Mass media and representations.
LI: to recap our knowledge on how
the mass media is used to represent
different social groups
Short mark question
Identify and briefly explain three ways in which
media representations of sexuality and/or
disability could be said to be stereotypical.
Peer mark
One mark for each of three ways identified such as:
• media providing mainly negative information
• rarely showing disability as a normal part of everyday life
• stereotyping by omission/symbolic annihilation
• people defined by their physical attractiveness/appearance
• characters defined by their sexual orientation.
NB: no marks for media representations of gender rather than sexuality.
Two further marks for each of three satisfactory explanations such as:
• media providing mainly negative information: male and female homosexuality
(gays and lesbians) have traditionally been treated by the media as deviant or
perverse. Gay men have been shown as effeminate and gay women as butch
lesbians.
• rarely showing disability as a normal part of everyday life: many representations of
disability portray impairment as central to the character’s role, rather than someone
whose main role is doing something else.
• stereotyping by omission/symbolic annihilation: the achievements of people with
disabilities are often trivialised or not reported by the media.
How can we classify the way the media
represents different groups?
2 minutes to come up with as many ways as you
can think of.
Key definitions
Stereotypes:
a preconceived, standardised and versimplified impression of the
characteristics which typify a person or group of people.
Symbolic annihilation:
simple media image based on such simplifications
Male gaze:
Objectification of women in the media, often reinforcing patriarchy.
What is this?
Why are representations in the media
important?
• Media representations reinforce culturally dominant ideas
about all social groups.
• Almy et al. (1984) argue that media representations of
gender are important because they enter the collective
social conscience and reinforce culturally dominant
(hegemonic) ideas about gender which represent males as
dominant and females as subordinate.
• Sociologists argue that media representations not only
stereotype masculinity and femininity into fairly limited
forms of behaviour, but also provide gender role models
that males and females are encouraged to aspire to.
Gender and media representations
Write a definition of ‘hegemonic masculinity’
and ‘hegemonic femininity’.
How does the mass media reinforce these
ideas?
What do the theories say?
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Liberal Feminist
Marxist
Radical Feminist
Post-modernist
Pluralist
Marxists
• Marxists believe that the roots of the stereotypical images of men
and women in the media are economic. They are a by-product of
the need of media conglomerates in capitalist societies to make a
profit. The male dominated media aim to attract the largest
audience possible and this leads to an emphasis on the traditional
roles of men and women in sitcoms, game shows and soap operas.
The alternative images of women encouraged by feminism, e.g. as
assertive career women, do not fit easily into this type of media
content and consequently such women are ignored, devalued or
treated critically.
• The media emphasis on women’s bodies as projects is the result of
the growth of the cosmetic and diet product industries. It is
estimated that the diet industry alone is worth $100 billion a year in
the USA. Marxists note that the marketing strategies of these
industries deliberately manipulate women’s anxieties so that they
can be exploited as consumers of body-related products.
Liberal Feminists
• Liberal feminists believe that media representations
lag behind the reality of social and economic
conditions. However, they acknowledge that
representations of women have changed significantly
for the better in the last thirty years. However, some
liberal feminists have noted that women’s progress as
media professionals has slowed down in recent years.
The majority of media owners are male and influential
positions within the media such as media executives,
newspaper editors, senior journalists, producers,
television and film directors, and heads of television
programming are also dominated by males.
Radical Feminists
• Radical feminists argue that traditional hegemonic
images of femininity are deliberately transmitted by a
male-dominated media to keep women oppressed
into a narrow range of roles. This creates a form of
false consciousness in women and deters them from
making the most of the opportunities available to them
and consequently men’s patriarchal power is rarely
challenged.
• Radical feminists believe that it is no coincidence that,
at the same time as women are achieving greater
social, political and professional equality, media
products symbolically annihilate them to subordinate
positions as sex objects or mothers or housewives.
Pluralist
• Pluralists would argue that we have many
different and competing representations of
gender in the modern mass media.
• If one representation is negative or
stereotyped, then there are many more
alternatives out their for the consumer.
• The diversity of media platforms and content
means that audiences don’t have to put up
with these lazy stereotypes anymore.
Post-modernists
• Gauntlett (2008) focuses on the relationship
between the mass media and identity and argues
that the mass media today challenge traditional
definitions of gender and are actually a force for
social change. There has also been a new
emphasis in men’s media on men’s emotions and
problems, which has challenged masculine ideals
such as toughness and emotional reticence. As a
result, the media are now providing alternative
gendered images and ideas, which are producing
a greater diversity of choices for people in
constructing their gender identities.
Studies - The media and negative
femininity
• Tuchman et al. (1978) used the term symbolic
annihilation to describe the way in which women’s
achievements are often not reported, or are
condemned or trivialised by the mass media. Often
their achievements are presented as less important
than their looks and sex appeal.
• Ferguson (1983) conducted a content analysis of
women’s magazines from between 1949 and 1974, and
1979 and 1980. She notes that such magazines are
organised around a cult of femininity, which promotes
a traditional ideal where excellence is achieved
through caring for others, the family, marriage and
appearance.
Studies – media empowering women
• Sociologists have noted the increasing number of positive
female roles emerging, especially in television drama and
films. Why?
• Gill (2008) argues that the depiction of women in
advertising has changed from women as passive objects of
the male gaze, to active, independent and sexually
powerful agents.
• Gauntlett (2008) argues that magazines aimed at young
women emphasise that women must do their own thing
and be themselves, whilst female pop stars, like Lady Gaga,
sing about financial and emotional independence. This set
of media messages from a range of sources suggest that
women can be tough and independent whilst being ‘sexy’.
Studies on idea of masculinity
• http://revisionworld.co.uk/a2-level-levelrevision/sociology/mass-media-0/mediarepresentations-age-social-class-ethnicitygender-sexuality-and-disability
Give revision notes and ask students to
revise ethnicity, age, disability.
• Each person to write a blog post.