Hispanic Journal Article

8/4/2019 Hispanic Journal Article

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The Multimodal Method and Feminism:An Analysis of Identity and Gender in Higher Education

Spanish Textbooks

Journal: Journal of Hispanic Higher Education

Manuscript ID: Draft

Manuscript Type: Original Article

Keywords: Multimodal, gender, Feminism, Sexism, Textbooks

Abstract:

Using both the Multimodal Method and a few Classical FeministCategories, this essay attempts to analyze gender and identity-related images as well as written language as theyre found onmainstream Spanish Textbooks used in American Universities. Ageneral assumption underlying this essay is that the textbooks havebecome tools of the advertisement industry and a byproduct of ourconsumption-driven society, being no longer objects of knowledge.The main goal is to find and unveil possible gender or identity-related misrepresentations of Latinos and Latinas in such texts.

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What is the Multimodal Method?

Before diving into the analysis of the textbooks discourse, let us offer a few words about this

method Im planning to use, for those unfamiliar with it. In short, this method, as developed by

Kress (2001), intends to provide yet another theoretical and methodological set of tools to

analyze this world of intricate webs of symbols, fragmentary speeches and semiotic chaos we

seem to live in. Kress outlines a method of analysis focused on various modes or semiotic media,

in other words, it doesnt only concentrate its analysis on written language, as its been the norm

the last few decades, but rather, it pays attention to everything and anything that may carry a

semiotic load, such as sounds, images, songs, etc., all within the same text and in close

correspondence with one another, though this alleged correspondence is contingent upon the

unique nature of each semiotic phenomenon. It is, in a way, a new theory of meaning. Lets

continue with a quote from Kress:

We had to try to develop multimodal concepts, a framework that could

apply across all these modes (sounds, images), the outline of a theory of

the language of multimedia. This proved harder than we thought. Several

early versions were torn up; several times we had to start over. Several

times we even considered giving up. It was not until we began to

incorporate the idea of practice more fully, until we moved from that idea

of the language of multimedia to the idea of communication, and from

questions like what is a mode to questions like how do people use the

variety of semiotic resources to make signs in concrete social contexts,

that we began to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

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(Kress, 2001, page 1)

Kress has two goals in mind: a) to study the semiotic resources of the cultural products, and b) to

study the social practices in which these semiotic resources are utilized, modified, etc. His

emphasis is the multimodal and multimediatic aspect of the cultural items that we buy, we use,

and with which we also express ourselves. This multimodal concept is in stark contrast with the

traditional semiotic analysis carried out by the linguists, for whom the written language was the

main preoccupation, leaving other important signifiers or signs aside. For instance, when

analyzing the Austrian lawmakers debates on immigration of the last few years, the traditional

semiotic critics would concentrate their efforts on the verbalization of the lawmakers ideas and

would ignore other possible modes or media of expression, that, according to Kress, have their

meaning such the sound texture sound, images used or evoked, the tone of their voices, gestures,

facials, and when, how and why they made those, etc.

Language is then not only verbal or written, the two forms of communicationpar excellence, and

thus, becomes multimodal and multimediatic; that is, the meaning is produced and distributed by

media other than the canonical ones, and this causes in return, several changes in the way people

communicate. The sign is not only a product of the members of the community and their

speeches, but a catalyst of change. The greatest change Im referring to (or, rather, Kress) is no

other than the modification caused by the vertiginous transformation of technology and its

impact on communication. The digital mixers for instance, no longer reproduce original music in

a faithful way but also, by mixing itwith different rhythms and various tonalities and textures of

sound, the original sound that was perceived at the outset is no longer there, it mutated.

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So, what has really changed? My answer would be what hasnt? Baudrillard (1993) once

claimed:

"From medium to medium, the real is volatilized, becoming an allegory of death.

But it is also, in a sense, reinforced through its own destruction. It becomes reality

for its own sake, the fetishism of the lost object: no longer the object of

representation, but the ecstasy of denial and of its own ritual extermination:

the hyperreal (145)

Weve lost the aura of things; weve lost the sense of reality or the sense of any reality.

Technology has played a major role in that change. Its not the same anymore to see a theater

play at the theater than to see it on TV. Its not the same to listen to Radiohead on a cdthan to go

to one of their concerts. Videogames are the epitome of this attempt to simulate reality instead of

embracing it, experience it. We seem to be getting further away from reality and this in turn

transforms the way in which we see reality, any reality.

