Media Representations and Stereotyping
Conform to and create stereotypes | acts as a code as audience understand quickly and easy.
Media Gaze: Media not equally represented as through the eyes of the producer – white middle class men.
Symbolic Annihilation: Groups trivialised, condemned or given limited representation.
Gauntlett: People reject representations but they become reality when media is only source.
GMG: Representations formed in context of dominant ideology | hegemony reinforced.
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Representations of Age
Children: Cute kids | Feel good factor | Brilliant/excelling | Little angles – do no wrong.
Youth: Subject of negative media stereotyping | 57% of stories about youth neg.
Cohen: Suggests youth are identifiable group for Scapegoating – Common enemy | often referred to as ‘hoodies’ or ‘thugs’.
Older People: Late 50s onward – invisible | Poor/ill health/unattractive. | Older men viewed ‘Wise old men’.
Semigin: London agencies wary of using older models – alienate younger audience.
Dove Pro: Pro age campaign – perusing older people in the market. ‘Culturally Obsolete’. (Brooker)
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Representation of Social Class
General Features: M/U classes represented more and positively | W/C restricted roles.
Jones: M/C values rep. as norm/consensus | Concerns of well off important to majority.
Lawler: ‘Taste’ used as a symbol of class identity.
GMG: Reflect interests of the powerful.
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Working Class
The content aimed at W/C suggests no interest in public affairs. Commonly represented as –
Dumb/Stupid Buffoons: Well intended but flawed individual. E.g. Royal Family.
Source of Trouble/Conflict: Welfare scroungers/delinquent children.
Romanticised Communities: Respectable hardworking | this declined as now les labour work.
White Trash/Scum: Lead to being despised | ‘underclass’ | ‘worthless’.
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Middle Class
Over represented | Families and functional aspirational units – combined with neg. working class – desirable – dominant ideology/hegemony ect. | Worth respect.
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Upper Class
Rich/Powerful/Business People/Celebrities | Posh accents with good taste | expensive lifestyle – content for mass e.g. gossip | Fuels the dominant ideology within the media.
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Representations of Ethnicity
General Features: Ethnic minorities (EMs) under represented and through media gaze. | Afro-Caribbean more coverage than Asians | Black people often put in ‘comedic’ role. | Tokenism | Symbolic annihilation towards EMS e.g. Chinese/Polish rep. characterised by stereotypes
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Key Media Stereotypes:
Deviants and Law breakers | Threat to culture | Causing social problems | illegal immigrants and welfare scroungers | Limited talents | having international problems – e.g. Africa.
Eastern Europeans: Blamed for British problems such as taking jobs and benefits – Such stereotypes and stories reinforce racial prejudice using minority ethnic groups as scapegoats for British problems.
Islamophobia: Muslims stereotyped as threat to social values and public safety | 91% of articles about Muslims neg. – threaten ‘British values’ – Hijab/Arranged marriage.
Moral Panic: ‘Muslim’ now stigmatized identity – heavily bias reported conjuring images of terrorism. Here you could talk about the Orlando shooting – highlighted he was Muslim before actually researching any other facts e.g. he’d lived in America since birth.
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Explanations of Stereotyping
Pluralist:
- of EMs reflect values of journalists – providing what the audience ‘want’.
- Cottle: White audiences secure identity in contrast of culture.
Neo-Marxists
- enforce stereotypes by white middle class men | Reinforces cultural hegemony of white supremacy.
- Scapegoating and racial divide.
- Diverts attention from the structure of inequality.
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Changing Stereotypes
New Media: New tech. extends range of content and availability to counter stereotyping.
Increasing Coverage: 43% of non-white audience watch British TV.
Abercrombie: Eastenders – Ems appears as routine characters adopting lifestyle.
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Representations of Gender
General Features: Women under rep. in industry – e.g. 78% of front page stories by men | The male gaze | male focus and stereotypes | patriarchal ideology | symbolic annihilation – trivialisation/condemnation.
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Media and Social Construction of Gender Differences
Hegemonic and culturally dominant stereotypes of gender –
Male: Independent/Sexually dominant | Female: Emotionally Expressive and concerned about appearance.
Such stereotypes reinforced by:
The beauty Myth: Expectations – young and attractive | Assessed in terms of beauty – ‘ideal body’.
E.g. weightwatchers adverts on Mail Online. – Ugly people not on TV.
Tailored Narrative and Content: Rom. Fic. Exclusive to fem | Mens ‘interest’ sections – Nuts, car mags. | Reflect separate hegemonic identities.
Video Games: Fem. under rep. | high sexualised | objectified/glorified violence towards them – e.g. GTA.
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Female Representations
The Wag | The Sex Object | The Supermum | The Angle | The Ball Breaker | The Victim.
Cult of Femininity: Ferguson – teenage girls media socializing girls for stereotyped roles – concerns of beauty, fashion and relationships.
