Media Class Notes

Media

Dominant Ideology;

What gender attributes & behaviours are valued most in our society on the whole.

Stereotype Production;

- Simplification.

- Exaggeration or distortion.

- Generalization.

- Presentation of cultural attributes as being natural.

The Counter type;

- A positive stereotype.

- Focuses on positive elements of a group traditionally represented as bad.

- Oversimplification of the enormous diversity featured with the group.

The Male Gaze;

- How do men look at women.

- How women look at themselves.

- How women look at other women.

Laura Mulvey believes that in a film, "audiences have to view characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male"

Features of the Male Gaze;

- Camera lingers on the curves of the female body & events which occur to women are presented largely in the context of a mans reaction.

- Relegates women to status of objects.

Jonathan Schroeder "to gaze implies more than to look at- signifies a psychological relationship of power"

Traditional Male Stereotypes;

- Traditional Masculine Man- muscly, strong, brave, heterosexual, manual jobs, aggressive, tall & dominant over women, works to provide for family . Does no cleaning, cooking or childcare.

-New Man- Less masculine but still heterosexual, very peaceful, looks after the family, stays at home to look after family, does cleaning & cooking etc. Shown as equal to women.

-Gay Man- Often shown as being very feminine, weak, working in jobs such as fashion or hairdressing, bitchy etc.

Traditional Feminine Woman;

-Traditional feminine woman- often shown as being girly, likes pink, wears dresses, does feminine jobs such as working in fashion, hairdressing or stays at home to look after the children, needs a man to cope, weak, scarred of things, needs rescuing, pure & innocent.

-Sexy Woman- very flirty, dresses in a revealing way, more powerful, uses men to get what she wants, no loyalty to other women, bitchy.

-Lesbian Woman-  Dressing in a masculine fashion, doing masculine roles, hating men, looking masculine.