topic 4: representations Flashcards
representations of ethnic minorities
Van Dijk - “ethnic minorities as criminals”
black crime and violence is most frequent issue found in media coverage
“ethnic minorities as a threat”
pose a threat to white culture
“ethnic minorities abnormal”
the british media has been accused of creating flase cultural stereotypes around the value systems and norms of other cultures
“ethnice minorities as unimportant”
the media implies that the lives of wite people are more important than the lives of non-white people
“ethnic minorities as dependent”
stories about less developed counries tend to focus on the ‘coup-war famine stravation syndrome’ they imply that the countries problems are caused by stupidity, tribal conflict, too many babies, laziness, corruption and ubstable political regimes
“ethnic minorities are unstable”
ethnic minorities are under represented on TV
what does Agbetu state the 3 attributes a black person has within the media?
- involved in criminality
- involved in sports
- involved in entertainment
representations of the monarchy
Noirn
the monarchy has successfully converted much of modern mass media to its cause, so that until fairly recently any criticism of the institution or members in it was rare
AO3: scaling back of working royals
- scaling back the number of working royals shows that the queen is acting based off public demand and pressure as the taxpayer does not want to be paying for royals cars, secruity etc
Newman
Argues that the media focus very positively on the lifestyles of wealthy and the priviledged
newman - business & finance
large amounts of media is dedicated to daily business news and stock markets despite the fact little own stocks and shares
what is the pluralist perspective on representations of the elite?
- the media view the UK as a meritocracy and the media representations of the wealthy are representative of the idea that talented people are deserving of high rewards and motivates people to work harder
AO3
- much more public consciousness and criticisms on actions of the wealthy
- films such as ‘the wolf of wall street’ and ‘the big short’ showcase some of the negatives of the wealthy
- stock markets affect everyone hence why they’re reported so often
representations of the middle class
“middle class as overrepresented”
in dramas, middle class families as predominant. They are generally protaryed as concerned about manners, decency, decorum, respectability etc
“media is mainly aimed at middle classes”
Lots of british newspapers are aimed at the middle class and their consumption, tastes, interests in material goods
“Media reflects middle class concerns”
journalists believe that the middle classes of england are generally anxious about the decline of moral standards in society and that they feel threatened by alien influences
“most media professionals are middle class”
in news and current affairs the middle class dominate positions of authority
representations of the working class
marxist - newman
notes that there have been very few situational comedies, dramas or films in the past 10 years that focus on the everyday lives of the w/c
jones
argues that the media mounts an assault on w/c values, institutions and communities
what do marxists argue newspapers do to engage the w/c?
newspapers aimed at w.c focus on celebrity gossip, human interest stories and simplistic interpretation of complex political issues
AO3: pluralism
they would argue that publications are simply responding to audience needs and desires
Mckendrick et al
coverage of poverty is marginal in mainstream media and that the cause and consequence of poverty are rarely explored through the media
Cohen
argued that the mass media is concerned with ‘trumpeting the good fortune’ or british capitalism that it pays less attention to its casualties
“creating a social stigma”
the use of words like ‘chav; in the media is another way of suggesting that the poor are undeserving of public sympathy
Lawler
argues that the media use this discriminatory language to vilify and socially stigmatise what they depict as a peasant underclass or white trash
representation of childhood
heinzt-knowles
children are often portrayed as motivated by peer relationships, sports and least often by community and school-related issues - rarely seen as coping with societal issues
evan and chandler
children represented in adverts and commercials socialise them to become active consumers and this has led to the emergence of ‘pester power’
representations of youth
wayne et al
found that 82% of main television channels foucsed on young people either the victims of, or more commonly, the perpetrators of violent crime - extremely rare for news items to feature a young persons perspective
functionalist perspective of representations of youth
media representations function to maintain and normalise boundaries of socially expected behaviour and expected punishments
pluralist perspective of representations of youth
media representatives reflect social reality - young people commit more crime than other social groups and it is newsworthy
interactionalist perspective of representations of youth
young people are frequently labelled by older generations as a threat to social stability and mroal panics result as an attempt of social control
neo marxist perspective of representations of youth
the agenda as far as the reporting of youth is concerned is set by older people and consequently negative
postmodernist perspective of representations of youth
in media-saturated, postmodern societies, negative portrayals are only a small aspect of media representations which are actually diverse and pluralistic. with new media, youth are accomplished creators.
representations of elderly
age concern charity
argue that the elderly are underrepresented in general across a varitey of mass media and portrayals are generally ageist
“grumpy”
paints elderly people in a bad light light who spend their time bemoaning the behaviour of young people and complaining about the modern
“mentally challenged”
suggests growing old involves the loss and decline of people’s mental functions
“A burden”
the elderly are portrayed as an economic burden an society and/or physical and social burden on younger members of their family
Lee et al
notes that representations is still low at 15% but the majoirty of these advertisements portray the elderly as ‘golden agers’ who are active, alert, healthy and content
AO3 of lee et al
does not reflect the range of experiences people have when they age (e.g loss, health problems)
representations of men
Children Now 1999
- asked boys between 10-17 about their perception of male characters they saw on TV
- males are generally leaders and problem solvers
- males are funny, confident, successful and athletic and rarely show emotion
what fraction of boys had never seen men doing domestic work on TV?
