An educational film made in association with Connexions and produced by a group of young women at the Kirkwood Centre in West Newcastle relating to a survey they carried out into how they and others see themselves. Using montage of both still and moving images from television advertisement alongside interviews with some of the girls, the film explores the mixed messages sent out by the media and society into what or who they should or should not be. A montage of still images of young women...

An educational film made in association with Connexions and produced by a group of young women at the Kirkwood Centre in West Newcastle relating to a survey they carried out into how they and others see themselves. Using montage of both still and moving images from television advertisement alongside interviews with some of the girls, the film explores the mixed messages sent out by the media and society into what or who they should or should not be. A montage of still images of young women of various ethnicities, a hand flicks through a copy of ‘Just Seventeen’ magazine. A photograph of the Kirkwood Centre in West Newcastle changes to show several women’s magazines being dropped in front of the camera including ‘Just Seventeen,’, ‘Oh-Boy’ and ‘Slimmer’. A montage of images showing what the voice-over says shows what boys are allowed to do, such a young man playing snooker, and what girls are allowed or expected to do such as a photograph of a woman vacuuming a carpet. A copy of a questionnaire produced by the Kirkwood Centre Girls Group which was produced to find out what other girls and boys thought about these stereotypes. A photograph of a youth centre at Kenton where the survey was also conducted. A montage of still images from various advertisements, neon-signs and pages from magazines featuring woman and what women are expected to look like. Title: Girls Talk A series of clips from various television advertisements are used alongside still advertising images to show how ‘Mrs Average’ sees herself. The sequence concludes that the message to young women aged 16-20 is to be slim, be spot free and be sexy. Clips from an advert for Maltesers and Cadbury’s Flake follow confusion said message. Two young women sitting next to each other, they are asked what do they think of themselves when presented with adverts such as these? One replies horrible, she feels fat and spotty. Another woman, Rochelle, explains that she is on a diet for other reasons, she does not care about these perceived expectations. For her it is the expense of buying clothes in larger sizes and to feel good in herself. Still images of older girls in the survey aged 18 and 19 changes to a young woman putting on make-up in her bedroom. She explains why she wears make-up, to make herself feel good. She finishes with the make-up and spikes her hair. More still images of another young woman who had to wear make up to work in a shop called ‘Snob’, she talks in voice-over about the issues she faced working in a job she didn’t like. A list of celebrities and pops stars who those doing the questionnaire were asked would like to be most like. For girls the names that came out on top were Victoria Principle because she was seen as ‘glamorous, good looking and attractive to men’. Another popular name was Annie Lennox as she was seen as ‘intelligent, attractive and strong’ as well as ‘different’. For the boys Victoria Principle also came out on top because she has ‘a beautiful body’ and is ‘very glamorous’. Images of both women feature along with the words. A poster for ‘Lost in Love. Dreaming…’ featuring a young woman daydreaming on her bed changes to show still images of several boys and young men that women or girls could go out with. The two young women featured previously talk about how they attract boys to ask them out on a date. An animation of still images showing a woman coming and sitting down next to a young man, she puts her hand on his thigh. He looks shocked as would most boys in the survey. A page from the survey asking if it was okay to have sex on the first date, images are used to state that it would be considered acceptable for boy but not for the girls with the word ‘slag’ placed over an image of a girl. One of the girls seen previously explains that it ‘bugs her’ if she is ever called a ‘slag’. A montage of still and moving images of young couples changes to more glamourous images of women which boyfriends will eventually start comparing their partners to. The woman seen previously putting on make-up explains that she gets upset when her boyfriend asks her to be more like the women he sees in adverts and on television. As she speaks clips from several advertisements featuring glamorous women. A montage of still images of a Job Centre and job advertisements in newspapers. An image of a smiling face of a woman over a newspaper jobs page indicates that it is acceptable for them to be a childcare worker, another face indicates it is acceptable for men to do job such as car mechanic or welder. An image of a man looking over a car engine with the image of the woman over the top of it indicating that from the survey boys though it was okay for girls to be a mechanic, but though that girls don’t like getting dirty. A large cross goes through the image. A young woman in a home vacuuming a carpet and doing the washing up. Upstairs she cleans the toilet. At a local shopping precinct two women pushing their children in pushchairs. At the Kirkwood Centre a group of boys playing pool or playing football in a sport hall. The two girls seen previously being interviewed arrive at the centre passing boys playing video games and sit around watching television along with others at the club. A photograph of the boys playing pool on ‘their’ table, in the ‘Blue Room’ two girls playing pool on their own table. The consensus of the girls in the survey is that they don’t have the freedom the lads have got. Clips from a beer advertisement in which women were either missing or looking on admiringly. The girl with the spiky hair goes into a pub, orders a pint, and takes a seat at a table. As she does so she says that she doesn’t mind going into a pub on her own, but she would feel better if she knew friends were going to join her. The film ends on another montage of still and moving images from a series of advertisements and magazine articles designed for women. The faces from young women, some featured in this film are also included. Title: Copyright Connexions 1984 End title: Connexions is a new independent service set up to produce audio and video material and carry out research for and with organisations working in the community. We can provide your organisation with material to promote a campaign, use in education, or record and activity