Media representation

Question 1

Theories of representation - Stuart Hall

Answer 1

• Representations are constructed through media language, and reflect the ideological perspective of the producer
• The relationship between concepts and signs is governed by codes
• Stereotyping, as a form of representation, reduces people to a few simple characteristics or traits
• However, stereotyping is useful, as it allows producers to easily construct media products, and audiences to easily decode them
• Stereotyping tends to occur where there are inequalities of power, as subordinate or excluded groups are constructed as different or ‘other’ (e.g. through ethnocentrism)

Question 2

Theories of identity - David Gauntlett

Answer 2

• Audiences are not passive, and media products allow the audience to construct their own identities
• Audiences can pick and mix which ideologies suit them, and completely ignore the elements of the product which they do not agree with in a process of negotiation similar to the one suggested by Stuart Hall

Question 3

Feminist theory - Liesbet van Zoonen

Answer 3

• Gender is constructed through codes and conventions of media products, and the idea of what is male and what is female changes over time
• Women’s bodies are used in media products as a spectacle for heterosexual male audiences, which reinforces patriarchal hegemony

Question 4

Feminist theory - bell hooks

Answer 4

• Feminism is a struggle to end patriarchal hegemony and the domination of women
• Feminism is not a lifestyle choice: it is a political commitment
‘Feminism is for everybody’ and certainly not just for those that identify as women
• Race, class and gender all determine the extent to which individuals re exploited and oppressed

Question 5

Theories of gender performativity - Judith Butler

Answer 5

• Identity is a performance, and it is constructed through a series of acts and ‘expressions’ that we perform every day
• While there are biological differences dictated by sex, our gender is defined through this series of acts. These may include the ways we walk, talk, dress, and so on
• Therefore, there is no gender identity behind these expressions of gender
• Gender performativity is not a singular act, but a repetition and a ritual. It is outlined and reinforced through dominant patriarchal ideologies

Question 6

Theories around ethnicity and postcolonial theory - Paul Gilroy

Answer 6

• Postcolonialism is the study of the impact that being under direct rule has had on former colonies. For example, despite being a tiny island, Britain colonised and declared ownership of many countries, including India and Australia
• These ideas and attitudes continue to shape contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the postcolonial era
• These postcolonial attitudes have constructed racial hierarchies in our society, where, for example, white people are by and large given more positive and important roles than BME people
• Media producers are also guilty of using binary oppositions to reinforce BME people and characters as ‘others’