Representation within the Media Flashcards
1
Q
What is media representation?
A
- How are different groups represented in the media and why
2
Q
What are the different groups of representation?
A
- Age
- Social Class
- Ethnicity
- Gender
- Sexuality
- Disability
3
Q
(Ethnicity) = What do Neo-Marxists suggest about representations of ethnicity?
A
- Neo-Marxists suggest that the Black and Minority Ethnic groups are filtured through the gaze of the white eye
4
Q
(Ethnicity) = What did Van Dijk conduct?
A
- He conducted content analysis of news across the world over several decades finding that representations of black people could be categorised into three stereotypically negative types of news
- Ethnic minorities as criminals, threats, unimportant
5
Q
(Ethnicity) = How are ethnic minority groups seen as criminals?
A
- Wayne et al found that nearly 50% of news stories involving young black people dealth with them committing crime
- Black young men and boys were regularly associated with negative news values and nearly 70% were related to crime especially violent gang crime
- Black crime is often represented as senseless or motivated by gang rivalries with little discussion of broader context
- Back conducted discourse analysis of inner-city race disturbances arguing that the media tends to label them as riots impling they are irrational which justifies a harsh clampdown by the police. This is not acklowedged of societal racism
6
Q
(Ethnicity) = How are ethnic minority groups seen as threats?
A
- Moral panics have been constructed around immigration who are seen as threats to jobs and welfare services, they have also been constructed around refugees and asylum seekers who were portrayed as threats so social cohesion and national identity . Muslims are also portrayed as the enemy
- Moor et al found that between 2000 and 2008, over a third of stories focused on terrorism and differences between Muslim communities and British society. Stories of Muslims as victims of crime were fairly rare
- Moor et al found that there was four negative media messages about muslims that Islam is dangerous and irrational, multiculturalism allows muslims to spread their message, Islam is presented as intolerant, oppressive and misogynistic and that Islam is a threat to the British way of life (Sharia law)
- Amelie et al focused on the coverage of Islamic pratice of veiling which found that the media tended to present this as patriarchal oppression rather than focussing on it as a choice
7
Q
(Ethnicity) = How are ethnic minority groups seen as unimportant?
A
- Some sections of the media imply that white lives are more important than non-white lives such as black victims of crime who are paid less attention
- Shah found that the BBC engage in tokenism which is where Black and Asian actors are cast as presenters or in roles to give the apperance of ethnic equality rather than whether they fit into the role. Many ethnic minorities do not identify with ethnic minority characters
- The mainstream media pays little attention to the genuine concerns and interests of ethnic minorities, the mainstream media is dominated by the middle class, white elite
8
Q
(Ethnicity) = Is it a changing picture?
A
- It is a changing picture due to citizen journalism where ethnic minorities can create their own platorm to spread more accurate portrayals
- However, traditional media is still negative and prominent using minority groups as a scapegoat
- There has been a shift towards minority ethnic actors playing ordinary characters without typecasting based on them sharing the same characteristics
- There has also been more diverse representation in adverts
9
Q
(Ethnicity) = Is film and TV racist?
A
- There are many prominent tropes with problematic ethnic minority representations
- A common trope in Hollywood is the White saviour
- There are stereotypical portrays of ethnic minorities which are overtly racist.
10
Q
(Ethnicity) = What are examples of negative media stereotyping?
A
- Black Mugging which became a moral panic. Hall found that selective and stereotypical reporting represented young black men as potential muggers and given the role of folk devils
- 9/11 which formed islamaphobia and stereotypes of Muslims as terrorists
11
Q
(Ethnicity) = What are fictional examples of ethnic representation?
A
12
Q
(Gender) = How have women been represented in the media?
A
- Women are historically and misrepresented in stereotypical roles within mainstream media
13
Q
(Gender) = What does Tuchman argue about women representation?
A
- Developed the concept of symbolic annihilation which refers to the under-representation of women in a range of social roles where as men were represented in a full range of social and occupational roles.
- Tuchman also argued women’s achievements were not reported or trivialised as they are seen as less important than their look
- Women were often represented in roles linked to gender stereotypes
14
Q
(Gender) = What did Ferguson find about representation of women?
A
- Ferguson conducted a content analysis of women’s magazines from WW2 to 1980 which found representations which were based on the cult of feminity which was based on traditional, stereotypical female roles and values.
- Teenage magazines aimed at girls offered a broader range of representations but there was still a focus on pleasing males
15
Q
(Gender) = What did Giroux argue about womens representation?
A
- Women were represented in a narrow, restricted and distorted range of roles
- This is evident in Disney films where the typical female character is sexualised yet delicate who needs to be rescued by a stronger male character
- Examples where Disney reinforce female stereotypes include Ariel who gives up her voice to win the prince, Cinderella who is saved from awful conditions because she is beautiful
16
Q
(Gender) = What is the Male Gaze?
