Media-social group representation Flashcards
Define media representation
The way that the media presents groups to the audience and the message that this conveys
Define stereotype
An over-simplified generalisation or assumption about a social group
What are some common representations of women in the media ?
-sexualised
-inferior to men
-they are shown in the private sphere (home)
What are some common representations of men in the media ?
-controlling
-dominant
-intelligent
-they are shown in the public sphere(the workplace)
What are the two different arguments about how women are presented in the media ?
-women have been consistantly shown in stereotypical roles
-the media has reflected changes in society
What is Wolf and Tebbel’s supporting study for female representation ?
They suggest that the media have shown women in stereotypes that spread patriarchal ideology, women are either invisible or shown in a limited range of roles
What is an example of women being shown in a limited range of roles ?
Women are often the face of cleaning products, which is a form of canalisation, however if men are present then they are shown as saving the woman and being a hero
What is Tunstall’s supporting study for women being shown in a limited range of roles ?
The presentation of women is biased and emphisises marital activities and women are seen as a domestic sexual consumer. Housewives are often shown as happy and fulfilled whereas working mothers are presented as unfulfilled and unattractive
What does symbolic annihilation mean ?
Where people’s achievements are mocked or devalued
What is a common place in the media where women are often subject to symbolic annihilation ?
In sport, women’s bodies are often focused on more than their achievements e.g. the women’s volleyball in the olympics
What percentage of senior professional roles in the media are held by men ?
60%
What percentage of people that the audience had seen or read about were men ?
76%
What is Tuchman’s study on symbolic annihilation ?
Women’s achievments are often not reported or condemned or trivialised, their achievements are seen as less important that their looks
What is Gallager’s study of symbolic annihilation ?
Women in the news are often covering “soft news” whereas men are given the business politics and economic news to report on.
What percentage of the news according to Gallager do women make up ?
10%
How does Gill support Gallager ?
They argue that because women’s news is trivialised it often forms a women’s page and is not seen by as wide of an audience
What is meant by hegemonic femininity ?
This is a dominant version of femininity which follows the beauty standard created by men, promoting an unobtainable standard
What is ferguson’s study on women as ideals ?
She conducted a content analysis on women’s magazines and found that they focused on a cult of femininity which promotes the traditional ideal
What is Orchach and Wilkinson’s study of women as ideals ?
They argue that the media creates anxieties and insecurities which improves sales of products which claim to lead to weight loss or becoming closer to the ideal, this pushes the idea that slimness=happiness
What is an evaluation of women as ideals ?
There are now more plus size models, this is pushing the idea that women should be happy with the body they have and not having to compare themselves to the unobtainable standards
What is an example of where women are seen as sex objects in the media ?
In music videos and lyrics women are often sexualised their bodies are exploited for male pleasure and lyrics often focus of the idea of blurred lines of consent, they often also sexualised the domestic role
What is the general representation of the youth in the media ?
Children are generally portrayed positively in the media
What is Aries’ theory about the representation of childhood ?
Childhood is socially constructed, this is normally represented as being mostly positive and portraying innocence and purity downplaying the problems they may experience
What are the 7 representations of childhood ?
-Victims
-Cute
-Little devils
-Brilliant
-Brave little angels
-Accessories
-Modern
What does it mean that children are represented as victims ?
Children such as Madeline McCann get more attention in the media than adults who have experienced the same or similar crime
What does it mean that children are represented as cute ?
In advertisements children are often used to promote products through making it seem as though the product solves a problem many parents face such as pampers adverts
What does it mean that children are represented as little devils ?
This is often found in dramas and comedy, children are seen as being naughty e.g. Bart Simpson
What does it mean when children in the media are represented as being brilliant ?
The child is seen as the hero to the adults, they are seen as extraordinary e.g. Matilda
What does it mean when children are represented as brave little angels ?
This is where children with a disability or suffering from a terminal disease are seen as being angelic
What does it mean where children are represented as accessories ?
Celebrities children are sometimes seen as assets rather than real people such as Kim Kardashians children and how they are used to gain the family more media coverage
How are children represented in the media as being modern ?
