Stereotypical representation

Question 1

Recount Billington’s 1998 study into the Stereotypical Representation in the Media for Gender Identity

Answer 1

Billington (1998) argues that the media have traditionally portrayed masculinity as dominant and femininity as subordinate, so that women have been represented on television in a narrow range of social roles. For men however, they are portrayed in the full range of social and occupational roles. Women are rarely shown in high-status occupational roles and tend to be over-represented in domestic settings (kitchen, housework). Women are often presented as sexual objects to be enjoyed for what Mulvey (1975) terms the ‘male gaze’. Men are seen to control the image and sexuality of women and this is reinforced in the media through things such as ‘Lads mags’ (Nuts, Loaded etc.) and also pornography. With the rise in technology amongst children, this image is being reinforced at a much earlier age in the media

Question 2

By who and when was the term “male gaze” created?

Answer 2

Mulvey 1975.