5. Media Representations of Gender, Sexuality and Disability

Question 1

Who created the concept of symbolic annihilation?

Answer 1

Tuchman et al

Question 2

What did Tuchman et al describe symbolic annihilation as in the context of media representations of femininity?

Answer 2

The way that women’s achievements are often not reported, or are condemned or trivialised by the mass media

Question 3

How are the achievements of women presented in the media?

Answer 3

They are presented as less important than their looks and sex appeal

Question 4

Why does Tunstall believe the presentation of women is biassed?

Answer 4

Because the media mainly reports them as housewives, mothers, consumes and sex objects, whilst generally ignoring the fact that over half of British adult women go out to work

Question 5

How does the portrayal of men differ from that of women?

Answer 5

Men are often portrayed as active and in positions of power with the male body being rarely objectified and there being little reference made to men’s marital or domestic status

Question 6

What report was conducted in 2012 into 11 national newspapers regarding the media representations of femininity?

Answer 6

‘Just for Women’

Question 7

Conclusions made by the Just for Women report on 11 national newspapers in 2012 (2)

Answer 7

The tabloid press often focuses on women’s appearances and reduced them to sexual commodities to be consumed by the male gaze
Women’s issues are covered often in a very narrow way and women who had achieved were often sexualised and humiliated by the media (E.g. Theresa May becoming PM)

Question 8

2 further industries guilty of objectifying or underrepresenting women

Answer 8

Music industry can objectify women through lyrics and videos
Radio is guilty for underrepresentation of women

Question 9

Gender of experts consulted in the media (E.g. a financial expert talking about recession)

Answer 9

Overwhelmingly male

Question 10

How does Orbach link the media representations of femininity to body shape?

Answer 10

Orbach accuses the media, especially women’s magazines, of encouraging young girls and women to be unhappy with their bodies

Question 11

Do the modern media empower women?

Answer 11

Surveys of young women and their lifestyle changes suggest that the media messages about women are having a positive impact on the way young women construct their identities today

Question 12

Does the new media empower women today? (2)

Answer 12

Research indicates that women who use new media may experience the sorts of everyday sexist representations encountered in older forms of the media
Internet may help spread feminist ideals more widely but it also does the same for the opposite (misogyny)

Question 13

Outline of research conducted into media representations of masculinity

Answer 13

In 1999, the research group Children Now asked boys between 10 and 17 about their perceptions of male characters they saw on TV, in music videos and in movies

Question 14

Findings of research conducted into media representations of masculinity (4)

Answer 14

These representations were dominant:
- males are violent
- men are generally leaders and problem-solvers
- males are funny, confident, athletic and successful
- male characters rarely shown at home

Question 15

Changing media representations of masculinity

Answer 15

Signs that media representations of masculinity are moving away from the emphasis on traditional masculinity, to embrace new forms that celebrate fatherhood and emotional vulnerability

Question 16

Why are feminists very critical of the representations of men and women in the media?

Answer 16

They believe that the mass media play a major role in the social construction of gender roles (how children learn to be feminine or masculine)

Question 17

Why do feminists see the media representation of women as problematic?

Answer 17

Feminists see the media representations of women as goddesses and sex objects as problematic because they have limiting effects on young females’ behaviour and aspirations

Question 18

Liberal feminism view on media representations of women

Answer 18

Believe that media representations are slow to change in response to women’s achievements because women rarely achieve high positions in media organisations

Question 19

Female representation in top 100 grossing films of 2014

Answer 19

12% of protagonists
29% of major characters
30% of speaking characters

Question 20

How do Marxist feminists criticise women’s magazines?

Answer 20

They believe that they make a profit through advertising so promote ‘false needs’ around beauty, size and shape in order to attract advertising revenue from the cosmetics, diet, exercise and fashion industries

Question 21

How do the media representations of women create a false consciousness according to radical feminsits?

Answer 21

Because women are strongly encouraged by the media to see the goals of sexiness, appearance, weight and size as central to their personal happiness.
Deterrers them from making the most of the opportunities available to them as they adopt the false consciousness

Question 22

Does postmodernist Gauntlett take a positive or negative approach to the media representation of women? Why?

Answer 22

Positive
Argues that the mass media today challenge traditional definitions of gender because they encourage a diversity of masculine and feminine identities

Question 23

How do pluralists criticise the feminist approach to the representation of media?

Answer 23

They believe that feminists are guilty or stereotyping females as impressionable and easily influences, claiming that there is no real evidence that it profoundly affects their attitudes and behaviour

Question 24

Who carried out a content analysis of media (E.g. magazines and TV programmes) consumed by young people to examine how sexuality is represented?

