representation Flashcards
gender representation: cult of femininity- Ferguson
women are encouraged to conform to the feminine ideal that focuses on appearance and relationships rather than careers
gender representation: retributive masculinity- Gauntlett
the backlash against metro sexuality has encouraged more media content that attempts to regain hegemonic gender identities in the face of toxic masculinity
key concepts for the representation of women in media
- symbolic innihilation
- limited roles
- male gaze
- mannequins
- cult of femininity
- beauty myth
key concepts for the representation of men in media
- breadwinner
- toxic masculinity
- metrosexual male
- demonised males
Evidence for the representation of women in media: Tuchman and Tunstall, examples
Tuchman- narrow roles are shown for sex appeal and focus on the looks of women not their achievements
Tunstall- limited to housewife representation, ignoring women that work?
contemporary examples:
- less women cited as professionals within school curriculums
- self worth is tied to beauty myth and made up standards by media industries, eg tiktok trends
- women raped in porn for the pleasure of men and sexually exploited
- women’s right campaigner Caroline Criado Perez recieved over 250 rape and murder threats
- Debra’s introduction in the show Dexter focuses on her from the point of view of the male gaze, in a sexualised outfit rather than the goals she is using this to work towards.
Evidence for the representation of men in media: McNamara and Children Now Report, examples
McNamara: newspaper analysis reveals that men were shown in a range of negative roles such as irresponsible and risk takers
Children Now Report: media reinforced cultural expectations of male violence, lack of emotion and being problem solvers
contemporary examples:
- men don’t do domestic tasks in media, when they do it’s a comedy gimmick (way of the househusband anime)
- weak men are frowned upon and represented as losers- Jack from Lost vs Hurley
- 80% of representations of men are negative
- representation of men are hegemonic- politics, woke man stereotypes of soy boy and grifter
- emotions threaten their heterosexuality
has there been a change in media representations of sexuality? arguments for Y/N
yes!
- positive ad campaigns like “some people are gay. get over it!”
- sitcoms and mainstream TV
- hollywood characters
- magazines and online positive websites
- new media- love wins
- influence of the pink pound
no!
- increase in hate crimes
- continued symbolic annihilation in mainstream media
summary of the representation of sexuality in media (4 items)- we view media through a heteronormative lens via the owners and journalists
- most couples are heterosexual, excluding a lot of society and reinforcing stereotypes
- homosexuals are viewed as ‘deviant’ or a threat- problem for society
- Craig: camp/ macho/ deviant representation of gay men
- gay women as butch/lipstick lesbians and oversexualised for the pleasure of men (Stonewall 2010)
historical representation of gay men and an example of this
- historical representation of gay men was shaped by the AIDS and HIV epidemic of the 1980s creating them as a threat and moral panic.
- this leads to symbolic innihilation (Gross sociologist)
- Cohen and Valentine: gay people are 5x more likely to be represented negatively
- this links to news values creating titillation that it’s abnormal and perverse sex
example:
- George Michael’s sexuality was outed by the media after his arrest for a sexual act in a public toilet (which was set up by the media)
- reporting on it was frenzied with ‘shame’
- he hit back with unapologetic interviews about his sexuality and a very sexualised music video making a statement about how heterosexuality is celebrated publicly and visually
- he used his power to take control over the situation, which not all people are able to do.