The media focuses on how children know much more for their age than previous generations e.g. correcting their parents on technology etc
How are children represented as troublesome ?
They are shown being spoilt and badly behaved in programmes such as supernanny and home of tiny terrors
What is Heintz and Knowles study on the representation of childhood ?
They did a content analysis and found that children are represented as being motivated by peers and not often by social issues. They are likely to engage in pro-social actions
What is meant by pro-social actions ?
Behaviours which are beneficial to society e.g. telling the truth and helping others
Why does Aries argue that childhood is a social construct ?
Childhood became a life stage because society chose for it to be and people chose what characterized this
How does the representation of media impact capitalism ?
Children are easily influenced by their peers this means that if they see people close to their age having a product they will use pester power to try and get it
What are the two ways in which the youth is presented in the media ?
-Lifestyle and identity
-Folk devils
What is meant by youth representation being focused around identity and lifestyle ?
Magasines and music are produced for young people to shape their choices, social media allows them to project their identity
What is meant by youth being represented as folk devils ?
They are demonised by the media and shown in a way that creates moral panic, the media has created concerns about teen crime, drugs and drinking
What is Wayne et al’s content analysis ?
He looked at over 2000 news items in 2006 and found that 286 news stories 82% of which focused on young people as being involved in crime
What are the main respresentations of young people ?
-Criminal
-Immature
-Hypersexual
-Comedic
what does Batchelor et al (2004) argue about how the media portrays youth and sexuality?
- carried out content analysis of media consumed by young people to see how sexuality is represented
- positive - publicising sexual health info
- limitations:
-> contraception is represented as a female responsibility
-> differences in how men + women discuss sex - boys boast about it, girls discuss more emotions
-> lack of positive LGBT role models for young people - fails to represent sexual diversity
What are the positive representation of the elderly ?
-Golden age
-Freedom
-Active and healthy
-Care-Free
What are the negative representations of the elderly ?
-Old fashioned
-Narrow minded
-Judgmental
-Confused
-Poor physical health
-Burden
-Economic drain
-Grumpy
What is meant by the grumpy representation of the elderly ?
Elderly women are represented as being shrews or busybodies and the men are represented as hating the youth and the modern world
What is the mentally challenged representation of the elderly ?
This can range from them being shown from forgetting small details to being severely confused, suggesting that aging means losing your brain function
What is the infantile representation of the elderly ?
Where the elderly are portrayed as children who are unable to be self reliant, they are seen as helpless
What is meant by the elderly being represented as a burden ?
They are often portrayed as being an economic burden meaning that they are not paying tax but they are taking out pensions and benefits
What was age UK’s research in 2000 ?
21% of the population is aged over 65 but only 7% of people in the media are in this age range, when they are shown their character focus often is their age
What was Lee et al’s study ?
Although the representation of the elderly was low the majority of advertisements 91% were positive and focused on old age being a golden age
Barnes (1992) argued that there were reoccurring themes of stereotypes in the media of disabled groups.
What were they?
- pitiable and pathetic
- sinister and evil
- as super cripples
- object of ridicule
- burden
what did Williams-Findlay (2009) argue about newspaper’s portrayal of disability?
argued that newspapers often portray disability as tragic or people have been ‘afflicted’ - newspapers often concur that disabled people are incapable of living a normal life
- e.g Channel 4’s ‘ The Undateables’
what did Shakespeare (1999) argue about media stereotypes in films (etc)?
argued that the media stereotypes arise from the use of disability as a plot reinforcing negative attitudes towards disabled people
media portrays disabled people as criminals and monsters - e.g. Disney, James Bond villains etc
what did Watson et al (2011) argue about the way the tabloids portray disabled groups?
found many tabloid press focuses on the disabled being welfare dependent + fraud
noted an increase in derogatory language such as ‘cheat’ which reinforces this idea
how can Barnes’ study be criticised?
- dated:
- in last 30 yrs there has been significant societal change
- more diversity
- wider variety of media sources - too subjective:
- researcher bias - looking for supporting evidence for study
- multiple interpretations - deterministic:
- one sided
- can’t say media is the only cause of prejudice - e.g. parent’s views/family socialisation etc
what evidence of change has there been to show a more positive representation of the disabled community in the media?
