Representations of gender in the media

Question 1

Roles allocated to the sexes in media have been restricted

Answer 1

• Women allocated a limited range of roles
• Women are less visible in the media
• Women presented as ideals
• Women have been selected to appeal to men
• Men seen as agressors, women as victims

Question 2

Tuchman - Limited range of roles

Answer 2

Roles for women

• Housewife
• Mother
• Sex object

Question 3

Criticism of Tuchman

Answer 3

Outdated, media can break stereotype

Question 4

The Global Media Monitoring Project

Answer 4

• 76% of people across the globe heard/read were male
• 24% female
• Women = 6x more likely more likely to be identified by their family status (e.g. mother)

Question 5

Marginalised

Answer 5

Women’s issues have been pushed away/made inferior

Question 6

Women’s issues are trivialised in magazines

Answer 6

• Dieting

- Makeup

Question 7

Tuchman - Symbolic annihilation

Answer 7

The destruction of women’s identities

PLURALISTS - Given what they want

Question 8

WIJ found that ___ of sports journalists were women

Answer 8

3%

“Can’t be what you can’t see” - Wilson

Question 9

Typical stereotypes of journalists

Answer 9

Male = Old, unattractive, formal 
Women = Pretty, attractive, intelligent and attractive

Question 10

Ferguson

Answer 10

• Women are pressured to become the ideal women
• Magazines were “apprentice manuals”
• Encouraged a “cult of femininity”

Question 11

Naomi Wof

Answer 11

• Beauty myth, women are valued in terms of attractiveness to men
• Low self esteem
  Pressure

Question 12

Mulvey

Answer 12

• Male gaze

- Camera lens eyes up the female characters, providing pleasure for men

Question 13

Liberal feminists

Answer 13

Representations have improved

• March of progress
• No more page 3 girls
• Men/women are equal on the apprentice

Question 14

Marxist feminists

Answer 14

Representations benefit capitalism

- Women spend more trying to reach an unrealistic standard of beauty

Question 15

Radical feminists

Answer 15

Representations benefit men

• Women = objectified (male gaze)
• Leads to objectification of women
• Link to Dworkin - porn = violence

Question 16

Symbolic interactionalist view

Answer 16

• Interested how behaviour is socially constructed

- Media acts as an important secondary agent of socialisation

Question 17

Hegemonic masculinity

Answer 17

• Describe how society has created what it is to be typical male

Question 18

1980s saw an emergence of magazines aimed at men (m/c)

Answer 18

• Men shouldn’t be afraid to get in touch with their feminine side
• They should treat women as equals
• They should care more about appearance
• Active fatherhood is important
• Men are emotionally vulnerable

Question 19

Metrosexual male

Answer 19

• Postmoderists argue gender divisions are less clear

- Frank Mort = Reflect social change in social attitudes in men

Question 20

Retributive masculinity

Answer 20

Attempt to reclaim traditional masculine authority by celebrating typically male concerns int heir content

Question 21

Westwood

Answer 21

More transgressive roles

Question 22

Gauntlett

Answer 22

• Magazines now emphasise women must do their own thing
• Only 3% now represented as housewife
• Women and men tend to have similar skills and abilities in films today
• There is more of an emphasis on sexuality and less on romance

Question 23

Examples that show women are no longer represented as ideals?

Answer 23

Dove campaign

Question 24

Representation

Answer 24

How a group is presented by the media

Question 25

Stereotype

Answer 25

An oversimplified image of a group

Question 26

Issue with stereyotype

Answer 26

• People are not predictable

- Can be manipulated to benefit others