'Skins'- Naomi Campbell

The snippet from this episode of 'Skins' entitled 'Naomi', shows how a friend views Naomi's character and tells us that she is political and opinionated but not outwardly confident as people may think she is. She also mentions that the way she is described makes her "sound great!"This shows that perhaps Naomi is not quite comfortable with who she is and that she has clear insecurities.
The example of this is at:
6:22 - 6:44


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeATdLvL06k

'Skins'- Naomi Campbell

The UK TV show ‘Skins’ portrays many different teenage female characters with different representations and one of the more notable is the character Naomi Campbell. Naomi is represented as an idealist teen and is both passionate and political.

She is often always talking about how she wants the world to be a ‘better place’ with equality and freedom, etc. She is quite witty and independent as well as being very opinionated. The TV series stresses her independence as a teenager living on her own in the UK, drinking and partying whenever she desires and attending school at her own free will. Throughout the series we see a lot of character growth with all the characters and with Naomi particularly it becomes clear that she ‘puts on a front’ by always being the tough, strong-minded young woman and is in fact ‘afraid of being close to others’ at the risk of being hurt. The series also reveals Naomi’s true character by showing her insecurities and confusion mainly about her sexual orientation and whether she is in love with one of her best friends, Emily Fitch or her other friend, James Cook.

The character of Naomi is somewhat of a counter-stereotype as at the time that this show was made, the idealistic teenage girl who is also interested in politics and opinionated, strong-willed, etc was not a common character in the media. I believe, however, that women characters more often portray the common ‘idealist character’ and the ‘realist character’ is usually a male character. So although Naomi is not a stereotypical character it is still a representation that is quite common in the media, mainly film and television.

This is a representation that I believe has been formed by the media through mediums like film and television and is more common now days then in previous years. The politically passionate aspect of Naomi’s character representation is particularly recent with women being able to vote equally with men in the late 1920’s and most teenage men and women in the 2000s especially now are more interested in politics than past generations.

'The Breakfast Club'- Claire Standish

This scene from the film shows Claire's differences to others in the group and also suggests that she tries to be sophisticated and lives a somewhat wealthy lifestyle. It also shows her relationships with the group (particularly Bender) and backs up the stereotype she has by having her eat a meal that (during the 80s) is not a common "school lunch".
This example is at:
0:00 - 0:48


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3mupIlFIYQ&feature=related

'The Breakfast Club'- Claire Standish

This clip is from 'The Breakfast Club' and shows Bender harassing Claire about her family and home life and his comments clearly hit a raw nerve.
This example is at;
1:10 - 2:23


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsZkkqLDFmg

'The Breakfast Club'- Claire Standish

The stereotype of the misunderstood “Princess” character, the girl who has everything because of her family, is a common representation of the teenage girl in the media.

Claire Standish in the 1980s film ‘The Breakfast Club’ is a prime example of this representation. Although we don’t get to see her back-story or home life, we are shown and told through other characters that Claire comes from a wealthy family and is popular at ‘Shermer High School’. The teenage “criminal” character John Bender, is the main source of this insight into Claire’s life, as he continuously mocks and harasses her, saying that she is “spoiled” and that “the school would probably shut down” if she wasn’t there. ‘The Breakfast Club’ is notorious for showing character growth throughout the film and having the main message of “not judging a book by its cover” and this is seen especially in Claire Standish.

At the beginning of the film we see Claire as being particularly “conceited” and not wanting to communicate with any of the other four misfits (other than Andy “the athlete” who is in the same clique as her). She even goes out of her way to ask their principal, “Excuse me, sir. I think there's been a mistake. I know we're in detention but I don't think I belong here.” This quote suggests that she doesn’t think she should have to spend this time with the other teens in detention and that perhaps it isn’t fair for her to have to be there. However, towards the end of the film, as the group open up to one another we begin to see that Claire despises who people think she is and hates being seen as the “princess” that gets anything and everything without doing a thing to deserve it. In a particular scene where the teenagers are sharing a joint, Claire (in a high-state) says, “Do you know how popular I am? I'm so popular, everybody loves me so much at this school. 
Do you have any idea how completely gross that is?” With Claire declaring this to the rest of the group, it shows that she is not at all oblivious to her status in their school but it doesn’t mean she is particularly happy with it.

In the same scene that all five teens are opening up about themselves, Claire shows that much of what she does and says is a result of peer pressure when Brian, “the brain” calls Claire “conceited” to which she replies, “I’m not conceited! I hate it. I hate having to go along with what my friends say”. The breaking point for Claire is also within this scene when Bender gets very frustrated with Claire’s attitude toward the rest of the group when she says that she wouldn’t be friends with them back at school and he tells her to, “Stick to the things you know! Shopping, nail polish, your father’s BMW and your poor rich, drunk mother in the Caribbean!” This comment obviously hits a raw nerve for Claire and also reveals to us that there is much more to Claire (as well as the other characters) than the stereotype she has been labeled with.

'That 70s Show'- Donna Pinciotti

(L-R) Donna, Kelso, Eric, Hyde, Jackie & Fez

The costume that goes along with the character Donna Pinciotti is almost always clothes that are not typically "feminine". Her typical look is usually jeans and a loose fitted shirt with a fresh face and natural hair as apose to her best friend Jackie (stereotypical "girly girl"), who is always seen wearing makeup with her hair styled and wears clothes that differ from jeans and a tank top to a dress and heels.

(L-R) Donna, Kelso, Hyde & Fez

Donna Pinciotti dresses as many feminist women did in the 70s, with a comfortable and natural style and her costume in 'That 70s Show' is very fitting to her character. The second photo that I have posted shows Donna with her male friends and demonstrates the similarities of her style and the men that she hangs out with, which is fitting as Donna always seems to be treated as "one of the boys" with the exception of a couple of episodes where she is referred to as being "Hot" and even has a radio alter ego called "Hot Donna".

'That 70s Show'- Donna Pinciotti

This is an episode of 'That 70s Show' that shows the examples of Donna's insecurities about being feminine that I referred to in the previous text.
The particular examples are at:
2:15-2:41
and
15:46-16:09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtFc5MlyY3s

'That 70s Show'- Donna Pinciotti

A common representation of teenage women in the media is the role of the witty, strong and outwardly confident feminist character. 

The second wave of feminism in the 1970s resulted in a huge turning point in gender representation in the media. This change allowed many female television roles to venture further than either a devoted housewife or an object of affection.

‘That 70s Show’, being a show set in this era is a prime example of this representation as it showed the lives of teenagers in the 70s with one of the main characters being a young, strong willed and witty teenage woman with feminist ideals, Donna Pinciotti. 

Donna is an intelligent and easy going teenager who often speaks of feminist issues and refuses to conform to female ideals, at times coming across as arrogant or even self- righteous. Although Donna as a character is not your “typical teenage girl”, and views traditional feminine traits as “outdated and restraining”, we see that like many other teenage women, she too has insecurities. An example of which is when her male friend is chosen over her to help to decorate a party that is in need of a “feminine touch”. This aggravates Donna who insists, "What the hell? I'm feminine!” and later “I’m a lady! Why can’t anyone freakin’ see that?” 

This response suggests that although Donna takes pride in her feminist beliefs she doesn’t want the fact that she is a woman being overlooked because she simply doesn’t want to restrict herself to “girly” activities and the “social norm”.