Barnes does recognise that there has been a shift recently to try and portray disabled people as normal + to show them fully participating in their community
- reality TV - women in wheelchair on Big Brother (visibility but tokenism??)
-sensory disability - better representation in films - children’s programming - Blue Peter, CBeebies presenter
- advertising
what did Batchelor and Stonewall say about representation of LGBT in the media?
Batchelor:
said there is a lack of representation of LGBT role models + images for young people - media fails to represent sexual diversity
Stonewall (2010):
found that less than 10% of programming features homosexuality + 5x more likely to be presented negatively than heterosexuality
what does Dyer say about how the media presents homosexuality?
said that the media portrays obvious ‘signs of gayness’ to make the male heterosexual audience more comfortable
- this fuels labelling + prejudice/discrimination through creating segregation
(camp + macho)
what did Craig et al say about the two common stereotypes for different characters?
said that:
the ‘camp character’ is mocked, exaggerated + flamboyant - not linked to traditional male identity
the ‘macho character’ is more threatening and deviant - linked to traditional masculinity
in what ways does Stonewall argue Uk media is institutionally anti-LGBT?
right wing press heavily portrayed homosexuality as ‘unnatural’ + had an open rejection to recent legislation
- demonised LGBT community
-created moral panic
what evidence is there of more positive + visible representation of LGBT characters in mainstream media?
8.8% of characters are LGBT
- e.g. Killing Eve, Its a SIN, soap operas, reality tv, etc
more role models in the media
(pluralism)
what is the pink pound ?
‘pink pound’ - homosexuals are more likely to be child free/ have children later in life and have more disposable income - grown through festivals + commercials
(marxism)
how has the new media helped the LGBT community make media content more positive?
LGBT organisations have created websites/blogs to promote homosexuality - homophobic events can be challenged/ criticised
(links to pluralism)
what does Lawler (2005) say about stereotypes of the underclass/working class?
argued there is the growth of the underclass stereotype - language such as ‘scum’ and ‘chav’ is dominant
this is a demeaning and hostile stereotype which has replaced traditional representations of a macho W/C hero
helps M/C maintain a sense of superiority
what do neo-marxists argue about the stereotype representations of the W/C?
argue W/C are often shown in context of trouble/lone parents - this is the media’s way of acting against groups that challenge dominant ideology
what are some examples of ways the media portrays W/C?
- rejection of norms/values
- immediate gratification
- poor socialisation
- crime, risk taking/delinquent behaviour
- irresponsible
- poor work ethic - culture of dependency
e.g.: tv shows such as Shameless and (Channel 4 documentary) Benefit street
evaluation of the media’s portrayal of the W/C
- shows strong sense of community spirit
what do marxists argue about the media’s portray of the middle class?
argue they are over represented - such positive representations promote the dominant ideology of the normality + acceptability of the m/c family - legitimises social inequality
what do neo-marxists argue about the media’s representation of the m/c?
argue most of the creative personnel in the media are middle class - in news/ current affairs m/c will hold positions of authority + be the ‘experts’
what are examples of how the media portray the middle class?
upholds society’s standards:
- educated / aspirational
- hardworking /committed
- “perfect” - superiority
- nuclear families - strong values/stability
- conformity
- traditional/religious
how can we evaluate the positive portrays of the m/c by the media?
- some recent dramas focusing negatively on family life in m/c
what does Narin (1998) argue about the media’s portrayal of the upper class?
argues monarchy has successfully converted modern mass media to its cause
- royal family become “cast of characters” who stand for national values
what does Newman (2006) argue about the media’s portrayal of the upper class?
argues that media focuses positively on wealth + consumer items
- large proportion of print media focus on finance/business not ordinary people + equalities of capitalism
what are some examples of how the media portrays the upper class?