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Male Representations
The Joker – laughs to avoid serious things | The Jock | Strong Silent Type | The Big Shot | The Action Hero | The Buffoon.
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Theoretical Explanations of Stereotyping
Pluralists: Occurs because audiences ‘want’ it. | Simple effective way to satisfy both audience and organisations.
Liberal Feminists: Product of under rep. in industry | Rep. will change with a more equal role divide.
Marxists and Marxist Feminists: Stereotypes attract advertisers promote gender targeted products to make profit | Audiences persuaded to be concerned to create consumers e.g. hairy legs – razors.
Tebbel: Promoted size 16 models | audiences liked | advertisers withdrew – ‘unhealthy’.
Radical Feminists: Promote patriarchy | Keep to roles where they are subordinate | STs discourage women being a threat to male dominant ideology.
Women’s interests overall displayed as less important or less newsworthy than men.
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Changing Media Stereotypes
McRobbie: Post-Modern society – more flexibility. Gauntlett growing expectation women and men should be treated equally – reflected in the media.
Changing Rep. of Female: New form of assertive femininity embedded in pop culture e.g. in sugarscape – promote ‘girl power’ | Female roles now more complex e.g. The Hunger Games/Tomb Raider.
Changing Rep. of Male: Gauntlett – new choice to construct identity – ‘emo boy’ and ‘new man’ both embrace femininity. | Bodies now sexualised – at least some equity | Growing concern about appearance.
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Explaining the Change
Profit: STs less relevant to reality – media must reflect ideological shift to maintain audience + advertisers.
Choice: People can now reject media – discuss concerns | Evolved to maintain new and future audiences | However led to exploitation of females as sex objects.
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Representations of Disability
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Social Construction of Disability
Disability not caused by impairment but the interaction between the impaired and social environment.
Shakespeare: Stereotype of ‘normal’ generates disabled logo – E.g. those with physical differences that can function adequately are labelled as ‘disabled’.
Social Attitude: Discriminate against impairment causing it to be a ‘disability’.
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Symbolic Annihilation
One child in 20 | 8 Million people working age are disabled however under rep. or portrayed in neg. ways.
Statistics: 80% physical/mobile impairments | 43% in context of highlighting issues of discrimination | 60% portrayed disability as central to role.
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Negative Representations
GMG: Decline in sympathetic attitudes in 2004/5 – specifically in mental health | proportion of linking disability to gov. fraud doubled in 5 years.
Philo: Half of peak time programes portrayed mental illness as threat | 63% references to mental health – easy source of violence/tragedy – ‘Mad and Bad’.
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Media Stereotypes
Three broad types – The Criminal | Sub-Human | Powerless
Barnes: Identified a further 10 types – Pitiable or pathetic | Atmosphere or curiosity | object of violence | Sinister of Evil | Super Cripple | Object of Ridcule | Own Worst Enemy | A a Burdon | Non-Sexual | Unable to Participate in Daily Life.
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Shakespeare’s Conclusion
Disability engages people through sympathy | Disabled cannot reject views easily to the exten of other group – views distorted to a greater length.
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Representations of Sexuality
Sexuality refers to people’s sexual characteristics and behaviour, covers both gay and straight people.
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Heterosexuality
Hegemonic male/female – sexually orientated towards opposite sex | Growing coverage of sexual attractiveness for both men and women.
McRobbie: Argues men face same physical scrutiny by both women and other men.
Metrosexual: New male stereotype – heterosexual men embrace fem. side – however women more sexualised | E.g. in porn – embedding into culture of young males.
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Homosexuality
Rep. formed through heterosexual media gaze | Reported as deviant.
Women: Stereotyped as ‘butch lesbians’ | Male: Effeminate camp figures of fun.
Symbolic Annihilation: Gays excluded | Trivialised | Misrepresented.
Stonewall: Homosexuals portrayed – less than 5% of total programming | 34% of such in 4 programmes | 36% negative | 50% stereotyped.
Cowan: Studied rep. in BBC – gay life 5x more likely to be portrayed neg. over pos. | Homosexuals also more likely to be defined by sexuality.
News Media: Experienced neg. rep. due to moral panic about Aids epidemic.
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Changes in Stereotypes
Growing Tolerance: STs declining | Content insight to homosexual life e.g. Sonya in Eastenders .
The Pink Pound: Companies utilized gay and lesbian markets | Pluralists suggests media companies respond to what homo sexual audiences want.
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Sanitization of Gay Sexuality
Gill (2007): Male STs rep. in sanitised way | presented as stylish | however – lesbians highly sexualised and receive no other exposure
Triple Effect: 1. Appeal to homosexual market | 2. Not offending hetro. aud. and adv. | 3. Not challenging hetro. ideology – secure hegemony.
Impact of News Values: Some gays and stories in nature of paedophilia and sexualisation on children (Moral Panic). – fits news values.