The Recovery and Reappraisal Approach vs. The Images and Representations Approach

It is interesting after first examining and evaluating the Images and Representations Approach to the feminist theory to then examine the Recovery and Reappraisal approach to the feminist theory. In the first approach, the questions asked seemed much more critical, blaming the male audience on the objective view of women in the media and concentrating more on women's rights and such. The Recover and Reappraisal approach, Rakow states, seeks answers to four different questions.

1. Given a male-dominated culture, how have women managed to express themselves?

2. Why has women's creativity been overlooked, undervalued , or ignored?

3. How do men's and women's creativity differ?

4. What are women's stories and myths?

Although these questions can also be seen as critical, they allow a much more open minded approach to analyzing the portrayal of women in the media. This approach, instead of a direct and critical analysis, allows the person evaluating to examine many more aspects put into the portrayal and form an opinion, whether negative or positive. For example, instead of viewing women in high heels as being sexy and being viewed through the eyes of men, one can instead see them as a symbol of power, in a high position job, or being worn to look taller and be more equal with men.