4) Medias representations of age, social class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and disability Flashcards
Identify ways the media suggest the ways in which women have been presented in the media, are limited?
Allocated a limited number of roles. Less visible in media then men. women are presented as ideals women selected to appeal to men women are seen as victims.
Describe a limited number of roles ?
Women are presented in a narrow range of social roles in the media whilst men perform the full range of social and occupational roles.
Women are often found in domestic settings.
Women are rarely shown in high status occupational roles, such as doctors and lawyers. If they are they are shown to have problems with their usual circumstances – unfulfilled, unattractive, unstable relationships – or if they have children they are shown to be irresponsible
Describe less visible then men?
In 1990, 89% of voice-overs were male.
Women were the main stars of only 14% of mid-evening TV.
Newbold (2002) – TV sport presentation shows that what little coverage there is tends to sexualise, trivialise, and devalue women’s sporting accomplishments.
Tuchman – symbolic annihilation – the way in which women in the media are absent, condemned, or trivialised.
Describe women as ideals?
Ferguson (1983) – conducted a content analysis of women’s magazines between 1950-1980 – she noted that such magazines are organised around a cult of femininity which promotes an ideal where excellence is achieved through caring for others, the family marriage and appearance. Modern female magazines especially those aimed at teenagers are moving away from these stereotypes – although Ferguson argues that even these tend to focus on him, home and looking good (for him)
Winship (1987) stresses the supportive role such magazines play in women’s lives. She argues that they present women with a broader range of options than before and they tackle problems ignored by male dominated media such as domestic violence and child abuse.
Describe women appeal to men (sex appeal)
Women are often presented as a sexual object to be enjoyed by men – the most extreme example of this is pornography and page 3 girls.
Men’s magazines such as FHM and Maxim encourage young men to dress, smell and consume in particular ways, however less pressure on men to change themselves to this ideal.
Women on the other hand may feel the need to conform to ensure they are desirable.
Men and media portrayal- what is the masculinity myth?
Easthorpe (1990) argues that a variety of media such as Hollywood films and video games give this impression that a real man is based on his strength aggression and violence. However this is an ideological myth as the majority of men are unable to reach this goal of true hegemonic masculinity.
What is the metrosexual male ?
Image created by the media of men using all new products and caring about fashion to reflect the change of social attitudes of men
when did the term emerge and why?
1980’s-the emergence of a new breed of glossy magazines aimed at m/c men saying:
Men are emotionally vulnerable
Men should be in touch with their feminine side.
They should treat women as equals
They should care more about their appearance.
Active fatherhood is important
Do Mens magazines have a positive influence on the modern man?
Gauntlett (2008)- studied FHM magazine- extremely positive it encourages men to be caring, considerate lovers, useful in home, fashionable and funny.
colliers (1992)- Mens mags are contradictory their is often pictures of the rugged macho man still in circulation and women are often sexualised.
Identify the two models to do with disability?
Medical and social model
Karpf argues the media has two approaches to disability, identify them and the model this come under?
Medical- The obsession with miracle cures
The obsession with disabled people as victims
Explain the two approaches the media has of disabled people according to Karpf?
We are encouraged to pity the disabled and praise them for courage and dealing with their problems. These victims appear on telethons so we treat them as charity cases. Medicine is seen as a cure and charity organisations supply funding and support of this. Karpf believes that this humiliates disabled people and can come across as patronising.
Philo (1999) – alongside GUMG found what about disabled people?
TV and press reporting of people suffering mental disabilities often focuses on violent incidents despite the fact that only a small minority of people with these disorders are potentially violent.
This portrays people with mental disabilities as violent and gives them a negative stereotype.
The social model argues disabilities are the outcome of what?
social barriers.
Describe two pieces of research for the social model ?
Cumberbatch and Negrine – found that there were no disabled people on any of the current affairs programmes or TV quizzes. They also made up only 0.5% of characters in fictional programmes.
Agyeman (2003) – content analysis between 1993 and 2002 indicated that little has changed over the years. In 2002 they made an appearance in 11% of programmes surveyed but accounted for only 0.8% of all people who spoke.
Barnes did a content analysis of both electronic and print media to and identified images of how disabled people are portrayed, identify 5?
pitiable and pathetic super cripples objects of ridicule own worst enemy burden and dependent