Representation theories

Question 1

Stuart Hall- Representation theory

Answer 1

• Representation is the production of meaning through language, with langauge defined as a system of signs
• Stereotyping reduces people to a few simple characteristics or traits
• Stereotyping tends to accur when there are inequalities of power, as minorities are constructed as ‘other’ through ethnocentrism

Question 2

Van Zoonen- Feminist theory

Answer 2

• Gender is constructed through discourse and meaning varies according to historical and cultural context
• The display of women’s bodies as objects to be looked at is a core element of western patriarchy
• In mainstream culture the visual and narrative codes used to construct the male body as a spectacle differ from those used to objectify the female body

Question 3

bell hooks- Intersectionality

Answer 3

• Feminism is a struggle to end patriarchal oppression and the ideology of domination
• Feminism is a political commitment rather than a lifestyle choice
• Race and class as well as sex determine the extent to which an individual is oppressed

Question 4

Judith Butler- Gender peformativity

Answer 4

• Identity is performatively constructed by the very ‘expressions’ that are said to be its results
• There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender
• Performativity is not a singular act, but a repetition and ritual

Question 5

Paul Gilroy- Postcolonialism

Answer 5

• Colonial discourses continue to inform contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity
• Civilisationism constructs racial hierarchies and sets up binary oppositions based on notions of otherness