- sensible
- elaborated code — language + dress = affluence
- have own norms + values / expectations
- respected and praised
- traditional (British values)
- often shown in period dramas
e.g.: Bridgerton + Downton Abbey
- overrepresented
- elite - power- authority - hierarchy
- ascribed status
how can you evaluate the way the media portrays the upper class?
pluralists argue that representations of the rich can motivate people to work hard for rewards - meritocracy - encourages attempts for social mobility
what was Van Dijk’s study?
conducted content analysis of 1000’s of news items globally
found that representations of ethnic minorities are limited to a range of degrading, negative + unsympathetic stereotypes (e.g. criminals / threats)
(Van Dijk)
how are ethnic minorities portrayed as deviant, criminals and law breakers?
- Black people are often shown as drug dealers, welfare fraud, mugging
- young black men heavily associated with gang, knife + gun culture
- black people 2x as likely to be portrayed as criminals not victims in news
- in media there has been constant link between race and violence/danger
- often moral panics about black people + music - using violent/sexist language
- 50% news is young black people committing crime and not their positive achievements
- 7 to 10 stories (especially gang/knife crime) show black men as irrational/involved in senseless gang rivalries
(Van Dijk)
how do the media portray ethnic minorities as a threat?
- immigrants - often portrayed as taking jobs/houses
- right wing tabloid - often panic about number of ethnic minorities in Britain - benefits of immigration is rarely covered
- refugees / asylum seekers - shown as abusing welfare + threatening British identity and cohesion
(Van Dijk)
how do the media portray ethnic minorities as abnormal and the causing conflict?
- media mainly focus on the trouble caused by the minority group not the majority - causes race related riots
- illegal immigrants - working illegally and commiting crime is highlighted and shown by (right wing) media
- black lone parents - often stigmatised and stereotyped by the media for raising anti social children who lack discipline + work ethic
- the media has encouraged the view that wearing of the hijab is oppressive, a threat/intimidating and reduces women to victims
(Van Dijk)
how does the media portray ethnic minorities as dependent, problematic, unimportant?
- underrepresented in the news
- most media is filtered through the gaze of a majority white m/c dominated media establishment (the white eye)
(Van Dijk)
how does the media portray ethnic minorities through it’s islamophobia?
- led to stereotyping muslims as a threat - demonising and blaming them
- negative images of Islam in the media
- created a stigmatised identity of muslims - which has created moral panic and hatred amongst the white majority
what 5 points could you use to evaluate how ethnic minorities are represented in the media?
1) rise of social media - news is user generated - allows for interactivity - can criticise and challenge stereotypes - diversity in digital media
2) diversity + visibility - soaps, dramas, reality tv
3) celebrity role models (in sports) - e.g. Jude Bellingham, Marcus Rashford etc - have positive media representation/brand –
Rashford also campaigned for Free School Meals with pressure groups - ended up changing gov’s minds with a successful campaign
4) main characters (not supporting roles) - challenge ideas of what is “British” (e.g. Bridgerton etc)
5) news presenters
what would pluralists argue about ethnic minority representations?
- increased choice
- audience power + demand
- reflects society - “window on the world”
what would marxists argue about ethnic minority representations?
- there are still stories to create moral panics :
-> media criminalises (w/c) ethnic minorities to sell stories for profit
what would Neo-marxists (hegemonic marxists) argue about ethnic minority representations?
- still got lots of media bias due to the ‘white eye’
- media is often produced by white m/c men
what changes has there been in ethnic minority representations in film/tv and comedy?
- emergence of Black British Film + programming has developed on BBC and Channel 4
- e.g. in soaps they often have black or asian characters who have the same interests rather than storylines that just focus on their ethnic identity
- Eastenders - now watched by 43% of non white pop
what changes have there been in ethnic minority representations in advertising?
- changing representations are also evident - colonial/nationalist images are now rare
- multinational corporations now acknowledge + celebrate differences as a form of their marketing
what changes have there been in ethnic minority representations in the new media?
- young people from ethnic minorities are greater users of new media than the average in the UK - can put their own views across and criticise negative arguments/stereotypes in the mainstream media/ on these platforms
what changes have there been in ethnic minority representations in the news?
- content analysis of news reporting indicates that coverage of racial issues now promote an anti-racist message
