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Gendered Media. Chapter 11. Gendered Media. Media advances representations of gendered and racial identities Media have progressive and regressive tendencies Media content can be challenged and changed. Media Saturation of Cultural Life.
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Gendered Media Chapter 11
Gendered Media • Media advances representations of gendered and racial identities • Media have progressive and regressive tendencies • Media content can be challenged and changed
Media Saturation of Cultural Life • People today most media-saturated and engaged in history • TV only one form of mass media • Films, newspapers, etc. • Social media to connect with others
Media Saturation of Cultural Life • Surveys show most think media affect others but not themselves • Media culture provides models of what means to be male or female • Media advance ideals of what is desirable in women and men
Gendered Media Use • Boys and men use media for instrumental purposes • Men more likely to read papers and watch television to get news or accomplish tasks
Gendered Media Use • Men also regard media as entertainment • Men and boys more avid consumers of video games that are action-oriented or violent
Gendered Media Use • Girls and women use media to build relationships • Girls and women use phone as way to massage relationships
Gendered Media Use • Girls and women perceive social media as allowing them to express themselves • Girls build online relationships that can be very intimate
Tell Us What’s Important • Early theories – hypodermic needle • Theory too simplistic • Agenda setting – media set public agenda • Media focus our attention
Tell Us What’s Important • Gatekeeper – person or group that controls which messages get through to audiences • News media influence how we perceive movements about gender and gender itself
Tell Us What’s Important • Beginning in 1960s – news media have portrayed women’s movements negatively • Bra-burning incident didn’t happen • Facts to support claims of mommy track were flimsy
Tell Us What’s Important • Tend to negatively portray women who are identified as feminists • Imply that good women don’t leave children at home when in military service
Underrepresent Women & Minorities • Males outnumber females in mass media • In reality, women outnumber men
Underrepresent Women & Minorities • Minorities less visible than women • Appear in supporting roles • Shown in white cultures – their racial values obscured
Underrepresent Women & Minorities • Black characters scarce • Subordinate, athletic, exotic • Asians and Hispanics rare • Males - villains or criminals • Women - emotional and sexualized
Underrepresent Women & Minorities • Older people, mainly women, underrepresented • Show few older women • Elderly stereotyped as sick, dependent, fumbling, passive
Portray Men Stereotypically • Men on prime-time television independent, aggressive, in-charge • Portrayed as sexually active and not responsible
Portray Men Stereotypically • Reality TV portrays men in traditional, stereotyped ways • Macho man proves manliness by degrading women • Not only advances degrading images of women, but portray men as immature and insensitive
Portray Men Stereotypically • White masculinity remains norm • Men seldom shown nurturing others • Portray men as incompetent at homemaking, cooking, child care
Portray Men Stereotypically • Media offer some more complex portrayals of men • Male characters combine qualities traditionally associated with masculinity and femininity
Portray Men Stereotypically • Contradictory images of masculinity embodied by rock and rap artists • Some rappers uphold traditional images of men, women relationships
Portray Women Stereotypically • Media aimed at youth show female characters shopping, grooming, being emotional • Portray women and young girls in sexualized ways
Portray Women Stereotypically • Representations of women assume whiteness is norm and ideal • Depictions of Black women rely on negative stereotypes of mammies, jezebels, welfare mothers
Portray Women Stereotypically • Prominence of white norms for female attractiveness • Black women have lighter skin and straighter hair than typical • Asian women and Latinas represented as exotic and sexualized
Portray Women Stereotypically • Media images reflect stereotypes of women and femininity • Women as sex object • Feminine ideal young and thin • Preoccupied with men and children • Enmeshed in relationships or housework
Portray Women Stereotypically • Female newscasters are young, attractive, and less outspoken than males
Portray Women Stereotypically • Led to pornification of mainstream media • Girls and women responsible for consequences of sexual activity • Portrayed as passive • Portrayed as ornamental objects
Portray Women Stereotypically • Reality TV reinforces traditional views of women and what makes women desirable
Portray Women Stereotypically • Media limit portrayals of women to two opposing types: good and bad • Good • Pretty, deferential, focused on home and family • Cast as victims, angels, martyrs
Portray Women Stereotypically • Media offer bad woman image • Witch, bitch, whore, iron maiden • Encounter in children’s literature
Portray Women Stereotypically • Criteria for good woman challenged recently • But if look more closely at nontraditional images, see woman must also meet traditional stereotypes of femininity
Portray Women Stereotypically • Commodified sexuality prominent in reality TV shows • Hypersexual identity achieved through consumption of products and services
Portray Women Stereotypically • Trend of combining traditional and nontraditional images of gender in single character • See the trailer of Erin Brockovich • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TjEklyF7-E
Gendered Advertising • Advertising’s influence on views may be more powerful than programmed media content • Advertisements are repeated
Gendered Advertising • Majority of ads emphasize visual images • Less subject to conscious analysis • We think we’re immune • Research suggests differently
Gendered Advertising • Advertising portrays men and independent, successful, engaged in activities • In some ads, men appear angry – rebels against authority
Gendered Advertising • Men in ads have muscular bodies, perfect hair, teeth • Contribute to negative self-image and dangerous behavior
Gendered Advertising • Advertising directed at men links products with hypermasculinity and violence • Men’s dominance is emphasized by positioning
Gendered Advertising • Ads for cooking and cleaning products show men as incompetent • Also represent men in home situations as lazy dolts
Gendered Advertising • Ads represent women as competent in cleaning and caregiving roles • Male voice-overs reinforce view of men as authorities
Gendered Advertising • Objectification of women • Highly sexual poses • Women are perfect, sexy
Gendered Advertising • Advertising plays role in promoting appearance and pleasing others • Emphasize women’s need to change themselves • If woman fails man might leave her
Gendered Advertising • Sometimes advertisers control content of magazines • Complimentary copy – articles that increase appeal of product
Gendered Advertising • Product placement – showing or mentioning product in show • Immersive advertising – incorporates product in to storyline
Tell How Relate to Each Other • Most of time, media tell us that women and men relate to each other in traditional ways
Dependence/ Independence • Media portray women as domestic and dependent on men • Media portray girls and women as dependent and boys and men as independent
Dependence/ Independence • Books aimed at adolescent females emphasize importance of being pretty and popular • Women and minorities cast in supporting roles in television shows for children and adults
Dependence/ Independence • Beauty more emphasized than health in women’s magazines • Magazines aimed at girls brim over with advice on how to lose weight and look better
Dependence/ Independence • Music videos portray females as strippers or prostitutes • Males shown ignoring, exploiting, directing women • Women sexualized and infantilized in video games
Dependence/ Independence • There are exceptions • Law and Order Special Victims Unit