Representation

• Feminism Hooks-

  • believes that white, male, upper class people control the media industries, their values and beliefs are the ones that we see in most media products. This can create prejudice and discrimination towards these groups. (advertising, music videos, television, magazines)
• Feminism Van  Zoonen

  • 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 the patriarchy. (advertising, music videos, television, magazines)
• Theories around ethnicity and postcolonial theory- Gilroy

  • theory states that colonial discourses continues to inform contemporary attitudes to race and ethnicity in the post-colonial era.
  • People construct their own racial hierarchies and sets up binary opposition based on notions of otherness- ‘us’ and ‘them’. (advertising, music videos, online media)
• Theories of gender performativity - Judith Butler,

  • identity is a performance, and it is constructed through a series of acts and 'expressions' that we. The ways we walk, talk, dress...
  • Gender performativity is not a singular act, but a repetition/ritual. Outlined and reinforced through dominant patriarchal ideologies.(television, magazines, online)
• Theories of representation - Stuart Hall

  • representations are constructed through media language, and reflect the ideology of the producer. The relationship between concepts and signs is governed by codes.
  • Stereotyping, as representation, reduces people to a few simple characteristics. Allows producers to easily construct media, and audiences to easily decode them. 
  • It occurs with inequalities of power, groups are constructed as ‘other’ (ethnocentrism).(advertising, music videos, newspapers, television, online media)
• Gauntlett- Identity

  • Gauntlett believes that people are individuals, but tend to exist within larger groups who are like them. Media doesn't create identities, but reflects them.
  • The success of ‘feminism’ and increasing representation created a world where identity is increasingly open. Audiences can pick & mix which ideologies suit them, and ignore the elements of the product which they do not agree with in a process of negotiation similar to Hall. (advertising, music videos, magazines, online media)