Analyse the representations of gender in the television drama, ‘Ashes to Ashes’

‘Ashes to Ashes’, creates a clear representation of gender within the drama. It can be interpreted that the television drama consists of a male’s domination over women. A very controlling atmosphere is illustrated in the beginning of the episode.
The male role is shown as very controlling and dominant as the episode begins with a low angle shot of a number of tall buildings, this implies that the main character is dominated and controlled by something or someone. A voiceover of a woman telling her story appears suggesting that she is quite vulnerable and innocent. A close-up shot of an adult female driving her teenage child to school is shown. We can interpret that the female character is an independent single mother as she is dressed in formal clothing which means that she is employed. It could be suggested that her job is very masculine as her hair tied back and is not wearing any make-up. These factors suggest that this series is dominated by masculine characters.
A male character is introduced as a suspect who holds a female hostage at gunpoint; this illustrates a sense of violence and aggressiveness towards the female gender. The character is demanding as he holds weaponry in his hand. A mid-shot depicts the body language that the suspect shows towards the female hostage, he violently pushes her to the floor this implies the idea of female being worthless. The suspect is dressed in black this illustrates a dark and dreary atmosphere, which could be considered as murderous. Violent attitudes towards women are seen throughout the beginning as the main character is pushed and thrown around which suggests that the female has an extremely low status as opposed to the male who is at the top of the hierarchy.
The gender of a female is depicted in this drama as very vulnerable and worthless. A close-up of the female character is shown and she is presented as doll like this is due to the fact that she has heavy tart-like make-up and her hair is done up nicely. The women are represented as strictly sex objects as in this drama their bodies are exploited; this is illustrated when a low angle shot of a woman’s wide apart legs is shown with a male figure between it. A tilt up pan focuses on the costume of the female character showing her tight, short and seductive clothing. A point of view shot shows male characters acting very flirtatious and touchy towards the female suggesting that she was a prostitute.
The boat was named ‘Lay Di’ suggesting that there were respectable females in the series however they were very rear. A high angle, establishing shot of the river and the boat is shown which suggesting that the audience is looking down on her.
The dialogue of the male characters is fowl and they insult the female using very offensive language such as ‘slut’ and ‘tart’ which suggests no form of respect to the opposing gender. The female depicted a very warm and sympathising mood from the way she spoke to other characters.
To conclude, we can see that gender was represented in a very patriarchal way as women were considered below men. The women were considered as of no value and only sex objects we see this as they are presented in sexual manners. This is a stereotypical way of representing gender as women are seen under men in the real world.