Batchelor et al 2004 study of magazines and TV for young people- representation of sexuality
- they publicised sexual health information-> whether couples are ready to have sex, consent
- contraception was seen as a girls’ responsibility within girls’ pages on getting pregnant/worrying about it
- great differences in how girls and boys behaved about sex-> female characters talked about it with friends while boys boasted about their sexual prowess
- girls were more interested in emotional connections and were the pursued while boys were more interested in sex and they were the pursuers
- lack of positive images of lesbian and gay teenagers, no sexual diversity
- overall gayness was not integrated into mainstream media representatino, when it is it’s as a source of anxiety/embarassment/bullying. lesbianism was invisible
Dyer- make the invisible visible
- media construct stereotypical signs of gayness
- vocal tics, facial expressions, stances and clothing
- if a person then demonstrates these, no matter their sexuality, they are labelled ‘gay’ and subjected to prejudice and discrimination
Craig (1992)- 3 signifiers of gayness
- camp- most widely used in entertainment, use of irony and exaggeration by an exremely colourful and flambouyant figure of fun. This is not threatening to heterosexual audiences but reinforce negative stereotypes of gay people as in between male and female
- macho- mostly pop music, exaggerating masculinity with an openly sexual look that transforms practical male clothes like police caps and safety hats into erotic symbols. This threatens heterosexual men by subverting traditional ideas about masculinity
- deviant- gay people are often stereotyped as evil/devious in TV drama, as sexual predators of feeling guilty about their sexuality. In the rare times they are represented sympathetiically, they’re completely defined by their sexuality and it is always constructed to appear morally wrong
Stonewall 2011
- LGBT community is undergoing symbolic annihilation, frequently consigned to a status of comedic relief which mocks and derides them in films and TV drama
- especially true for lesbianism which is oversexualised and exotic decoration to titillate male viewers
- found that from 126h of TV programming only 5h43m focused on LGBTQ characters/isues and only 46m portrayed them positively/realistically
- homophobia wasn’t challenged and people were rejected from their families
what does LGBT.co.uk research conclude?
UK mass media frequently and consistently demonstrate institutional bias towards the community
2010 BBC survey (sexuality representation)
lesbians criticised TV for portraying them in a narrow way-> either buth or lipstick lesbians, suggesting that sexuality shouldn’t be their defining feature
transgender representation circa 2015
representation has increased with shows like OITNB, ugly betty, glee, grey’s anatomy and others representing trans characters and actors in a positive light
the power of the pink economy
has been recognised by advertisers as gay people are professionals with a disposable income and no dependents, thus, companies have used rainbow capitalism such as positive marketing around pride month.
How has the new media challenged gender representations? McRobbie view
- studied cultural products of the new media during this time
- magazine industry influenced by feminism challenged messages about girls’ sexuality, as well as emphasising careers and independence
- suggested newer cultural products challenge streotypical representations
How has the new media challenged gender representations? Gauntlett view
- Theory of Identity: in the past, gender representations were straightforward and now they are more diverse and varied
- people get a sense of their own identity, how they should behave through what they watch
- in this way, new media can be seen as a challenge to stereotypcial portrayals of women because it can be seen as a paradigm of the march of progress in wider society which influences today’s women to have more freedom of expression
- portrayals of women now vary greatly in the new media since emphasis is on individual identity
How has the new media challenged gender representations? Postmodernist view
- polysemy in today’s media texts allows a range of different kinds of representation of women rather than the monosemous stereotypes they were subjected to in the modern era.
- the fragmentation and diversity of today’s world as well as disembedding allows a wide audience to access new media, where prominent discussions on this topic take place that challenge stereotypical portrayals
- a range of women can now challenge metanarratives by sharing unique and subjective intersectional viewpoints
- user participation and media saturation ensures that these changes reflect society as a whole since new media is prominent in our everyday lives and gives citizens the chance to speak out and reconstruct the portrayal of women
- for example, the hashtag me too movement
Van Dijk- minority ethnic groups as a threat (1991)
- immigrants- lots of them, impact on job and house markets
- refugees and asylum seekers as a threat to british identity and cohesion. negative and judgemental language contributes to their harassment and so does the stereotype of abusing the welfare state
- muslims as the ‘enemy within’
Poole (2000) enemy within
- islam has always been demonised and distorted by western media, presented as a threat to UK security and british values
- muslims have been homogenised by Western journalists as “backward, irrational and unchanging fundamentalists and misogynists who are threatening and manipulative in the use of their faith for personal or political gain”
Moore et al (2008) 4 negative representations of Islam
- islam = dangerous, backward irrational compared to the west
- multiculturalism allows muslim extremists to spread their mesage
- clash of civilisation between the west and muslims
- Islam as a major threat to british life, muslim want to replace brit law with sharia law (which is the islamic legal system)
Nahdi (2003)
- negative representations destroy trust among muslim audiences
- decline in standards of western media- sound bites, snippets, quick and easy stories
- vast diversity and range of perspectives is erased by this, so the actions of a few reflect the actions of billions
missing white woman syndrome
when society cares most when a white woman is the victim, eg Sarah Everard and Sabrina Nessa
Back (2002)
reporting of inner-city race disturbances are referred to as ‘riots’ rather than ‘uprisings’ as this indicates social injustice
Barnes (1992)- representation of disability
- mass media representations of disability have generally been oppressive and negative
- people with disabilities are rarely positioned as people with their own identities
- several common media representations of peole with disabilities: in need of pity/charity, victims, super-cripples, burden, sexually abnormal, incapable of fully participating in community life, and rarely ordinary/normal.