A
- Laura Mulvey studied cinema films and developed the concept of the male gaze to describe how the camera lens sees female characters for the sexual viewing pleasure of men
- The male gaze of the camera puts the audience in the perspective of the heterosexual men where women are displayed as sexual objects for the pleasure
- This means that women become objectified as sex objects due to heterosexual men being in control of the camera
17
Q
(Gender) = Is there a changing representation of women?
A
- The roles of women in society have changed considerably since historical representations as they now occupy a wider range of roles and equality with men
- Gauntlett argues that there has been an increase in diversity of representations and roles and a decrease in stereotypical representations
18
Q
(Gender) = How are women represented in films?
A
- There has been an increase in films with a strong lead female who subvert hegemonic concepts of masculinity as seen in Alien
- However it could be argued that these films still perpetuate the beauty myth as they are still slim and attractive
19
Q
(Gender) = What is the Bechdel Test?
A
- The Bechdel Test presents analysis of the representation of women in relation to men in film, this has to have at least two named women who talk to each other about something other than a man
20
Q
(Gender) = How are women represented in the news?
A
- The Global Media Moniroting groups conducted content analysis which found that the overall presence of women as sources was 28%
- This had decreased by 3%
- Women remained largely confined to the private and emotional sphere whereas men dominate the public and objective sphere
- Women were under-represented in authoritative and professional categories yet significantly over-represented as voices of the homemaker and parent
- They often speak from personal experience or eye-witnesses
21
Q
(Gender) = Has the beauty myth continued?
A
- Tebell argues that women are under more pressure to conform to the Beauty Myth as the body and faces of real women have been symbolically annihilated and replaced by artificial and airbrushed images
- Killburn argues that media representations of women present mannequins of skinny, tall, thin and perfect blemish free skin
- Orbach argues that the media continues to associate with slimness, health, happiness and popularity
22
Q
(Gender) = How are women represented in advertising?
A
- There has been progress in advertising as some adverts that reinforce the beauty myth stereotype have recieved significant backlash and are criticised for the overt body shaming
- There has been an increase in diversity of representations of women in advertising such as a range of body sizes and ethnicites
23
Q
(Gender) = What are traditional representations of men?
A
- Traditional representations of men have certain attributes such as strength, power, control, authority and emotionless. Media representations have reinforced hegemonic masculinity
- Gilmore has summarised this into the stereotype of the provider, the protector and impregnator
24
Q
(Gender) = What do Earp and Katz argue about male representation?
A
- The media have provided us with images which define violence as orindary and a normal part of masculinity
- The media help construct violent masculinity as a cultural norm
25
(Gender) = What did Children Now find about male representation?
- Conducted research in the late 1990's which found there was six common types of representation of men in the media
1. The joker who uses laughter to avoid displaying emotion
2. The Jock who demonstates his power to win approval
3. The strong silent type who is in charge and succeeds with women
4. The big shot whose power comes from the professional status
5. The action hero who is strong and violent
6. The buffoon who is a father, well intentioned and light hearted
26
(Gender) = What is the crisis of masculinity and how does it affect male representation?
- The changing roles of men in society are reflected in changing representations of men in the media
- Representations of men are moving away from toughness, stubbornness, emotional silence instead showing characters being more comfortable showing emotions and how to deal new emotions
- There is also an increasing amount of images within advertising which encourage men to be concerned with body images, apperance and sexualisation of male bodys where they are objectified for female viewing pleasure
27
(Sexuality) = How has media representation been of sexuality?
- Historically been mostly heterosexual (heteronormativity) with representations of LGBTQ being largely invisible
28
(Sexuality) = What does Batchelor argue?
- Gay representations did appear in mainstream media but were not integrated into plot lines but gayness was a part of the plot
29
(Sexuality) = What did Dyer observe?
- The person's person alone does not show a person is gay but the media have constructed stereotypical signs of gayness which include certain facial expressions, vocal tones and stances
30
(Sexuality) = What did Craig find about representation of gayness?
- Craig identified three media signifies of gayness
1. Camp = The flamboyant figure of fun who is non threatening (Cam from Modern Family)
2. Macho = Openly sexual look which exaggerates aspect of traditional masculinity
3. Deviant = Gay people are evil who are sexual predators who feel guilty
31
(Sexuality) = What did Stonewall find?
- LGBTQ communities were being subjected to symbolic annihilation where characters were presented disproportionantly the comedic relief
- Lesbians were also over-sexualised for male's viewing pleasure
- The majority represented gay people as unhappy about their sexual orientation or people who have been bullied and rejected
32
(Sexuality) = How has new media affected representation of sexuality?
- The new media are generally more positive than mainstream media because the content is citizen journalism
- Social media sites have generated support for same sex marriages and it is generally supportive of the LGBTQ community
- There is also more presence to diverse range of sexualities which are often under-represented in mainstream media
33
(Age) = How are children represented in the media?
