Representation in Media

Female Represenataion in newspapers:

sexualised

wives + mothers

whores

blamed for everything

revealing

should know their place

angelic (Madonna)

subserviant

short tempered

Representation: is how media texts deal with and present gender, age, ethnicity, national and regional identity, social issues and events to an audience.

Stereotypes: are a simplified representation of a person, groups of people or a place, through basic or obvious characteristics - which are often exaggerated.

Anchorage: Words that go along with images to give meaning to them in a specific context; includes captions in newspapers and taglines on film posters.

Counter Stereotypes:an idea or object that goes against a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment


Van Zoonen theory


Van Zoonen believes the media portray images of stereotypical women and this behaviour reinforces societal views. The media does this because they believe it reflects dominant social values (what people believe in) and male producers are influenced by this. This is a patriarchy (a society ran by men for men) which dominates and oppresses women.

In these two seperate articles, Leonardo DiCaprio is presented as a strong, welathy gentleman wheread Lana Del Ray is naked in order to appeal to the partriarchal society that runs GQ. Women are deemed inferior and so she is down to wearing nothing so that more men will buy the article, men will also want to buy the DiCaprio covered one because they'll be happy with how confident an proud he seems. Leo is also described as a king, making him seem like the perfect definiton of a man.

Miley Cyrus- Wrecking Ball notes:

Essay task

Using Van Zoonen's theory and the stereotypes associated with gender discuss how the Daily Mail have represented gender from the two front covers presented.

In both newspaper articles, it can be seen that the imagery on display takes away from the actual main topic of the newspaper. For example, in the first example, the very serious topic of cancer is the headline which would by assumption be the thing to draw in the attention of the reader. However, in actuality, the focus is mainly on Princess Kate and her son. Van Zoonen's theory in this instance would be correct because Kate Middleton is seen as a mother and not as a princess here, allowing society to demean her as more domesticated that practical. As well as this, the idea of a mainly male workforce publishing this would make sense due to the topical issue being the secondary focus when in reality it should be all that a reader is focused on, due to the danger being presented. By having male influence over this newspaper, more attention is on the attractive female and less on the potentially life threatening topic. Females are also attracted to this paper yet again with the Van Zoonen theory that all females adore pink. Another point that can be made, is that females are often categorised to love babies, and so Prince George having a more 3D element of the newspaper would be sweet and adorable to them, encouraging to read pages 2-5 in order to see more of the royal family.

Similarly, in the second article, the focus is drawn to the sexual appeal of the newspaper and not the issue at hand of a P.A being harassed. To attract male readers who would be the clear target demographic, 'sex toys' is placed in giant bold letters due to the stereotype being that men love everything surrounding the word sex. As well as this, a woman with exposed skin is placed to the side of the word sex, to link them together and excite the male audience so that they'll be encouraged to purchase the newspaper. Women stereotypes are also met here, with pink being used to catch their eyes as well as a giant ad for weight loss, which all women are assumed to be interested in, even if confident in their bodies; this is what makes the newspaper fit with Van Zoonen's theory. The ad itself is representative of women due to the thought of losing a stone so quickly would excite them, with the stereotype being that all women want to always lose weight. The side section about Trinny is sadly also part of sexualised women in order to sell more papers, despite her discussing that her life has fallen apart, they male dominated workforce would've cared more about getting the best shot that shows off her body in a good light to make her the most attractive.



Representation of Class

Henogomy- a way to describe people or ideas that become dominant in society (Antonio Gramsci and Stuart Hall)

Regional Identity- Where in the UK someone is from; It could refer to a general area such as the "North" or "South" (where there is a big conflict between the two) as well as towns such as "London" or "Manchester".

Archetype definition- a very typical example of a certain person or thing






Islamophobia-