- examples: TV appeals like Children in Need reinforce them as in need of pity and charity, super-cripples could be Channel 4 paralympics: superhumans campaign as well as John Locke from lost who miraculously is freed from his wheelchair after the plane crash.
Roper (2003)- representation of disability
- suggests that mass media representations of diability generally focus on disability, telethons in particular can create problems for people with disabilities since they over-rely on cute children who don’t represent the range of disabled ppl in the UK and are only used for entertainment.
- it allows the able-bodied public to alleviate their guilt and relief they’re not disabled by giving money rather than being informed about the facts of disability.
- examples: Children in Need, news representations of children unable to get equal opportunities in their education
Karpf (1988)- representation of disability
- suggests there is a need for charities, but telethons act to keep the audience in the position of givers and keep the recipients in their place as being grateful and dependent.
- this doesn’t help to understand the everyday realities of disability and thus reinforces social prejudiced abt the disabled.
what do pluralists think about the representation of disability?
- media represents the dominant view that it’s dysfunctional for the individual and society, also reflects society’s admiration of their courage which is therefore realistic
what do Postmodernists think about the representation of disability?
- dominant medical discourse is fragmenting as disabled people politically organise and find individual identities
- medical metanarrative of dependency is declining- disabled no longer equals unhealthy and deficient
- Gauntlett (2008) argues that media representations are too diverse for these critiques to apply to all media products
What is the social constructionist view of disabled representation? (Oliver, Barnes and Mercer)
- medical professionals at the top of the hierarchy of credibility set the agenda for representation of disabled, so their view of it as unhealthy and unfortunate dominates
- media representations reflect the prejudice that able-bodied people feel towards disabled people- this prejudice is a result of fear that disabled people represent what the ‘normal’ world dread: personal tragedy, loss, and the unknown
- disabled people aren’t rarely consulted by journalists because they think that the disabled are incapable of leading a ‘normal life’, so representations portray them as having low status, oppression and exclusion
representation of age: stereotypes of childhood in british media
- cute: tv commercials for baby products/ toilet rolls
- little devils: drama and comedy eg bart simpson
- brilliant: child prodigies or heroes for saving the life of an adult
- brave little angels: suffering from long term disease or disability
- accessories: celebs are humanised by having kids eg Madonna or David Beckham
- modern: children ‘these days’ know much more at their age than previous generations
- active consumers: commercials see them as having a consumer apetite for toys and games. ‘Pester power’ allows children to train/manipulate parents to spend money on things that increases their status to peers (Evans and Chandler)
What are the two main ways that youth are represented in the media?
- A whole media industry aimed at socially constructing youth in terms of lifestyle and identity, for example magazines targeted at young people and social media allowing them to project their identity.
- As a social problem- immoral/ anti-authoritarian and as folk devils who are part of a moral panic. Since the 1950s moral panics have been manufactured around youth behaviour such as deviant subcultures or because their behaviour has attracted the disapproval of those in authority.
Wayne et al 2008 (representation of youth)
- content analysis of 2130 news items across all the main TV channels during may 2006
- young people mainly represented as a violent threat to society, it was rare for news to feature a young person’s perspective or opinion
- media only gives a 1d picture of youth, encouraging fear and condemnation rather than understanding
- as well as this, it distracts from the real problems young people face like unemployment, housing and mental health which might be caused by society/gov’s failure to take their problems seriously.
