XXX Media - Media Representations - XXX Flashcards
What is symbolic annihilation?
lack of visibility/under representation in media as they are condemned in many roles.
What is the media gaze?
The way the media views society and represents them.
How are the young represented in the media?
Over represented
As social problems (57% negative and 40% on crime,vandalism drugs) - heavy consumers of social networking.
Cohen - youth have become ‘folk devils’ to create and ‘moral panic’. - they are powerless and easy to target and blame.
However can be combated by youth on new media (citizen journalism).
What examples of there of children being represented in the media? 8
British children are shown in a positive way: 8 stereotypes - The Headliners 1998
- Victims of horrendous crimes - white m/c children get more attention than minorities - symbolic annihilation.
- Cute - commercials
- Little devils - drama/comedies (Bart Simpson)
- Brilliant - child prodigies
- Brave little angels - long term illnesses
- Accessories - humanise celebs
- Modern - know more than previous generations
- Active consumers - Pester Power = children can manipulate parents to buy goods to increase social status (Heintz Knowles 2002 - children motivated by peer relationships, sports, romance - rarely shown coping with racial/family issues - this is changing.
Why are these the representations of youth?
Social construction of youth/childhood.
Social problems - someone to blame.
What is the representations of the old in the media? 4
- Under represented (symbolic annihilation)
- Grumpy, mentally challenged, burden, traditional.
- Newman 2006 - upper class elderly portrayed as having high status roles.
- Ford - old men paired with young females but old women shunned to radio. (gender disparity)
- Old is devalued - beauty products aimed to slow down/hide ageing.
What are the representations of class in the media? 4
- More favourable of upper/middle class (neo marxists: reflects interests of ruling class). - over representation (symbolic annihilation) of working class,
- Lawler - taste is a symbol of class.
- Stories about rich more likely to be shown.
- McKendrick - poverty marginal issue unless bad - benefit cheat - Weltman: seen as their own fault (poverty, single parenthood.
What are the media representations of women? 4
Under represented - female issues marginalised.
- limited number of roles, less visible (roles they have are traditional)
- presented as ideals to appeal to men
- victims by men.
- -Connell (2002) - feminine identity is product of ‘hegemonic ideas’ of how sexes should be socialised and how they should behave as adults. e.g. children’s toys advertisements.
What arguments are their for the media sexualising women?
Female issues marginalised e.g. domestic violence, single parenthood.
– focuses on beauty and slimming.
Women’s sport - Newbold (2002) - what little coverage is sexualised and devalued.
Mulvey (1975) - film makers employ ‘male gaze’. (camera lens ‘eyes up’ females for pleasure of men’.
Men’s magazines such as FHM encourage men to dress/look a certain way - feminists argue that they don’t have the same pressure to conform to this ideal.
What are the media representations of homosexuals?
Under representation.
3 representations of homosexuals:
- Dyer (2002) - ‘camp’, effeminate men - unchallenging traditional male masculinity.
- Mulvey (1973) - ‘heterosexual gaze’ (story lines constructed and viewed through)
- Gross (1993) - no ‘plain gay folk’ in the media.
– Stonewall survey: 126 hours of TV - homosexuality portrayed for less than 5% of time (negatively 36% of this time).
Gill (2007) sanitization of gay media - Gay men rarely showed sexually (usually as fashion icons, friend etc.)
– women opposite (lesbian women who usually appear in a sexual way). - appeals to heterosexual men.
What examples for their for growing tolerance of homosexuality? 4
- growing popularity of gay celebrities (Gok Wan, Alan Carr etc)
- more story lines based around homosexual relationships (Soaps, reality TV)
- new media
- adverts
Media companies realise their is a large homosexual consumer market. (pluralism)
What are the media representation of ethnicity?
Under represented - ETHNICITY VIEWED THROUGH ‘WHITE EYE’ + INTERPRETED THROUGH ‘GRAMMAR OF RACE’. (western gaze) - reinforces stereotypes and prevents positive role models within media.
Glasgow University Media Group (GUMG) - developing countries are seen as problems, disasters, wars etc. (these are only news worthy stories associated with them).
– Marxists say this reinforces capitalist system by showing superiority of white western cultures.
Stuart Hall - ethnic minorities represented as inferior, white males are superior. e.g. native american cowboy films.