Kress outlines four essential principles in his semiotic model:

Discourse, understood as all the social forms of knowledge about reality (Kress, 20).

Design, understood as the conceptualization of the semiotic products (p. 21).

Production, understood as the material articulation of the semiotic products (p. 21).

Distribution understood as the technical re-coding of semiotic events or products with the

purpose of digitally record them (digitally) or transmit them (radio) (p. 21).

Some other essential concepts found in this multimodal approach are:

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Mode, understood as semiotic resources, they point at the meaning (p. 22).

Medium, understood as the material resources of expression (ink, vocal chords, etc.) (p. 22).

Experiential Signifying Potential, it is the idea that meaning stems from what we do with

words and events, like when we use several voices or tones to express diverse emotions like

sensuality, intimacy, anger, etc. (22)

Provenience, or where the signs come from, that is, whether or not the signs are imported,

borrowed, transformed, worn out, etc., like in the case of a perfume which is named Paris, which

has no evident connection with the perfume itself unless this item was created in that city.

Before I start the analysis, I would like to utter a word or two about the textbooks for those

unfamiliar with them.

The Texts.

The texts Im planning to analyze are widely used in many United States universities. These are

used in practically all levels of teaching, from beginners to advanced. Theyre considered the

best sellers of the textbooks. I will use the following abbreviations when referring to these

books:

Dmelo T! DT

Cmo se dice? CSD

Mosaicos M

Paso Adelante PA

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I will now proceed to introduce some of the categories used by Berger, Goffman and other

feminist writers to explore womens images in magazines, movie industry, commercials, etc.

The first category is set forth by Berger (1943). The figure 1 represents the category:

Passiveness-Activity (p. 47) Or should we say: men act and women react. Men do and women

observe. Women only decorate the landscape?

Ingres, Odalisque with slave (1842)

I think the image is self explanatory and I wont spend much time on these images. This a

constant pattern in our global patriarchal social system: women are objects, women dont make

decisions, they are little animals to entertain us, cute items that dont think and provide pleasure.

The second feminist category would be Size and this category is obviously connected to

Kresss category of design.(See Goffman, p. 28, 1976)

Example, figure 2:

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Shogun

I think we can all see there is no reason why the man in this picture should be twice as big as his

fellow rider, who happens to be a woman.

Another category that unveils the way we see women is the Feminine Touch. (Goffman, p. 29)

and down below we can see its counterpart, toughness itself.

Figures 3 and 4:

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Softness vs. roughness. This is old school, outright sexism but it doesn't mean it doesnt exist

nowadays.

Another one The Executive Man (Goffman, p. 32)

Figure 5:

Executive man, powerful, rich; the waitress is a woman-slave, easy to seduce, eager to please, to

do what shes told, to serve the master.

Another classic: Family Roles (Goffman, 1976)

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Figure 6:

The woman carries the groceries, and goes straight to the kitchen. The husband is getting hungry

and she needs to start doing what she knows best: cook. By the same token, the blue collar guy

has become the embodiment of manhood.

Last but not least: Distraction o Absentmindedness Women are easily distracted because they

are their feelings, they sense and they dont think. Theyre sensuous and sensible and they feel

and feel like animals do, they just react to their environment, they cant focus like men, they

can't reflect like men.

And there are other minor gender-charged categories like trivialization (my hairstyle or a good

sense of fashion are more important than world peace); strength vs. grace, etc. So when I

finished exploring the textbooks I had found a good number of images that represented very well

some of the categories described. I offer this table to make my findings as clear as possible.

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The reader can see the titles of the textbooks on the left and the categories going across the

graphic on the top row.

Spanish

Textbook

Activity-

Passiveness

Executive

Man

Subordination Family

Role/Decorative

Role

Dmelo T! Pages 243, 252 Pages 65,

148, 149,

Pages 241, 423,

481, 221, 277

Cmo se dice? Pages 186, 298 Pages 169, 186,

298

Paso Adelante Pages 77

Mosaicos Page 14 Pages 157, 167

As we can see, all of the books (with the exception of Paso Adelante) meet the criteria for more

than one gender category. In other words, this gender-charged pattern of images cannot be seen

as a mere coincidence in these (or other) texts, there seems to be an intention, sometimes subtly,

sometimes blatantly, to misrepresent women in such a way. Lets start our analysis of those

images.