Answer 24

Batcheolor et al

Question 25

Strengths of the representations of sexuality in the media according to Batchelor et al (3)

Answer 25

Sexual health information
Exploration of issues such as consent and whether couples are ready to have sex
The rights of people to say no

Question 26

Limitations of the representations of sexuality in the media according to Batchelor et al (3)

Answer 26

Contraception clearly represented as a female responsibility
Distinct differences in terms of how young men and women in media texts talked, felt about and acted in relation to sex with women being portrayed as the pursued and men being portrayed as pursuers
Lack of positive images of gay and lesbian teenagers, and a failure to represent sexual diversity

Question 27

Representation of gay people in the media

Answer 27

Being gay not generally integrated into mainstream media and when it does appear, it is represented mainly as a source of anxiety or embarrassment, or seen as a target for teasing and bullying

Question 28

How does the media represent gay people according to Dyer?

Answer 28

The media construct stereotypical ‘signs of gayness’, such as vocal tics, facial expressions and clothing, in order to make it visible

Question 29

Consequence of the media constructing ‘signs of gayness’ according to Dyer

Answer 29

If a person demonstrates these signifiers, regardless of their sexuality, they might be labelled by their peers as gay and be subjected to prejudice and discrimination

Question 30

3 main signifiers of gayness in the media according to Craig

Answer 30

Camp
Macho (masculinity is exaggerated - practical male clothing such as safety helmets and police caps may be transformed into erotic symbols)
Deviant (portrayed as evil or devious, as sexual predators or as people who feel guilt about their sexuality)

Question 31

What did Stonewall find from 126 hours of TV programmes specifically aimed at young people?

Answer 31

5 hours and 43 minutes focused on LGBT-related characters or issues
46 minutes of this coverage portrayed them realistically and positively

Question 32

What factor of LGBT people has been recognised by advertisers?

Answer 32

The power of the pink economy and the pink pound - many LGBT people are professionals with large disposable incomes to spend on consumer goods
As a result, companies have actively targeted LGBT consumers through gay-positive advertising and marketing campaigns

Question 33

Is there much change of the representation of LGBT people in the UK popular press?

Answer 33

Little sign that the UK popular press is providing balanced and neutral coverage of LGBT issues

Question 34

Representations of LGBT people in the new media

Answer 34

More positive because much of the content is user-generated
However, research from the University of Alberta highlights the downside of user-generated media, showing that there were 56.5 million homophobic comments on Twitter from 2012-15

Question 35

2 sociological views of disability

Answer 35

Biomedical model - disabled people are disabled by their impairments and are dependent on non-disabled people
Other view - disabled people are actually disabled by society, particularly by prejudicial stereotypes and attitudes which reinforce that the disabled should be dependent on the non-disabled

Question 36

Recurring stereotypes in the media of disabled people according to Barnes (6)

Answer 36

Pitiable and pathetic
Sinister and evil (E.g. villains in James Bond films often have something physically wrong with them)
Atmospheric (disabled people used to enhance atmosphere of menace and unease)
Super-cripples (having special powers)
Sexually abnormal
Incapable of participating fully in community life (rarely portrayed as being part of the community E.g. in the workforce)

Question 37

Who talked about disabled people in telethons?

Answer 37

Roper

Question 38

What does Roper say about telethons? (3)

Answer 38

Telethons like Children in Need, rely too heavily on cute children who aren’t representative of the range of disabled people in the UK
Keep the audience in position of givers and disabled people as grateful recipients of charity
Purpose is to entertain the public rather than actually help society understand

Question 39

Why do stereotypical representations of disabled people persist in the media today?

Answer 39

Because they are their organisations are rarely used as sources so they have little influence over the language used or how disabled people are represented

Question 40

What groups of disabled people received a particularly negative media portrayal?

Answer 40

Those with mental health conditions or hidden disabilities as they were accused of being welfare scroungers who were undeserving of benefits according to some journalists

Question 41

Pluralists on the representation of disabled people

Answer 41

Media representations reflect the dominant medical view that disability is dysfunctional for the individual and society
Media representations also reflect society’s admiration of the courage shown by some disabled individuals
Therefore, media representations portray reality as they show differing views

Question 42

3 main reasons why mass media representations of disability take the form they do according to disableed sociologists and social constructionists

Answer 42

Medical professionals set the agenda for media portrayal and they believe that disabled people are dependent on non-disabled people
Media representations reflect the prejudice non-disabled people feel towards disabled people
Disabled people rarely consulted by journalists

Question 43

Postmodernists on representations of disability

Answer 43

The dominant medical discourse is fragmenting as disabled people politically organise themselves, find their voice and independently construct their own identities
The perspective of disabled people is increasingly heard and acted upon