Gendered Bodies in the Media
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Transcript of Gendered Bodies in the Media
Week 5
Class essaysAnswer the questionMake an argument (“In this essay, I will argue
that….because….”) Clear structure (layout in introduction)Avoid: feel / believe / think / in my opinionSupport your argument with evidenceTreat literature criticallyRead widely; reference thoroughlyProof-read (for clarity; for typos; for grammar /
punc)
Gender and the mediaRange of aspects have been addressed in the
literatureTextual analysisProductionReception
Variety of types of mediaMagazines / newpapersFiction TV and filmDigital mediaAdvertising
Why do people read magazines?
Why have feminists been interested in magazines?
Concerns….Ideological concerns
Narrow representationsOffensive; objectification of womenTeaching women to please menLow culture; trivialBody image
Sexually explicit (but only re: women’s mags)
Theory / methodsContent analysis
Quantitative
Presumption that media should mirror society
Focus on “bad” stereotypes (leaves rest of media intact)
No distinction between levels of meaning
Theory / methodsSemiotics
Unpacking meanings we create in texts
Sign / signifier (Saussure)
iconic / indexical / symbolic signs
Denotation / connotation
Theory / methodsIdeological critiques
Looking for connections between cultural representations and power relations
Based on the idea that social relations come to be seen as natural and inevitable
Those who control material means of production also control production and distribution of ideas
Move beyond study of single images to see patterns and themes
Theory / methodsDiscourse analysis
Takes discourse itself as its topic
Language is constructive
Discourse as oriented towards action
Organised rhetorically (to persuade)
Reception research (an example)“the fallacy of
meaningfulness” (Hermes 1995: 16)
Investment in texts is not necessarily connected to those texts
Content has “in some sense, to be relevant to the fantasies, anxieties and preoccupations of readers (Hermes 1995: 64)
Media production (an example)Changes in modes of
productionChanges in gender
relationsNew methodologies in
publishing (market research)
New technologies (bar codes)
Mags have to appeal to advertisers and consumers
Men’s magazines1990’s – the rise of lads’ mags (Loaded, FHM,
Zoo, Nuts)Response to the “new man”?Response to feminism / changing gender
relations?Use of irony to deflect criticism; post-feminist
sensibilityEssentialised sex differencesNot a direct parallel to women’s mags
Working with the media –a cautionary tale
Working with the media – a cautionary tale
Summary of key pointsWe live in a world saturated by media / ICTThe media is a technology of gender - it both
reflects and (re)produces gender relationsThere are a number of aspects to media analysis;
different perspectives produce different knowledges
Beware “hypodermic” models of media receptionThe meanings of specific media products are
always contingent; individual images / articles need to be put in context
People use the media in different ways / to different ends (it cannot be taken at face value)