gender

• traditionally, media reinforces gender stereotypes between men and women

  men as dominant

  women as subordinate
• Tuchman et al - symbolic annihilation

  • describes the way women are left out of media discourse
  • achievements are ignored
  • interests and pursuits devalued
• newbold - examples of symbolic annihilation

  • researched sports reporting and found women sports often marginalised and sexualised
• wolf - sex objects

  • focuses on how media represents women as sex objects for mens gratfications
  • favour a certain body image
  • beauty myth - suggests women are used in the media for the male gaze
• conflicting working mothers

  • usually represents women in domestic and marginal roles
  • women are working mothers, usually worried about not fulfilling main, domestic role
• post - feminists - transgressive roles

  • media representations reflect the way society has changed for women
  • media features more women focused on career (career women)
  • liberal feminists say these representations are yet to catch up with social change but has been making progress
• gill - sexually powerful

  suggests that women are able to use their sexuality in a powerful way to get what they want. 

  e.g black widow

  a03 - radical feminists argue that patriarchy has convinced women that they are in control, but really it is the men who are getting what they want (sexualised images of women).
• Ferguson - cult of femininity

  • media presents an ideal of womanhood that women were encouraged to aspire to: the “domestic goddess”.
  • found that women were encouraged through magazines to focus on their appearance, their marriage, their domestic roles and raising their children, as opposed to other possible aspirations.
• independant

  • a lot of focus in the media on independence and aspiration for women and girls
  • e.g Taylor swift, Beyonce, spice girls
• mcrobbie - illusion of equality

  thinks that the apparent greater equality in the media today has been overstated
• postmodernists on male representation

  • noted that, from the 1980s, magazines aimed at men and some depictions of men in the media have instead focused on men’s vulnerable side, encouraging them to get in touch with their emotions. 
  • metrosexual - new man, focusing on fashion, appearance
• Connell - hegemonic masculinity

  • idea that there is a particular view of masculinity – of being a “real man” – that is dominant in Western culture.
  • gender hierarchy - men above women
  • hierarchy among men - alpha males on top
• gauntlet - retributive masculinity

  • there is a lot of media out there that reasserts traditional masculine traits such as Top Gear or comedy panel shows and sports entertainment shows as well as some magazines.
  • Gauntlett generally sees the choice of masculinities that boys can choose from to be a positive feature of contemporary society, there is a danger that choice leads to confusion and conflict and feeds a crisis of masculinity -> leads to toxic masculinity