Representation of Gender (Margaret)

The first shot sees a man addressing the cabinet, making use of an opening shot which introduces the audience to the situation. in the opening shot a lot is revealed about the relationship between the man and Margaret. There is an orb of light to the left and the man addressing the cabinet to the right of the shot who is in the dark. this creates the idea that he possess some sort of evil or is trying to place that upon Margaret who is the bright, innocent, female. This raises the idea that he is almost corrupting her in a way. It is only possible for him to do so due to the fact that he is portrayed as the 'Traditional Man' and Margaret as the 'Traditional Woman' and thus he has power over her to corrupt her. furthermore, the idea of the man being a traditional man is emphasised due to the clever use of mine en scene in that he and all the other men in the room are wearing suits. Suits play a key role in portraying the 'Traditional Man' as suits often refer to wealth and power which are both traits of the stereotypical 'Traditional Man' that is portrayed by the media. later on in the clip, the camera begins to cut back and forth to Margaret. With each cut the camera zooms further into her face which remains completely still and emotionless which creates a sense of anger towards the man speaking. It could be argued that this performance and camera movement demonstrates aspects of the 'Traditional Woman' because even though Margaret is assumed to be angry, she can't speak up for herself and instead stays silent and lets the men tear her political views to shreds. In addition, during one of the shots we see an extreme close up to Margarets hands. On her fingers she wears two rings, a wedding band and a large cut diamond engagement ring which is significant as it shows she is married which is a defining trait of the 'Traditional woman' . She also shifts her hands slightly indicating tension, however she still refuses to go against the stereotype and remains silent during the entirety of the speech. This is made even more significant as after the man speaking the men in the cabinet all collectively laugh, except from Margaret. This, in turn, emphasises the men's masculinity as they can all relate to one another and almost makes them feel massive; a force which Margaret wouldn't dare reckon with.