Lets focus our attention on Figure 7 below, which comes from Dmelo T!:

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Fig. 7 (page 252)

Applying the multimodal method categories to this figure, we can say that the design is the date

between a male and a female, or male student and female student. In the top scene, we witness

what seems to be a fortuitous, unplanned encounter. In the image below we see what appears to

be the real date, the real deal between Horacio and Anglica. Theyre at the restaurant, having

dinner, with live music and good wine. They give us the impression of having a good time. All

of this is what Kress calls the design category. To the left of the figure we can read the

conversation between them. The production category is a very subtle sexist discourse. What is

the evidence for this statement? From the beginning, Horacio-male invites Anglica-female, so

he is active and she is passive. One thing to analyze, for instance, is the posture of these two

students, in the first image Horacios posture makes him appear more active, being in control,

and Angelica just stands there, listening. According to Goffman (1976), these postures express

clear, though subtle, evidence of subordination, subjection, etc, (46)

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In the second image of the same figure 7, we can witness a date-dinner between Horacio and

Anglica and the same sexist behavior is appreciated as in the previous image: Horacio starts the

conversation, orders the food, talks to the waiter, etc. Men always take the initiative.

Lets now analyze the images contained in figure 8 below (page 243)

This is a clich, a typical scene of the damsel in distress and the hero who comes to rescue her

and teach our villain a lesson. Javier seems to be the typical, successful athlete at school and he

likes to get what he wants, and fast. Anglica appears as a delicious snack that cant be passed up

by the wolf. So Javier harasses Angelica, he asks her out over and over again, and she refuses.

Javier is the leader of the pack of wolves and he wants some play time with a female of his

predilection. He can choose and he will choose. But she, the little red riding hood, the good,

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pretty, innocent princess successfully repels the attacks. Horacio, who has been watching the

show all this time, comes forward and approaches the Object-Anglica. He decides to take a

shot, to try his luck. Yes, Horacio Nerd is infinitely better than Javier Wolf but the context hasnt

changed much for Anglica, she is still the object that sees the parade of starving wolves pass

before her, trying to take a bite at her. The design (Kress 2001) is the same as in the other figure

we analyzed above. The same speech, discourse of subordination and subjection of women. Once

Horacio has gotten what he wanted, which is a date with her, Anglica herself, maybe

consciously, may be not, finishes by saying: Me encantara acompaarte. A qu hora me pasas

a buscar? (p. 243), which roughly translated means: I would love to go with you, at what time

are you picking me up? Here, not only is the woman being passive, but she assumes this

passiveness as something normal, common to her nature. She is happy being picked up. I wish

she would say at what time should we meet? Ill see you there, but no, in this universe of

textbooks men act and women wait. The sexist speech is expressed at the linguistic level then,

the direct object me transfers the action to the man, the bread winner, the hunter, the provider.

Lets turn to figure 9, from the textbook Paso Adelante, page 77, intermediate level, utilized

widely in North American Universities. In case its a little blurry, I will try to describe whats in

the picture.

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In this figure some Latin-American peoples biographies are presented to us. The design is very

simple and its written language. The most important thing here is the choosing of adjectives. In

this picture we witness the display of sexism within the family power hierarchy, in other words,

Latin families and their members are supposed to behave in a certain way or occupy a certain

place in society, and this imposition originates from within or from outside, it doesnt matter.

Heres a table that simplifies and describes the family roles found in this picture:

Name Activity

Dora (mother) housewife, short, White hair

Csar (father, patriarch) retired, gray hair

Sandra (daughter) mother and wife, fun, romantic

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Pablo (Sandras husband) hard working, tall

So the eternal sexist roles given to women from the dawn of time are clearly recognized here: the

woman cooking and raising kids and the husbands outside bringing the food to the table. Not

only those adjectives above (hardworking, retired) indicate that men are the only working

creatures, it also suggests that women are emotional, sensible, the opposite of men. I would like

to see alternative views of the family structure, and this is whats missing in these textbooks.

Examples of these alternate social configurations would be:

-Single mothers.

-Female working and husband at home. (This is happening more and more in Latin-America.

-Showing the male doing the house chores.

-Gays or lesbians adopting children. Etc.

I know there is something called political correctness and this prevents those examples given just

above from being used in those books, but if the publishers keep ignoring those social

phenomena, the consequences will be disastrous from a pedagogical point of view, since the

students wont be able to linguistically deal with those situations when confronted with them.

Another quick example would be avoiding the linguistic expressions of gypsies in Spain, Russia

or Romania; if our students dont know about these linguistic groups they wont be prepared to

communicate with them when they travel to these countries or not even at home, in U.S.