- Children are often represented as vulnerable and in need of adult protection which mirrors the social construction of childhood in society
34
(Age) = How does advertising represent children?
- Advertising represents children as consumers to socialise them into becoming consumers and increase peer-pressure demand for their products
35
(Age) = What do Youth and Children's Work suggest about youth stereotypes?
- There are five major stereotypes
1. Irratating and annoying
2. Drinking and drug addictions
3. Drain on society
4. Excepetional super achiever
5. Entrepreneuerial go-getter
36
(Age) = How are the youth represented?
- Young people are disproportionately likely to be represented as a problem with coverage being of youth gangs, crime and anti-social behaviour rather than the challenges facing teenagers
- Youth subcultures have been the focus of media led moral panics which tend to exaggerate the deviance of young people and increase public panic
37
(Age) = What does Charlotte Kelly argue about youth representation
- She conducted research on the language used by journalists to describe young people who found that there are three major types of representation
- They found that young people are dangerous, in need of protection and immature
38
(Age) = Does some media represent youth positively?
- Some documentaries portray the complex issues that young people face today
- This is seen in Educating Essex and Derry Girls
39
(Age) = What is the media representation of old age?
- There are three key media stereotypes of the elderly. Old people were disporportionately represented as a burden, mentally challenged and grumpy
40
(Age) = What does Lee et al argue about old age representation?
- Conducted a study of adverts finding that old people were underrepresented but they were more positivite representations highlights golden agers who enjoy healthy and active lifestyles
- There is gender differences in the way old people are represented in the media as older men are more visible seen as high status, silver foxes and work whilst older women are associated with the family
41
(Class) = What are the different class represented?
1. The Monarchy
2. The Wealthy
3. The Middle Class
4. The working class
5. The underclass
42
(Class) = How are the monarchy represented?
- The monarchy developed close ties with the media to reinvent themselves as they are like us but not like us. This reinforces national identity and seen as positive
43
(Class) = How are the wealthy represented?
- They are represented positivtly focussing on that it should be something we aspire to rather than focussing on the injustice
- Celebrities glamourises lifestyles
44
(Class) = How are the middle class represented?
- Higher income families are over-represented in day time TV such as antiques shows and homes under the hammer
- Most TV presenters are middle class so align with middle class guests more. The news agenda is framed from a middle class point of view
45
(Class) = How are the working class represented?
- There are few shows which focus on the reality of the lives of working class people, mainstream soaps tend to be representations of working class
- Jones suggests the working class are represented as racists who hate immigration and multiculturalism
- Eastenders and Coronation Street
46
(Class) = How are the underclass portrayed?
- Coverage focuses on the poverty of individuals rather than structural features of the government which created the underclass
- Media coverage is generally negative and scapegoated for societies problems
- Eg. Benefit Street
47
(Class) = What are the stereotypes of benefit claimants?
- Baumberg found a disproportionate focus on benefit fraud in press articles which describes them as undeserving such fraud, dependency and an outsider status
48
(Class) = What is the stigma of benefit claimants?
- There was an increase in articles about benefits claimants which focussed on benefit fraud, should not be claiming, has never worked, large families, bad parenting and antisocial behaviour, claimants being better of on benefits than working of than workers, immigrants claiming benefits
49
(Class) = What are examples of media representing the underclass?
1. Benefits Street which explores a sensationalised and stereotypical representation of those on the welfare state, this includes people being drunk and sofas on the pavement
- Shows present benefits claimants as lazy who do not want to work
- Shows emphaise the difference of us and them who invites us to identify ourselves against those on benefits which is seen as morally wrong
50
(Disability) = How are disabilities represented?
- Disabled people are represented within a range of stereotypes needing the help of able-bodied
51
(Disability) = What did Barnes identify as stereotypes?
1. Pitiable and pathetic
2. Sinister and evil
3. People have disabillities have super powers
4. Included to enhance the atmosphere
5. Sexually abnormal
6. Incapable of fully participating
52
(Disability) = What does Longmore argue?
- Telethons suggest that disabled children were not able to participate unless they were fixed therefore reinforced the idea that disabled recievers should be dependent on their able-bodied donors
- They reinforce stereitypes of disabled people to raise money rather than awareness
53
(Disability) = How do newspaper represent the disabled?
- Findlay found that the use of stereotypical words had declined in 20 years but the stereotypical representations were still present in 2009.
54
(Disability) = What did Watson et al compare?
- Tabloid media coverage in five newspapers included a significant increase in the reporting of disabillities, the reporting of sympathy had fallen, reporting groups were often negative and focussed on disability benefit fraud
55
(Disability) = What are the changing representations of disabillities?
- Disabled people are now more visible in the media through shows such as Love on the Spectrum and The Undateables reinforced which could be positive but also reinforce stereotypes
