 1740
Bachelor of Arts in Communication
Rationale
The study aims to determine the difference of how the modern Filipina
is represented on a local versus an international TV show, and seeks to
answer the following questions:
3.) What realities about Filipina women are depicted on Philippines’ Next
Top Model as compared to Asia’s Next Top Model?
Southville International School and 6
Colleges
Luxembourg St., BF Homes International, Las Piñas City 1740
Bachelor of Arts in Communication
This study is limited to the TV shows: Philippine Next Top Model Cycle 2
and Asia’s Next Top Model Cycle 5 only. The research is also limited to the
study of the Filipino women participants in the said shows. Lastly, this paper
is limited to only the television set-up as a form of communication.
Definition of Terms
Reference. This word refers to the realities about women that are
depicted on the said TV shows. These realities are based on the
viewer’s world view as influenced by class, gender, age, and ethnicity.
Conceptual Literature
In fact, for the author, women have a special role as they “have the potential
to play an active role in the family decision-making process and might even
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Luxembourg St., BF Homes International, Las Piñas City 1740
Bachelor of Arts in Communication
become involved in activities outside of the home. Visitors have long noted
the Filipina’s dynamism and how she is frequently treated more as a partner
to her husband than as a subservient appendage doing his bidding” (Rodell,
120). Furthermore, “the husband will surrender virtually all control of
household affairs to his wife who manages the family budget, raises the
children, and plays a strong role in creating social linkages with neighboring
households.“ (Rodell, 123).
The only fact about women’s power that has not changed is their power to
choose a husband. The power of choosing is still in the eyes of the husband
whereas the wife ensures that she is choice-worthy by remaining attractive
according to social standards. Rodell talks about how women make
themselves attractive when he states, “Instruction in food preparation and
household maintenance take on serious overtones, since it is believed that a
girl’s ability to attract a good future husband is dependent, at least in part, on
her domestic skills. Older female children frequently take on the role and
authority of a surrogate mother in managing the house and younger siblings”
(p124).
Moreover, “If the girl loses her virginity, her marriage possibilities will decline
dramatically; a girl of suspect morals is only sought after for sexual favors
and not potential marriage. Worse, the girl not only shames herself but she
also ruins the family name at the same time” (Rodell p125).
Overall, the authors present this book to show the Philippine society how
women are represented in the arts and media, and that the society has
moved forward on “women’s unpaid and unrecognized labor and sacrifice.
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Colleges
Luxembourg St., BF Homes International, Las Piñas City 1740
Bachelor of Arts in Communication
One last reason that reality TV shows appeal so much in the market is that
these shows have become the representative of minor voices. Tyra Banks in
her show “America’s Next Top Model” had an episode where she spoke
defiantly against her bashers about her gained weight and fat. Tyra Banks did
not only spoke for herself, but she also spoke in behalf of those “other women
who are built like me” (458).
The industry of reality TV shows, with its low cost and high rating production,
appeals to the market of prime time television in many countries because
these shows have been incorporated in the local culture, they have become
vehicles of culture transformation, and they represent minor voices in the
society. With these reasons, the industry of reality TV shows has been thriving
more than the context of boring TV segments from 1980 until the present
time.
With the staple images that have been proliferated in all types of media,
stereotypes have been able to construct a certain memory in a viewer’s
mind. For example, a video that captured the collapse of the Word Trade
Center towers in the US, which had been repetitively conveyed on the
YouTube channel, gives the world a bitter memory of terrorism.
Research Literature
The ideal body is a product of discipline, hard work, and perseverance as well
as the necessary financial aid to stay in shape. Consequently, the ideal body
“has become an instrumental investment in forging a sense of belongingness
not only between people who like to engage in different body-building
activities, trainings, and workout sessions, but also among people who brand
a social class based on the commodities they can afford” (Bien, 125).
According to Bien, there are three gazes in media: the female gaze, the male
gaze, and the homosexual gaze. The female gaze is the most unnoticed
because as a standard, females do not do the gazing. Rather, they are always
the subject of gazing. However, events like the Bench Body Fashion Show
have encouraged females to practice their power of the gaze. Furthermore,
the male gaze is the most known among the three gazes because this is an
innate act for the males. Males are visual creatures who like to see the
beautiful and acceptable according to their standard. Lastly, the homosexual
gaze is the newest among the three gazes, and such gaze has the highest
rating based on the Bench Body Fashion Show’s attendance (70%
homosexual, 15% female, 15% male) (127).
Southville International School and 16
Colleges
Luxembourg St., BF Homes International, Las Piñas City 1740
Bachelor of Arts in Communication
As the same with other studies, Sheperd (2006) states that females are
usually portrayed based on their physical features, romantic success, and
sexual appeal, as mothers, housewives, or simply objects of desires (12). In
1950, TV portrayed gender based on the Hollywood ideology that
marginalized women—primarily homemakers who “yield to their husband’s
whims” (12). The 1960s as well as 1970s TV characters of women did not
change. They were still mothers who stayed in the comforts of their homes. It
was only in the late 1970s up to the early 1980s that these roles of women on
TV changed. Charlie’s Angels broke the traditional hapless women’s roles
from “the beautiful, contended housewife to the beautiful, smart, and athletic
private detective” (13). Furthermore, females became younger, independent,
single, and freer from their family responsibilities as well as work pressures in
the early 1990s.
