Representation

Representation How the media shows us things about society – but this is through careful mediation. Hence re-presentation. For representation to be meaningful to audiences there needs to be a shared recognition of people, situations, ideas etc. All representations therefore have ideologies behind them. Certain paradigms (patterns) are encoded into texts and others are left out in order to give a preferred representation (the preferred syntagm) (Levi–Strauss, 1958).

Representation (Dyer, 1985) As ‘being representative of’ in the sense of being typical In the sense of speaking for and on behalf of somebody or a group In recognising the existence of audience responses, with different audiences respondng to different kinds of representation As re-presentation: re-presenting reality over again to us. Reality is mediated through representation available in the culture

What is ideology? Tim O’ Sullivan et al (1998) Ideology - refers to a set of ideas which produces a selective view of reality. Ideology – beliefs which are seen as ‘common sense’ and become naturalised (what we expect)

Gender Representations of Femininity representations of women remain worryingly constant. Does this reflect that the status of women has not really changed or that the male-dominated media does not want to accept it has changed?

Representations of Women Representations of women across all media tend to highlight the following: beauty (within narrow conventions) size/physique (again, within narrow conventions) sexuality (as expressed by the above) emotional (as opposed to intellectual) dealings relationships (as opposed to independence/freedom)

Representations of Women Women are often represented as being part of a context (family, friends, colleagues) and working/thinking as part of a team. In drama, they tend to take the role of helper (Propp) or object, passive rather than active. Often their passivity extends to victimhood . Men are still represented as TV drama characters up to 3 times more frequently than women

Representations of Women The representations of women that do make it onto page and screen do tend to be stereotypical, in terms of conforming to societal expectations, and characters who do not fit into the mould tend to be seen as dangerous and deviant and they get their comeuppance America seems to expect its women to behave better than their European counterparts - British viewers adored the antics of Patsy & Edina in Absolutely Fabulous, but these had to be severely toned down (less swearing, NO drugtaking) for the US remake, High Society (which was a flop).

Representations of Women Discussions of women's representation in the media tend to revolve around the focus on physical beauty to the near-exclusion of other values, the lack of powerful female role models, and the extremely artificial nature of such portrayals, which bear little or no relation to the reality experience by women across the planet

Representations of Men 'Masculinity' is a concept that is made up of more rigid stereotypes than femininity. Representations of men across all media tend to focus on the following: Strength - physical and intellectual Power Sexual attractiveness (which may be based on the above) Physique Independence (of thought, action)

Representations of Men Male characters are often represented as isolated, as not needing to rely on others (the lone hero). If they capitulate to being part of a family, it is often part of the resolution of a narrative, rather than an integral factor in the initial equilibrium. It is interesting to note that the male physique is becoming more important a part of representations of masculinity. Even older male actors are expected to have a level of 'buffness‘.

Representations of Men Increasingly, men are finding it as difficult to live up to their media representations as women are to theirs. This is partly because of the increased media focus on masculinity - think of the burgeoning market in men's magazines, both lifestyle and health - and the increasing emphasis on even ordinary white collar male workers (who used to sport their beergut with pride) having the muscle definition of a professional swimmer. Anorexia in teenage males has increased alarmingly in recent years, and recent high school shootings have been the result of extreme bodyconsciousness among the same demographic group.