Theoretical viewpoints on the representation of youth (func, plural, interactionists, PM)
- func- representations maintain and normalise the boundaries of socially expected behaviour. Young people are peer pressured to be deviant and these media representations remind them of the social expectations and punishments.
- plur- reflect social reality because young people commit more C+D and this is newsworthy so it sells
- interactionists- young people are frequently labelled by older generations as a threat to social stability because they challenge their authority, moral panics are attempts at social control
- PM- negative portrayas are only a small portion due to new media allowing youth to reconstruct unique, positive and even profitable representations of themselves and their identities
Representation of the elderly (Newman 2006)
- upper middle class elderly people are often portrayed in tv and film dramas as having high status roles as world leaders, judges, politicians, experts and business execs. News programmes also work on the assumption that an older male with grey hair and age lines exudes the necessary authority to impart the news.
- female newscasters on the other hand have complained that these older men are paired with younger females while older women are exiled to radio, as well as leading female film and tv stars being cast aside beyond the age of 40, when their looks are percieved to be diminishing.
Stoller and Gibson (1999) rep of age
older men are often focused on for occupational success rather than physical attractiveness, while older women are seen in social, family and recreational settings and represented as passive, socially isolated, unpleasant and poor
(however, miranda from the devil wears prada subverts this stereotype due to her glam and career status!!)
The Charity Age concern (2000) observes these stereotypes of the elderly, who are underrepresented by mass media in ageist and negative ways:
- grumpy, conservative, stubborn and resistant to social change
- mentally challenged eg suffering from declining functions
- dependent- helpless and dependent on younger members of family/society
- burden- economically burdening society in terms of the dependency ratio & as a physcial/social burden to younger members of the family who must worry about and care for them
- enjoying a second childhood- reliving their adolesence and engaging in activities that they have always wanted to do before dying
Representation of social class: the underclass
- McKendrick (2008) suggests poverty is marginalised in the news: cultural factors or unforseen circumstances are to blame rather than examining it from a structural viewpoint
- Shildrick and MacDonald (2007) labelling of poor as work-shy and welfare dependent
Representation of social class: the working class
- Jones (2012) argues that media demonises the wc, giving them differing cultural values from the mainstream, use of labels like ‘chavs’ dehumanises them based on their appearance and behaviour
- Curran and seaton 2003 argue that the interests of the wc are ignored or trivialised by middle class media
- Newman 2006- media focuses on working class deviance through shows that follow the police and portray the working class negatively through showing them deviating from the social norms and values
Representation of social class: the middle class
- The default audience, dominant ideology transmitted by the largely mc media professionals. mc ideas of what’s culturally acceptable are transmitted to the masses and opposition to these= deviant
- News is constructed based on interests of mc rather than focusing on impacts on the wc but the inc in shares and growth of economy which fails to translate into the lives of individuals
- Cultural elitism within the media prioritised liberal and educated
Representation of social class: the upper class
- Newman 2006- focus on lifestyles of upper class as aspirational with public interest in this
- Altman 2005- inc media focus on wealth and consumerism of wealth which generates interests of the lower classes
- Nairn 1998 points out limited crit of the monarchy in mainstream media, glorified
how is representation of social class changing due to new media?
- coverage of harry and megan, allegations against prince andrew, upper class politicians come under scrutiny with the questioning of the competence of those in power (ledbydonkeys)
- has given users control over the media sources they connect with and rejection of metanarratives and growth of ‘fake news’ leads to questioning of the legitimacy of media sources.
How does ownership affect the representation of social class?
- mainstream media gaze filters representations through the eyes of the rich and powerful, resulting in:
- more favourable stereotypes of upper and middle classes
- overrepresentation of upper and middle classes
- working classes in more restricted roles
LGBTQ+ and new media
- user generated content creates more opportunities for positive representation
- LGBT organisations and individuals have many sites for support
- love wins and support for legal changes to gay marriage
- stonewall criticised BT for allowing parents to block children from accessing gay and lesbian lifestyle content, information on abortion, STIs and contraception.