Lets analyze our last figure (10), page 65 in the textbook Dmelo T! Here we can see another

gender category:

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This is the Executive Role Category, which is monopolized by men, of course. We have three

images here, on the first one, we see two women at a clothing store, one is the clerk and the other

one is a customer. In the second one we can see a man working on a computer. In the third one,

we see a woman having an interview with two executive men.

To start off, in image 1 we see the she-customer buying clothes (like women are the only ones

who buy clothes!). But if this is not interesting enough, there is also the fact that she is at the

little girls section, so that makes us believe that shes buying clothing items for her own children,

so the full, sexist image of women is complete now, this woman doesnt work, she likes

shopping, she shops for the family, she is a mother and the husband is probably working or just

has better things to do with this time.

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Image 1 and 2 can be compared from the point of view of skills and rationality needed to

perform the tasks of the two workers. So if we compare the computer guy with the she-clerk then

the computer guy has the upper hand and the sexist discourse is fully present, as I think it is.

Women can only be clerks; men can be anything they want.

The last picture is a little different but its still sexist. The woman is having an interview and

their interviewers are both men, they are executive. In all three images women are in social and

economical disadvantage. In the first two we see a sexist speech that tells us that women can

only do so much in life and they should better accept their roles in society. In the third one the

message is clear, whether women work or not is up to men to decide.

Summary and Conclusions

In this essay I tried to a) use classical feminist categories to analyze sexist images from the

media and the Spanish textbooks, b) present and apply a new semiotic approach to analyze

speech and meaning called Multimodal Method as developed by Kress (2001); and c) provide

evidence to support the thesis that the textbooks are tools of the advertisement industry and

direct cultural products of conservative, powerful people who love the status quo, that is, the

rigid, patriarchal social system that sustains itself by manipulating reality.

As far as political and social analysis goes, I believe I have demonstrated the presence of an

ideological discourse running across these textbooks, which tries stubbornly to present and

represent women in an inferior manner in comparison to men, as we have seen. This is done

through images, gestures and adjectives. These images reveal dark, colonizing and sexist

mentality, and we, the teachers and administrators need to start creating textbooks with more

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alternatives. We need to make reality a little more complex. We need variety and we need more

openness.

As for pedagogical consequences for North American students, suffice it to say that manipulating

reality will only result in the inability and unpreparedness of our students to deal with complex

linguistic situations in or out of the country. Taking reality off the textbooks doesnt make it go

away. It is a form of lying and will not help our students. Teaching foreign languages will have

to be more than teaching a language to become an Ethics and Foreign Language Class as well, a

class where nothing about those countries is exoticized, ignored or mutilated.

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References

Ahern, S et al. (2006). Paso Adelante. Boston: Heinle.

Auchmutey, Jim. (1985) "Marketing to Women." Advertising Age, 15-17.

Baudrillard, J. (1996) Symbolic Exchange and Death. London: Sage.

Berger, John. (1973) Ways of Seeing. New York: Viking.

Brown, Lyvia Morgan. "Sexism in Western Art." Women: A Feminist Perspective. Ed. Jo

Freeman. Palo Alto, CA: Mayfield, 1975. 209-22.

Castells, M et al (2005) Mosaicos. New Jersey: Pearson.

Downs, A. Chris, and Sheila K. Harrison. "Embarrassing Age Spots or Just Plain Ugly?

Physical Attractiveness Stereotyping as an Instrument of Sexism on American

Television Commercials." Sex Roles 13 (July 1985): 9-19.

Durkin, Kevin. "Children's Accounts of Sex-Role Stereotypes in Television."

Communication Research 11 (July 1984): 341-62.

_______. (1985) Television, Sex Roles and Children: A Developmental Social

Psychological Account. Philadelphia: Open Univ. Press.

Gay, Verne, and Paul L. Edwards. (1985) "Chevy Woos Women." Advertising Age:

1, 130.

Goffman, E (1976) Gender Advertisements. New York: Harper.

Jarvis, A. (2007) Cmo se dice? New York: Houghton.

Kress, G (2001)Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary

Communication. New York: Oxford University Press.

Mohanty, C. (1991). Introduction. In Mohanty, A. Russo, & L. Torres (Eds.), Third world

women and the politics of feminism (pp. 1-47). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Samaniego, F et al. (2005). !Dmelo T! Boston: Thomson.

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