Sheperd’s study also summarized that “white women composed the majority
of females shown in this TV genre. Among the three minority groups studied,
African Americans were the most prominent, representing 14.2% female of
the population in these shows. The next most popular minority group was the
Hispanics, 5.9% of the total females. Asians were the least featured,
comprising of only 3.1% of the total females on reality TV” (58). Finally, the
image of sexiness in women’s role has also changed according to Sheperd.
Women and girls in reality shows were presented positively especially in the
way they looked. Their clothing was appropriate to every occasion; this
clothing is neither sexy nor alluring.
Synthesis
On the contrary, dela Cruz and Peracullo (2010) argue that women still
remain as the “Other,” based on de Beauvoir’s word. These authors introduce
the phrase “subvert oppressive sex-gender system,” which is prevalent in the
Southville International School and 18
Colleges
Luxembourg St., BF Homes International, Las Piñas City 1740
Bachelor of Arts in Communication
Philippine society. Some examples of this system include the fact that women
in the country are not visible enough in the arts and media sectors. They are
also represented as subjects of nakedness and nudity, and these subjects
usually illustrate a submissive and sexualized position.
A lot of studies have been made about gender representations and the
portrayal of women in media. One study of women portrayal was based on
the industry of reality TV. This industry has emerged as one of the long-
lasting media on TV because it is such a cost effective, high rating industry
even up to the present times. Apart from the production factors, reality TV
shows have become vehicles of market proliferation, culture transformation,
and voice representations of minorities.
Finally, the stereotyped images of women have changed compared from the
1940s until today. Sheperd’s study presents that women are now portrayed
as beautiful, independent, smart, neutrally authoritative, neutrally
submissive, and career-oriented. Also, women are not depicted as sexy and
alluring anymore. Rather, they wear clothes appropriate for every occasion.
Southville International School and 19
Colleges
Luxembourg St., BF Homes International, Las Piñas City 1740
Bachelor of Arts in Communication
Chapter 2
METHODOLOGY
This chapter discusses the research design of this study, which will
include the select type of research method. It also includes the content
women participants.
Research Design
for her study of women representation on the television shows. This research
revisited the study content to better understand the relevance of the study
(2013) put it, “qualitative content analysis puts the analyst in a hermeneutic
researchdesignreview.com, 2015).
Research Instrument
Data Analysis
This research analyzed the data using the classical content analysis as
developed by Philipp MAYRING in Germany (retrieved from qualitative-
research.com, 2006), “the main idea of the procedure of analysis is thereby,
to preserve the advantages of quantitative content analysis as developed
within communication science and to transfer and further develop them to
qualitative-interpretative steps of analysis.” This analysis is based on
recorded communication such as transcripts of dialogues, discourses, video
tapes, etc.
Southville International School and 21
Colleges
Luxembourg St., BF Homes International, Las Piñas City 1740
Bachelor of Arts in Communication
Chapter 3
Presentation, Analysis, and Interpretation of Data
Presentation
Philippines’ Next Top Model Cycle 2
Fig 1 & 2. Poster of the show and the list of the contestants in the show (retrieved
from wikipedia.com).
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Luxembourg St., BF Homes International, Las Piñas City 1740
Bachelor of Arts in Communication
Fig. 3 shows that the stereotyped Filipina is described in the Philippines’ Next Top
Model Cycle 2 as all pretty face, sexy, a shy woman, and inferior to men. On the other
hand, the modern Filipina is described in the said TV show as someone who has
commanding looks, confident with her body, has sophisticated femininity,
independent, and dominating men.
Fig. 5 shows a profiling of the Filipina participants in the Asia’s Next Top Model
season 5.
Fig. 6 shows that the stereotyped Filipina is described in Asia’s Next Top Model
Season 5 as all about pretty face only, a shy woman, sexy, and all about body only.
On the other hand, the modern Filipina is described in the said show as someone
who has commanding looks, is independent, has sophisticated femininity, and
dominates men.
Both shows, the Philippines’ Next Top Model Cycle 2 and Asia’s Next Top
Model season 5, presented a list of stereotyped description of a Filipina.
Based on the comments of the judges, the common words spoken for the
critique of the participants, a stereotyped Filipina is sexy, only all about her
body at times, only all about her pretty face at times, she is inferior to men,
and she is a shy woman.
she is confident in her body. She dominates men at times, and she is an
independent woman.
Southville International School and 25
Colleges
Luxembourg St., BF Homes International, Las Piñas City 1740
Bachelor of Arts in Communication
Chapter 4
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
Recommendations
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Colleges
Luxembourg St., BF Homes International, Las Piñas City 1740
Bachelor of Arts in Communication
REFERENCES