Deadline Day Homework- Representation

REPRESENTATIONS- How the media portray events, issues, individuals and social groups.

Representations can be made through:
  • Class
  • Age
  • Gender
  • Ethnicity
  • Disability

The media can often portray people as sterotypes (characterization of an individual or group that has certain features). This links with the 'Representation Theory' by Stuart Hall who believes that sterotypes come about when there are people in power who come from a dominant group within society e.g white middle class men often hold a high place in society. Hall then goes on to believe that the media have ideas about the 'norm' in society which fits some people (usually the white middle class men) and everyone else is an outsider. This then creates an 'us vs them' ideology which emphasises difference and doesn't help sterotypes become more accurate or positive. 

Sterotypes are trying to be reduced with new rules introduced at the beginning of the year, banning descriptions of men and women in gender stereotypical roles to help stop how people see themselves and how others see them and the life decisions they take. Ideas surrounding gender are suggested in the 'Feminist Theory' by Liesbet van Zoonan. Van Zoonan believes that we live in a patriarchal culture dominated by men and that men and women's bodies are represented by the media in different ways; men represented as having a body which they have worked hard for and should admire, whilst women represented as having a body which is something that we want to buy or have or take which shows women to have less power in society than men. Van Zoonan believes that women are objectified in the media, this may be because they don't fit in with 'the norm' suggested by Stuart Hall so therefor take a lower place in society. Van Zoonan also believes that our ideas about gender change depending on the historical and cultural context (e.g. What is masculinity in 1950 vs 2019) and we get our ideas about gender from the media which can have strong impacts on how people live their lives. 

The media can also represent people in the form of archetypes and countertpes. An archetype is a very typical example of a certain person or thing e.g a good teacher is caring, intelligent and sympathetic. A countertype is a positive sterotype which emphasises positive features e.g religious people are kind.

The media is also known for representing things in a hyper-real way. Hyper reality is when media distorts our perception of the real world. If hyper-real images become your reality, your reality will be distorted. This is a theory by Jean Baudrillard who believes that the new world of 'hyper reality' media simulations (e.g Disneyland) controls how we think and believe. An example of hyper reality is that Irish pubs are around the world and most are 'more Irish' than actual Irish pubs which distorts the reality of what an actual Irish pub looks like. 

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