This Girl Can

The women in the 'This Girl Can' video are being represented in a positive, healthy, determined and motivated. They are being shown in a different way to what we are used to (sexualised, dependant), and the video challenges the gender stereotypes that the media creates.

There is a scene that shows a woman running up a hill. They have used an extreme long shot to establish her surroundings. This is done to show that she is on herself, with nobody to run with. This adds to the self motivated, independent and determined message that the video is trying to portray. In another shot of this scene, there is a close up shot of her face. In the shot, she is smiling and breathing heavily. This implies that she is happy with exercising and working hard, which also adds to the message of the video.

Another scene that portrays these messages is when the group of women are doing Zumba dancing. There are multiple shots of this scene, with varying camera shots and angles. The medium shots show them all in unison, which creates the feeling of 'togetherness', and it feels like they are 'empowered'. This breaks away from the usual representation of women being shown as dependent on men. Also, there are closer shots of their individual faces. Often in these shots, they are shown with sweat on their faces, which has connotations of determination, and shows them as hard working. Even though they all look exhausted, they carry on, which portrays the same message.