Theorists Flashcards
KEY points and in depth guide to theorists
VAN ZOONEN - FEMINIST
- gender is not biologically determined but rather a social construct.
- that femininity and masculinity are not universal or natural traits but are shaped by the media and society over time.
- Media representations of women as nurturing and emotional, or men as strong and unemotional, reinforce these gender roles, but these traits are not biologically inherent—they are socially learned through media, education, and culture.
- One of the central ideas in Van Zoonen’s feminist theory is the concept of objectification. She explains that women’s bodies are often objectified in the media, meaning they are reduced to their physical appearance rather than being presented as full, complex individuals.
Women are often depicted as passive objects of desire, whose primary value is tied to their physical appearance or sexual appeal. This objectification leads to the dehumanization of women and reinforces patriarchal values that place women in subservient or secondary roles.
LEVI STRAUSS - BINARY OPPOSITIONS
- narratives are driven by conflict between opposing forces — this is what makes stories compelling.
- Shows how media texts reflect societal values or conflicts.
- binary oppositions often reinforce dominant ideologies
- Over-simplification
Real life is complex — not everything fits into neat opposites.
GAUNTLETT - IDENTITY
- Media offers tools and resources for self-expression
- n the past, media showed limited, traditional representations. Today, media offers a wider range of identities across gender, race, sexuality, lifestyle, and culture, which gives audiences more options for self-definition.
- Particularly useful when analysing social media, vlogging, and influencer culture — where identity is often self-constructed.
- Social, economic, and cultural factors limit how freely people can express their identity.
- Especially younger or more vulnerable viewers may still internalise harmful stereotypes.
BELL HOOKS - FEMINIST
bell hooks is an advocate for intersectionality, the idea that social identities like race, class, sexuality, gender do not exist in isolation, and they may experience discrimination differently because their identity is shaped form multiple social groups. Example, Kelly from San Junipero is black, bisexual and a woman, and Yorkie is disabled, lesbian and a woman.
Bell hooks also argued that feminism is the struggle to end the male patriarchy but also that patriarchy not only harms women but also men by limiting their emotional expression and roles in society.
BAUDRILLARD - POSTMODERNISM
Baudrillard argues that in the postmodern world, we live in a “hyperreality”—a reality that is created by media, images, and signs, which often feel more “real” than actual reality itself. In other words, what we experience in media (like movies, advertisements, social media) starts to shape how we see the world, sometimes more than the real world does. The “real” becomes harder to distinguish from the “represented” (what we see in images or stories).
What makes a post modern product (how to identify)?
- Intertextuality, pastiche, irony and self awareness
- Nostalgia - it’s often distorted or reinterpreted, e.g “Black Mirror”: Episodes like “Be Right Back” or “White Christmas” play with the idea of technology blurring the lines between reality and artificial reproduction (e.g., the creation of AI versions of people).
Parody vs pastiche - parody mocks something
pastiche imitates something (more respectful like homage)
Zoella shares aspects of her personal life but also shares a highly curated construct image of her life.
STEVE NEALE - GENRE
- Genres are dominated by repitition but marked by change.
- Repetition gives comfort and recognisability.
Difference provides novelty, excitement, and stops the genre from becoming boring. - They are not fixed — they shift as culture, audience tastes, and technology change.
New sub-genres emerge by mixing elements from different genres (genre hybridity). - Genre isn’t just about storytelling — it’s also a marketing tool.
Studios use genre to target specific audiences, reduce risk, and increase profit. - Some texts resist genre categorisation altogether (e.g., experimental art films, hybrid YouTube content).
BARTHES - SEMIOTICS
Key aspects
* Codes and conventions
* Signifiers and signified
* Denotation and connotation
* Myths
* Enigma code
* Action code
* Semantic code
* Technical codes
* Gesture codes
* Visual codes
HESMONDHALGH - RISK VS REWARD
- Maximising profit and minimising risk.
Media industries face significant risk and uncertainty. The success of a product (e.g., a film, a TV show, or a music album) is never guaranteed, and even with large investments, some products fail.
