marcus rashford Flashcards
who is marcus rashford
- footballer for Man U & England - given MBE
- has a working class background - youngest of 5 children raised by a single mother , grew up in council estate
- has a large social media following on FB INSTA , TWITTER e.g 16 mil on Instagram
how does rashford social media portray his career of football
- presents his career in a positive way as it is his occupation & what he is known for
- rashford tagged in content that presents him as a highly skilled footballer with an illustrious career - he is distinguished & successful at what he does
how does rashford social media portray masculinity
subverts typical representations of high-profile male footballers, who are associated with arrogance and toxic masculinity
instead presents men as emotional, caring and passionate
how does rashfords social media portray women
women shown in positions of power and success
- many of his posts honour his own mother, who is presented as a role model he personally admires, possibly encouraging a young audience to do the same - uses visual language of heart emojis to further convey this
- he has a clear interest in the England Women’s football team, the Lionesses, and has frequently posted about their recent successes with a supportive tone, celebrating them
however posts dominated by male focused content, perhaps reflecting the stereotype that football is a ‘male dominated’ sport
how does Rashford’s social media portray him as a role model?
- images + tweets of children reading his book ‘You Are A Champion’ connote he is an educated role model for young children - he cares about the youthful population and the future - subverts stereotype that footballers are uneducated as he has written an acclaimed book
- promotion of his book club + his book present him as a teacher/educator - one of the first things an audience encounter on his website - suggests he puts issues important to him first
how does Rashford’s social media portray him as popular/successful?
- retweets + inclusion of celebrities, some that have aided his campaign, some who are role models to him, represents him as successful, popular, and supported by other well known figures
- mention of him receiving an MBE (eg. on his website) connote his success, his contributions to the country have been formally recognised by the UK
- often retweets/reposts messages or images he has been tagged in - offers audience interaction, they can engage with him personally
- direct addresses his audience to engage them, includes ‘calls to action’, especially around his campaigns, to encourage his audience to get involved
how does Rashford’s social media portray him as charitable?
- promotion of ‘The Trussell Trust’ signifies he is caring and eager to give back and support those in poverty - this NGO that is working to end food poverty and hunger in the UK, they provide food banks
- all his social media platforms offer informative and educational content so his audience can learn about social issues and find the support they may need eg. retweets posts by Tesco
how does Rashford’s social media portray the working class?
- represents specific communities and working class areas, such as in Manchester, where Rashford himself was raised - shows he hasn’t forgotten his roots despite his success and fame
- posts highlight a number of working class areas, issues and organisations - reflects his own background growing up in poverty and his family struggling financially
how does Rashford’s social media portray his political ideas?
- Rashford uses his online platforms to raise awareness of his campaigns and voice his opinion on political issues in an attempt to bring change - in 2020 he convinced the UK government to provide food vouchers for 1.3 million children in summer holidays
- he is proudly political -clear interest in campaigning for social improvements, particularly issues he personally relates to
- famously posted the letter he wrote to the Conservative government demanding they do more to end child poverty and hunger
how does Rashford’s social media portray his nationality?
very patriotic
- visual language of the English flag, symbols, references and colours create a patriotic representation that links him to the country, possibly because he is a very patriotic person
- however, this emphasis on his English nationality could also be an attempt to counteract the racist attitudes many football fans have towards black players - they don’t consider Rashford British because he is black - 1/3 of all online massages to Rashford are negative
how does Rashford’s social media portray his race?
challenge negative stereotypes of black men
- Rashford presents black men as educated, successful, influential and socially engaged - this contrasts many stereotypical representations of black men by other media, such as being uneducated and delinquent
- his own experiences of online hate and racism, and his own ethnic background, may influence the way he represents race + racial issues - they are personally important to him
what is the oppositional reading of Rashford’s social media?
- he is ‘virtue signalling’ - Rashford doesn’t actually care about the issues he is promoting and is solely doing it to seem righteous and gain attention
- racist attitudes - 1/3 of all online massages to Rashford are negative, especially after the Euro 2020 final in which he missed a penalty causing him to receive a lot of racist abuse on social media
- he wrote ‘You Are A Champion’ to make money, not because he wants to support and educate young children
what is the preferred reading of Rashford’s social media?
- he is interested in the issues he promotes on all his social media platforms and genuinely wants to support struggling communities
- he is role model for young children, education is important to him
who is the target audience for Rashford’s social media, in terms of class?
- working class, he focuses on many working class issues and has a working class background himself, which an audience can relate to, simplistic verbal language used could suggest a lower educated audience
who is the target audience for Rashford’s social media, in terms of age?
young, 15-32, frequently used visual language of emojis and simplistic verbal language, focus on children and education - also targets families (parents), many retweets of children reading that parents have tagged Rashford in, possibly an 28-45 audience - posts much more family-friendly than other male footballers
