Representation Terminology Flashcards
Representation
The way a media product portrays a particular group, place or individual.
Ideology
A set of ideas or beliefs
Dominant ideology
A set of ideas that dominate within society.
Stereotype
An oversimplified or exaggerated representation of a group of people.
Countertype
A positive stereotype, usually created through reversing negative features within a stereotype
Beauty ideal
A socially constructed definition of physical beauty, often resulting in audiences feeling a pressure to conform to the narrow standards of beauty suggested.
Objectification
A representation that depicts someone as an object of sexual gratification.
Subversive representation
A representation that deliberately seeks to deconstruct previous ideas
Star power
Depictions that use celebrity status, often producing idealistic representations for an audience.
Cultural hybridisation
A term used to describe the representations created by the fusion of two different cultures.
Realism
The attempt to represent the real world in a natural way.
Otherness
A term used to describe how media products privilege specific groups in society, whilst portraying anyone who doesn’t fit into that group as ‘other’.
Racial binary
A term used by Paul Gilroy to describe the way that some media products categorise all ethnicities into two groups - blacks and whites.
Colonial discourse
A set of ideas that privilege a white viewpoint, hence suggesting that the white perspective is superior to that of non-whites.
Media plurality
A media landscape in which lots of different types of media institutions operate.
This allows audiences to have lost of choice when it comes to products, institutions and producers.
Absent representation
The absence of key social groups within media products.
Hegemony
The set of ideas, value and ideals that are dominant in society.
Feminised masculinity
A representation of masculinity moves away from traditional stereotypes.
Gender trouble
A media product that subverts heteronormativity, offering alternative representations of masculinity and femininity to traditional stereotypes.
Heteronormativity
The belief that heterosexuality is the norm
Socially constructed gender
Our gender based identities aren’t derived (obtained) from our biology/ sex but from social learning.
Gender binary
The presentation of gender as either masculine or feminine, male or female.
Gender as a performance
(Judith Butler) our gender identities aren’t who we are, but what we do. Our gender identities are therefore a performance rather than fact.
Fixed identities
(Gauntlett) the process of fixing an individuals identity through the application of rigid social rules.
Fluid identities
(Gauntlett) process of identity construction where individuals use a range of role models and social influences to continuously craft their thoughts, beliefs and attitudes.
Post-traditional society
A term used to describe a society that has gone beyond traditional expectations regarding gender roles.