1/3
McNamara
- analysed a wide variety of media-newspapers, magazines, TV and found that media representation of men and boys failed to portray the reality of masculine life
what % of media representations portray men negatively?
80%
what words does McNamara use to describe men?
“violent, aggressive, thieves, thugs, murderers, sexual abusers, wife beaters”
what % of representations show a new type of men in touch with their feminine side?
20%
hetrosexual male
refers to men who take care of their appearance in terms of consuming toiletries and fashin products and who are unafraid to express emotional vunerability
representations of women
symbolic annihilation: Tuchman
womens achievements are often not reported or are condemned or trivialised by the mass media
Tunstall: women
argues that the presentation of women in the media is biased because it mainly represents women as buy housewives, mothers and sex objects
Tunstall: men
men are portrayed as active and in positions of power, rarely sexualised and no reference to their marital status
the ‘Just Women’ report
based off a fortnight’s analysis of 11 national newspapers in September 2012, that concluded that over 1300 news reports portrayed women in limited roles
Kilbourne
media often present women as mannequins; tall, thin, size 0 with long legs and perfect features - used to advertise health and cosmetic products
wolf
argued hat the dominant media message aimed at women is that their bodies are a project in constant need of improvement
packer et al
found that at the time of the 2012 olympics 4.5% of articles in national newspapers related to women’s sports but this fell to 2.9% in 2013
Duncan and Messner
note that commentators use different language when talking about female athletes
AO2: Caroline Criado-perez
Subjected to 50 rape and murder threats every hour for two days in 2013 from twitter trolls
Gauntlett
argues that magazines for young women today emphasise that women must do their own thing and be themselves
Green and Singleton
in the field of new media, women are empowered
Plant
the internet is a feminine technology that has the potential to destabilise patriarchy as it allows women to explore and subvert.
representations of sexuality
batchelor et al
found that being gay was not generally integrated into mainstream media representations
Craig
identifies 3 media signifiers of gayness:
1. camp
2. macho
3. deviant
stonewall
concludes that the LGBT community is undergoing symbolic annihiliation - consigned to the status of comedic relief
pink economy and pink pound
spending power of the LGBT community
examples of media representations of transgender people
greys anatomy
Glee
orange is the new black
AO2: University of Aberta social media and LGBT stats
between 2012-15 there were 56.5 million homophobic comments
representation of disability
barnes
found 11 reoccuring stereotypes of disabled people
“as pitiable and pathetic”
this stereotype has grown in popularity in recent years because of television appeals. he also noted that is a staple of popular televison drama and news that often over focus on children and ‘miracle cures’
AO2: example of being seen a pitiable and pathetic
the charity smile train has been criticised for using childrens looks as a way of generating pity and gaining donations
“as an act of violence”
when disabled poeple are featured in television drama, they are 3 times more likely than able bodied characters to be killed off
AO2: give an example of disabled being seen as an object of violence
the mirror ran the headline ‘school of scandal: Abuse at school where soldiers send their kids in connection with a story about alleged sexual abuse at a private school for children with learning difficulties, dyslexia and dyscalculia
“as sinister and evil”
disabled people are often portrayed as criminals or monsters
AO2: give an example of disabled people being seen as sinister or evil
Le chiffre in casino royal has scarred and discoloured left eye
“as atmospheric or curio”
disabled people may be featured in drama to enhance an atmosphere as menace, unease, mystery or deprivation. they are therefore used to add visual impact to production.
AO2: give and example of disabled being seen as curio or atmospheric
the channel 4 documentary series bodyshock with episodes such as turtle boy, curse of the mermaid and the boy whose skin fell off
“super cripples”
the disabled are often portrayed as having special powers
AO2: give an example of disabled being seen as super crippled
the advert for the paraolympics in 2012 was criticised by the UK disability charity, scope, for suggesting the athletes with disabilities were in some way magical for coping with their impairments
"”as an object of ridicule”
disabled people are often laughed at in comedies
AO2: give an exmaple of disabled being seen as a ridicule
Both Derek and The Morgana show on channel 4 have been criticised for depicting characters that are apparently intellectually challenged in order to create comedy
“as their own worst and only enemy”
the media portrays some disabilities as more acceptable than others, and some disabled people are self pitiers
AO2: give an example of the disabled being seen as their own worst enemy
Channel 4 comissioned several documentaries around katie piper which include uplifting stories of people with facial disfigurements rebuiliding their life
“as a burden”
television documentaries and news features often focus on carers rather than the disabled
AO2: give an exmaple of the disabled being seen as a burden in the media
BBC 3’s ‘don’t call me crazy’ was filmed at the McGuinness Unit for adolescent mental health where some were sectioned such as beth and shown to need constant supervision and reliant on staff for wellbeing
“as sexually abnormal”
it is assumed by media representations that the disabled so not have sexual feelings or are sexually degenerate
“as incapable of participating fully in community life”
rarely shown as integral and productive members of the community
AO2: give an example of disabled being seen as incapable of participating in community
the character becky jackson in glee has down syndrome and it is implied she only gets on the cheer team due to coach sue sylvester having a sister with down syndrome
“As ordinary or normal”
he says that the media rarely portray disabled people as normal people who just happen to have an impairment. They consequently fail to reflect the everyday experience of disability
AO2: give an example of disabled people being seen as ordinary or normal
Breaking bad and Deadwood both have characters with cerebal palsy
