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)