To reduce this risk, media companies often rely on formulaic content, using familiar genres or stars to help ensure success.
Media companies deliberately over produce in hopes that one or two will be successful.
Media companies forge alliances and create synergies with other media products in order to maximise profit and decrease risk.
CURRAN & SEATON - PROFIT VS CREATIVITY/MEDIA CONCENTRATION
LIVINGSTONE & LUNT - REGULATION
Regulators have to balance two things:
Protecting audiences (especially children) from harmful or offensive content
Allowing freedom of expression for content creators and respecting adult choice
- The rise of the internet, streaming, and social media has made it harder to control what people watch.
Audiences can now access unregulated or lightly regulated content from anywhere, anytime.
- Regulators must serve the public interest — but they also face commercial pressures.
Companies want to make money, which can sometimes conflict with ethical or protective concerns.
JENKIN’S - FANDOM (BLACK MIRROR + ZOELLA)
Fans as Active Participants – Audiences engage in media beyond just watching; they create fan art, fan fiction, theories, and online discussions.
Textual Poaching – Fans “take ownership” of media by reinterpreting and expanding narratives in ways that reflect their identities and experiences.
Convergence Culture – Media is shaped by participatory culture, where fans interact with creators and distribute their interpretations online.
BUTLER - GENDER PERFORMATIVITY
Judith Butler argues that
- gender is performative, or in other words gender is not a fixed trait but made up of behaviour, actions and performances that are repeated over time.
- When media shows certain behaviours as typical for men and women (like men being tough and women being nurturing) it becomes normalised and society expects people to perform to these roles.
- Butler also talks about how power operates in subtle ways through language, norms, and expectations. In the context of media, this means that the media doesn’t just reflect the world but actively shapes it by promoting certain values, norms, and ways of being.
For instance:
Media can reinforce stereotypes that limit people’s behaviors (e.g., women being less competent in STEM fields, men not showing emotions).
These ideas are spread and repeated so much that they seem like “natural” truths, even though they are constructed.
SHIRKY - END OF AUDIENCE
- Traditional media (TV, radio, print) saw audiences as passive consumers, where content was created by professionals and consumed by the public. Audiences are no longer passive consumers but instead active participants that now want to interact, and create their own content.
- Technology has changed our behaviour and our now need to engage with the content we consume. (Through comments, sharing, apps where you can create your own content like TikTok, Instagram, Youtube)
PROPP - CHARACTER/ARCHETYPE
Propp suggested that all stories follow a similar structure, and this structure is made up of specific roles or functions that characters play. Instead of focusing on individual character traits, he looked at what each character does in the story to move things forward.
The 7 character types are:
The Hero, The Villain, The Donor, The Helper, False Hero, The Father, The Reward
TODOROV - NARRATIVE
GILROY - POST COLONIALISM
Gilroy argues that representations of race in media often reinforce colonial ideology of white western superiority Gilroy’s theory suggests that media should provide more diverse and authentic representations of people from former colonies, rather than sticking to outdated, stereotypical portrayals.
- Paul Gilroy’s theory on “otherness” refers to how people who are seen as different from the dominant or mainstream group are often marginalized or treated as “the other.” This concept is deeply tied to issues of race, colonialism, and identity.
Gilroy’s theory helps us understand how people from marginalized groups (like Black, Asian, or indigenous people) are represented in the media. They are often portrayed as the “other”—as different, alien, or inferior compared to the dominant culture.
These portrayals can either perpetuate stereotypes or provide a platform for challenging those stereotypes and reasserting cultural identity.
MULVEY - MALE GAZE
BANDURA - SOCIAL LEARNING/MEDIA EFFECTS
Albert Bandura explored the effects of media on children. Bandura created the ‘Bobo doll’ experiment to examine how children react to violent media, investigating the hypothesis that the media can put ideas directly into the minds of the audience, particularly if they are young and impressionable.
- However, the limitation with this theory is that these children were brought into a research facility and are likely to have wanted to please the researchers and done what they thought they wanted them to do, rather than be an accurate reflection of how they’d learn in reality.
GERBNER - CULTIVATION
